Gor Mahia head coach Johnathan McKinstry has explained how he turned Benson Omalla from an ordinary striker to a record-equalling goal scoring machine.
Omala equaled Maurice Aloo Sonyi’s long-standing record of 26 goals in a single league season as Gor battered Nairobi City Stars to claim a historic 20th FKF Premier League title in June.
Omala has long been tipped to be a player with a bright future ever since being discovered in season one of the Chapa Dimba na Safaricom tournament in 2017. At Western Stima, he won the SJAK player of the month for November in 2019 while as a form three student at Kisumu Day High School.
However, it is in the recently concluded season that he really blossomed into an unstoppable goal-scoring machine.
McKinstry has explained how he turned the 22-year-old into an all-guns-blazing forward.
“Benson is a player who exploded last season,” McKinstry said, “You have to understand how he plays,” he added.
“People say to me that he should do more in the game. When I joined, in the first game I watched him play, he was dropping back to receive the ball. In an exhibition match in Mombasa, I pulled him aside and told him, ‘stop doing that’.
“I told him, ‘if you want to become an elite goalscorer, you have to think about that imaginary box behind the center backs and get in there as much as possible.’
“He has done that. He has touched the ball less and it has helped him score 26 goals. For me, I really want him to play. Every coach has his own preference, but for me, he will always be a first name in the teamsheet playing like that.”
Omala will be hoping to scale new heights not just at the domestic stage, but also in the Champions League next season in order to fulfill Harambee Stars’ head coach Engin Firat’s vision for him as someone capable of replicating his form at the continental stage in order to improve.
