3 Main Reasons Why Gor Mahia Lost to USM Alger

Kenya Premier League champions Gor Mahia will have to make do with yet another season in the CAF Confederations Cup after being eliminated out of the CAF Champions League. Gor were beaten 6-1 on aggregate by Algerian side USM Alger having gone down 4-1 in the first leg and 2-0 at the Kasarani Stadium in the second leg.

Below, we look at the 3 main reasons why Gor Mahia lost the tie.

Injuries

Gor Mahia coach Steven Pollack was forced to name 15 players in the second leg match as most of his quad was out injured. This resulted in the team putting up a disjointed performance and to make it worse, there were only 4 players to call upon from the bench.

Against top-quality opposition such as the North African giants, every team needs their best players available, fit and firing but sadly for Gor Mahia, that was not the case.

Financial woes

One of the recurring themes at Gor Mahia in the past two seasons has been the lack of funds at the club. Last week, club chairman Ambrose Rachier confirmed that the players have not received salaries for the last two months which is crippling their preparations and morale.

It’s hard to think of a soldier who will give his all at war with an empty stomach, which is what Gor Mahia players are having to operate on hypothetically speaking.

Lacking in quality

In the past one year, Gor Mahia has lost Jacques Tuyisenge, Francis Kahata, and Meddie Kagere. All these were high-quality players who were not or inadequately replaced.

No disrespect to the current players at Gor Mahia but they looked a class below their USM Alger counterparts in the tie. Gor Mahia will need to invest in better players if they are to be playing in the Champions League.