Ghost Mulee criticizes Firat's tactics in Harambee Stars draw against Zimbabwe
Reading Time: 2min | Mon. 09.09.24. | 07:39
The veteran coach was not happy with how the team was set up and especially with players playing outside their usual positions
Following Harambee Stars’ draw in their match against The Warriors of Zimbabwe, more stakeholders continue to express their opinions on the match, and so is former Harambee Stars coach Jacob 'Ghost' Mulee.
Kenya, who hosted the match in Uganda, were forced to a stalemate by their visitors in what was the first match of group J with eyes set at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
Most Kenyan fans felt like it was a matter of two points lost and not one point gained.
The decision by coach Engin Firat to bench all the three strikers has brought lamentations from different quotas across the football ecosystem.
Mulee also shared his thoughts on the matter saying: “We were not brave enough to pick a striker. We did not have someone hungry upfront, a predator”.
The former Tusker FC coach said that he could not see anywhere that the goals could come from
“It is Firat’s tactics, I do not want to go into that, but what I saw at that game, I do not think we were going to score at any given point,” said Mulee.
The veteran coach was not happy with how the team was set up and especially with players playing outside their usual positions.
“I did not like the way we played, we did not have the bite in front of goal and that was our major undoing.
“I saw Duke Abuya play as a striker, when you look at him from way back, he knows to play behind the striker. When you make him the one to face the goal first, it becomes difficult but a natural striker,” he said.
According to Mulee, either of the three strikers in the squad ought to have been fielded.
“Maybe Ayunga, Omalla or Avire or someone who was there. That was our major undoing.
“I would not say that his tactics were bad, but I would say that he lacked a striker.”
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Additionally, Mulee said that he would not, as a coach, use the tactics and formation used by Firat in such a match.
“As a coach, I would not play like that without an out-and-out striker. Omala has been playing there, Avire has been playing there, and they know when to score goals,” he concluded.
