Gor boss Ze Maria urges players to be patient

Gor Mahia coach, Marcelo ‘Ze Maria’ Ferreira has slated his players for failing to heed to his instructions following two successive draws that have seen the champions fail to pressure Kenyan Premier League (KPL) leaders Tusker FC.

K’Ogalo would be trailing the Brewers (36) by a single point had they not dropped four in their 1-1 and 0-0 stalemates against Kakamega Homeboyz the previous weekend and Ushuru FC on Sunday.

“We do a lot of training and I have always insisted on short passes but my players have resorted to the old tradition of long passes whenever they feel overwhelmed by opponents. This is not working for us and I insist they play according to my instructions,” the disappointed former Brazilian international told Ramogi FM.

Ze Maria however, his misfiring champions will soon bounce back to winning ways as they bid to hold on to their crown for a fourth season on the bounce.

He reiterated their KPL rivals were more motivated and better prepared when they face K’Ogalo resorting to shaping up to employ long balls and packing the back to disrupt their passing rhythm challenging his charges to rise above that by being patient and capitalise on their chances.

Gor’s struggles since beating Thika United 2-1 at the start of the second leg have been blamed on the departure of Uganda Cranes midfielder, Khalid Aucho, with reports from the club alleging the playing unit is not pleased with the management’s decision to release the lynch pin.

His former teammates had urged the team to retain him until the end of the season with Ze Maria struggling to find the man to fill his hole in midfield but the Brazilian sought to dismiss the impact of his absence.

“Amos Nondi and Francis Kahata are equally good midfielders and the absence of Aucho is rarely felt in the club.  I just need to fine tune some areas especially in midfield and things will be well,” he added.

Captain and reserve keeper, Jerim Onyango, admitted the results had piled pressure on them to deliver after K’Ogalo failed to capitalise on Tusker’s 2-2 draw earlier at home to Chemelil to close the gap at the top on Sunday.

“Why are fans not talking about losses by other clubs? This is a game of football where results will always vary. You can win, draw or loss, but the game will retain its name. We are a big club , yes but at times we need to accept results since all teams are fighting to win against big teams,” the skipper added.