NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 26 – New Gor Mahia head coach Carlos Manuel Vaz Pinto has asked for patience from the K’Ogalo faithful as he looks to put the side’s Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Betking Premier League campaign back on track.
The Portuguese tactician says he has not had enough time to work his magic with the squad in training, owing to the tight schedule between match days due to their involvement in continental football as well as their late start to the season.
Gor will face Zoo Kericho on Wednesday evening at the Kasarani Stadium, their third match in nine days.
“Three days is not enough to prepare the team. But we have done what is possible for the players to help them prepare for the game. The team is not in the best shape. I started work 15 days ago and we will be in my fourth game tomorrow. I believe we need more time to train,” the tactician said.
He added; “But it’s the schedule and we have to be ready for it. We need to get results to give confidence for the team and for the team to grow. After the Bandari game, I know we will have some more time so I can work better with the team,”
The tactician took charge of a coach-less Gor, with then coach Roberto Oliveira deemed unfit to sit in the dugout while the assistant Patrick Odhiambo left and later joined Kakamega Homeboyz.
He started his tenure with back to back wins, but last weekend’s loss at the hands of Vihiga United, Gor’s third this season, put some sort of pressure on him.
But despite the loss, Vaz Pinto was delighted with how they played and has asked the players to put in a similar performance against Zoo, but top it up with goals for maximum points at home.
“We lost in the last game but what I feel is that we had the best game since I came in. We had in general good offensive organization and we created good situations to score. For them (Vihiga) they had two shots at our goal and scored one,”
“Maybe we just need to improve on how we feel the pressure in front of goal. I have a lot of confidence that tomorrow (Wednesday) will be different,” added the coach.
Gor come into the Zoo game with a lot of pedigree as in eight meetings, they have not lost. They have won seven times and the closest Zoo came to a positive result against the record Kenyan league champions was in a 1-1 draw in 2017.
Worse is that Zoo has conceded 20 goals against Gor in their last six meetings. Four of those matches had four goals in it, one had three and one ended 1-0 in favour of Gor.
But despite the odds and history favouring his team, Vaz Pinto is not resting easy.
“Every game is always difficult for us because the opponents know the quality of our squad. They always give the best to win against us. We will respect every team and put everything we worked for in training to the game to ensure we win,” added the coach.
Zoo are still winless in three matches, having picked back to back draws and lost 2-1 to Tusker FC last weekend.
