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Gor Mahia coach defends decision to rotate squad against Ugandan champions
Reading Time: 3min | Tue. 28.07.26. | 11:27
The result sparked debate among supporters after Akonnor made nine changes to the side that featured in the previous match
Gor Mahia head coach Charles Akonnor has stood by his decision to overhaul his starting line-up in the CECAFA Kagame Cup defeat to Vipers SC, insisting the changes were necessary as he continues to evaluate his squad ahead of a busy campaign.
K'Ogalo fell to a 1-0 loss against the Ugandan champions in what was their first defeat of the tournament.
The result sparked debate among supporters after Akonnor made nine changes to the side that featured in the previous match.
However, the Ghanaian tactician believes the tournament is serving its intended purpose by allowing every player an opportunity to stake a claim for a place in the team.
According to Akonnor, squad rotation is unavoidable with nearly 30 players available and matches coming every three days.
He argued that the CECAFA Kagame Cup provides the ideal environment to assess every member of the squad before attention shifts to the FKF Premier League and CAF Champions League.
“We are almost 30 players, except Felix. We are here, and in every two matches or three days, you play a match. We are in a situation where we need to be fair to all the players and give them a chance. This is the moment to try them,” he told Dollar TV.
“If we don't do it now, then when? We have a big task ahead of us: the Kenyan league and, of course, the Champions League. And this is a mini Champions League tournament, and it's very important to get to know all the players. Those who were given a chance, they did their best, but it wasn't enough. It could be seen as mental toughness.”
Despite backing his selection, Akonnor admitted Gor Mahia failed to match the standards they had set in their opening fixture.
He acknowledged that his side struggled to impose themselves, created few meaningful chances and allowed Vipers to dictate long spells of the contest.
The former Ghana national team coach noted that his players were disrupted by Vipers' aggressive approach, which prevented Gor Mahia from settling into their preferred style of play.
“They didn't allow us to play enough; they tried early minutes to frustrate us by way of doing whatever they could in their favour. And they did it well. We couldn't create the chances that we needed, also because we didn't move well,” Charles Akonnor said.
“If we had moved better, we would have done better than we did. And so in the first half, a lot of free kicks were around; the game was played in our half. We couldn't really come out of our zone to play the way we wanted to play.
The personnel also could be a factor, but we will look at it in our next pre-match analysis, and we'll talk about it. But they made us uncomfortable. I mean, we need to have a different character.”
