Johnathan McKinstry explains how Harambee Stars played under previous coaches and what to expect fron new tactician Benni McCarthy.
The Gambia national team head coach Johnathan McKinstry has praised and criticised Harambee Stars in equal measure ahead of the 2026 World Cup qualifier on March 20.
The former Gor Mahia tactician said Benni McCarthy will revive Harambee Stars’ dwindling fortunes after being appointed early this month. He maintained that his forward thinking kind of football will make the Stars formidable.
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In an interview with Flashscore, the former Rwanda coach showered McCarthy with praise saying: “But it is a new coach, it is a new era in Kenyan football, Benni has obviously taken over recently and, historically, Benni’s teams, if you look at his team’s in South Africa whether it was AmaZulu, whether it was Cape Town City, his teams have historically wanted to press more, wanted to be more attacking, he was obviously an incredible footballer himself.”
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McKinstry, however, took a swipe at Harambee Stars for the many draws their team has managed previously. He pointed out that Harambee Stars have drawn more matches with wins hard to come by. He further presumed that before McCarthy was appointed, Harambee Stars were the masters of defensive football, and used counter-attack to destroy opposition, something he sees changing under the new management.
“We have Kenya game coming up, and Kenya is an interesting one because Kenya for the last five years, they have drawn a lot of football matches, I think in their last 20 games, they have drawn 10 of them, they have lost six of the last 20 competitive but a lot of draws.”
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A look at Benni McCarthy’s preferred line-up at Cape Town City and Amazulu and how Harambee Stars could potentially line-up under the South African tactician.
“If you had asked me six months ago, I would say we were expecting a Kenyan team, who will settle on a low block, defend and try to win off a corner or set-pieces, that is what the former coach’s strategy was, he didn’t really let the team come out and play.
“They were a very defensive minded team and you could even call them previously a counter attacking team, they very much wanted to get a goal off a corner or free-kick,” he reiterated.
McKinstry won two FKF Premier League titles with Gor Mahia before stepping down to take charge of The Gambia national team. Kenya and Gambia’s Scorpions are set to face off in a Group F of the World Cup qualifying fixture at Alassane Ouattara Ebimpe Olympic Stadium, Ivory Coast, on March 20th.
The Scorpions are currently sitting fifth in the six-team group with three points from four matches. Ivory Coast are leading the pile on 10 points, Gabon are second on nine points, Burundi third on seven points, Kenya fourth on five points while Seychelles are rooted bottom with zero points.
