Harambee Stars assistant coach believes Harambee Stars’ goalscoring issue is about a lack of enough quality strikers, but Jacob ‘Ghost’ Mulee disagrees, labling it a ‘lame excuse’.
Former Harambee Stars coach Jacob ‘Ghost’ Mulee has weighed in on the ongoing debate surrounding Kenya’s striking options ahead of the 2024 African Nations Championship (CHAN).
Mulee, who has previously managed the national team on five occasions, expressed a differing view from the current assistant coach John Kamau, suggesting that the country’s football challenges run deeper than just the absence of clinical forwards.
The discussion was sparked after the CHAN 2024 draw placed Kenya in Group A alongside formidable opponents Morocco, Nigeria, DR Congo, Angola, and Zambia. Kamau voiced concerns about the lack of strikers capable of capitalising on half-chances, a crucial attribute given the caliber of their group-stage rivals.
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Kamau lamented the situation, stating to Flashscore, “In a nutshell, we need to look at our striking options. We have a problem in that department. If you look at the league, teams win 1-0, 2-1, and that is not good enough.
“We need to build strikers, and it is something teams in the league must work on. We have others we want to look at and will proceed when we get the time to start camp.”
Kamau’s assessment comes despite Tusker’s Ryan Ogam leading the FKF Premier League scoring charts with an impressive 15 goals in his last 13 matches. The second-best scorer, KCB’s Francis Kahiro, trails with nine goals this season.
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However, Mulee dismissed the idea that Kenya lacks quality strikers, attributing the issue instead to poor combinations and systemic problems in the country’s football ecosystem. Speaking after the CHAN draw, which was held at the Kenyatta International Conference Center in Nairobi, Mulee remarked:
“I think Kenya’s football problems are more than meet the eye. We have a lot of strikers in the country. It is just about finding the winning combination. When we say we do not have strikers and yet goals are being scored every day, I think that is a lame excuse.”
Mulee also suggested that the league’s lack of competitiveness and broader challenges, such as financial instability, are significant contributors to the national team’s struggles. “The league is not competitive enough. It has too many problems — players not being paid and a lot of things that are not good,” he added.
Mulee proposed unconventional solutions, including converting midfielders into forwards to address the short-term goalscoring issues. He further emphasized the need for government support to help the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) achieve its objectives, saying, “The new FKF needs a lot of government support to meet their goals.”
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