NICHOLAS KIPKIRUIMUSTAPIA BELABRIMOHAMED LAMINE of Gor Mahia and USM Alger.Goal Kenya.

Caf Champions League: Are Gor Mahia out of their depth?

Gor Mahia's Caf Champions League hit a dead end after they succumbed 6-1 on aggregate against USM Alger to miss out on the group stage.

It's Gor Mahia's third consecutive attempt to try and reach the lucrative next round of the prestigious club competition in Africa and they have been eliminated at the same stage on each occasion.

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After their return to the competition in 2018, Gor Mahia managed to progress after beating Leones Vegetarianos of Equatorial Guinea 3-1 on aggregate in the first round of qualification. 

In the next round, they were handed Esperance of Tunisia, and dropped into the Confederation Cup after a 1-0 aggregate defeat.

Kenneth Muguna and Clifton Miheso of Gor Mahia.

Last year, in December, it was a similar story, as they dispatched Nyasa Big Bullets of Malawi before being defeated by Lobi Stars of Nigeria on away goals to again drop into the Confed Cup.

History has repeated itself this term, where they easily cruised past Aigle Noir of Burundi, but came unstuck against USM Alger, losing 4-1 away and 2-0 at home.

It's time for Gor Mahia to face the hard questions now, as another Champions League campaign crumbles before the eyes of supporters.

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Gor Mahia defender Joash Onyango v USM Alger.Backpagepix.

According to the club legend Peter Dawo, an African Cup Winners' Cup winner in 1987, the players let the club down against USM Alger, and their performance hinted at a bigger problem.

“A club of Gor Mahia's stature should not be conceding two goals to nil at home, and four while playing away,” Dawo told Goal. “This is a big no. This is a club which should go down fighting hard.

"Gor Mahia should go back to the drawing board and re-strategise," he added. “Maybe there is also a bigger problem within the team which is not known to the public, and the leadership must look into this.”

Gor Mahia players v Bandari FC.

Dawo questioned whether the club need to look back at their history, and their past greats, to recreate some of that success.

“It's time for the club to sit down with the players who performed in 1987," he continued. “There are many players who did better then, they are there and are ready to give the team insight, and talk on how to win international games."

New coach Steven Polack must learn what went wrong for his side...again...before attempting to navigate the Confederation Cup campaign.

“Every [Gor Mahia] player was in a learning process," Polack told Goal. "They should now know the level and quality of teams in the Caf Champions League, and improve next time.

“It is very clear if you make mistakes at this level, then you get punished. We were done as soon as [USM Alger] scored the first goal.”

Nicholas Kipkirui failed to score from numerous chances, Kenneth Muguna squandered a number of glorious opportunities, while Dickson Ambundo and Boniface Omondi were also at fault during a profligate showing in front of goal.

Gor Mahia coach Steven Polack.

“My only worry was that we could not score the goals," Polack acknowledged, "and I think even if the game continued until the following day, we would not score.”

Critically, Gor only had 15 players at their disposal against the Algerian side, and the majority of their new players were registered late with Caf, explaining why so few were available for such a key match.

“Nothing will come easy, we must start better preparations and also make sure we register all our players for the competition," the coach concluded. "We only had 15 fit players against [USM Alger] and this should not be the case in the final round of the next competition.”

Gor Mahia have been eliminated from the Champions Leauge early once again, and may need to recalibrate their continental ambitions.

However, if they learn from this latest setback, and absorb some experience from the Confederation Cup, perhaps they will be in a position to go one step further in Africa next season.

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