Frank Nuttall believes Olunga will eventually fire
Gor Mahia coach Frank Nuttall has thrown his weight behind towering Gor Mahia striker Mike Olunga. Though Olunga missed numerous opportunities in the DSTV shield match against Sofapaka and against CNaPs, Nuttall believes Olunga has been very useful to the team.
“The job of a striker is not only to score but to create opportunities for other players. I’m really impressed with Olunga’s focus of running through off the ball and support he offers to the team.
“I’m a believer the more chances a striker get the more experience they gain and they make some evaluation from that. I’m sure that’s what Olunga and other strikers are going,” Nuttall told Capital Sport.
Nuttall noted that Olunga is still inexperienced and will only grow in stature once he develops poise in front of goal.
“He has the ability to get in scoring positions and as well as that, he is young and fairly inexperienced and has played well. He is one of the players that we can look upon to in our squad selection,” the coach said to capital FM.
Olunga faces a tall order in trying to replace supernova Dan Sserunkuma who set an very high standard during the three years he played for Gor Mahia. Whenever he played, Sserunkuma was always the most efficient scorer in the entire league.
Olunga’s strength appears to be his ability to make life difficult for defenders when he makes charging runs into the box. He always draws multiple defenders and with the ball within his range, he is a nightmare for defenders often resulting in penalties. His knack for running onto long balls is reminiscent of the legendary Peter Dawo.
Former Gor Mahia coach and defender Sammy Omollo “Pamzo” noted that Olunga was very comfortable chasing long balls but appeared uneasy when the ball was played to his feet.
The good news for Olunga is that with the availability of Meddie Kagere starting this weekend, there will be less pressure on his broad shoulders. Playing under less pressure could be medicine Olunga needs finally gain confidence and poise. There is now work ahead for Nuttall to find ways that Olunga and Kagere can play together. Olunga draws defenders wherever he runs and could be useful decoy for Kagere.
And Olunga is very tall and could therefore be very useful in converting crosses into goals just like Dawo did in his heyday. And once again the man to work with him in this aspect of his game is Nuttall. Olunga is still young and can learn to put his height to use. Both Walusimbi and Nigiziyimana are good crossers. If they can pinpoint Olunga the way Sammy Onyango used to find Dawo with pinpoint crosses and if Olunga can work on his aerial and heading skills then he could offer Gor Mahia more options in attack.
i like this boy Olunga.Once he gets his act together he will become a very lethal finisher.Meanwhile am really amused at the ambition of most premier league teams here…most of the teams are saying they are aiming for a top 8 finish…as if there is a trophy for that.c’mon,show more purpose and intent…aim for the top prize and stop being mediocre!!!
THIS GUY IS A TOP CLASS PLAYER AND I BELIEVE THAT HE WIKK WHAT OTHERS NEVER ACHIEVED AT GOR.WITH PROPER COACHING AND FORMATION HE WILL BE A WORLD CLASS PLAYER.ITS UPON NUTTAL TO STOP FAVOURING SOME PLAYERS LIKE FADED BLACKBERRY,TIMOTHY AND UNTALENTED KEVIN OLUOCH AND FINALLY FIELD PLAYERS IN THEIR NORMAL POSITIONS.BUT REM TO PLAY ATTACKING FOOTBALL.WE ARE THE SPONSORS OF THIS THEFORE WE MUST DEMAND GOOD FOOTBALL.
I thnk Gor will turn Olunga into one hot property but this depends on one factor which has become evident. Olunga might as well turn out to be merely a striker who is simply made to chase aimless goals depending on the quality of assists coming his way, a situation Sseremkuma mostly found himself in while at Gor. This was evident in the two games gor played between Sofapaka and Cnaps. In the Sofapaka game the quality of assists(timing) to Olunga were top notch and all that remained was his composure which we can admit he still has to work on. On the Cnaps game the assists turned into ‘whoeveritmayconcern’ especially after those two guys came in. He ended up making aimless runs that were of little benefit.
Compressor please stop that direct individual attack on players, are they your children? For a player to have been retained in the team means the technical bench saw something in that player. And you are not a coach.
@jathur gi ji, i join you in imploring Compresser to ton down the personal attacks. He has a point but needs to argue it out objectively. His point that i agree with is that coach Nuttal has this knack of trusting some players even if they are not at their best.Example; Why is he insistent on fielding Cantona and Kevin Oluoch in his starting 11 yet we know he has better options at left back and central midfield. I know the players I have mentioned are talented and that is why they are at Gor but have you been satisfied with their output?
So “simple”whats the difference between your comment with compresser’?
Lets be alligned to creating commercial opportunities to the club. Fielding remains with the Techical Bench and their is little we can do.
Can someone tell me if the merchandize are out?
@papa the difference is in the objectivity. And if you mean the Joma merchandise, yes you can have your Joma jersey @Kenya Cinema, an outlet called Sports Jazz. As for the Under Armour limited edition, i can give you the contacts of the lady who can give you a kit in town.
Nuttal just needs a working formular an as for me if i was the coach this would b my lineup oluoch nizigiyimana,musa,glay,sibomona,wendo,abondo,walu,kagere,olunga,rooney.lets support our team morally,financially n morally n kogallo will go places
Oooh Laa la a….”NOTHING WRONG WITH CHALLENGING THE TB”
I would also prefer to support @compressor and @symple take on players fielding. Like JERRY Vs BONI who should start and why? I hope not the captaincy arm band but quality aspects first and foremost.
Fans are not zombies while watching K’Ogalo matches such that they can not see the obvious biased and skewed team selection. Where was Wendo and Wafula during the CNap match? and yet they were not injured. No wonder Gattusso had a beef with TB and may be there is more in this saga than what we know. THAT IS MY TAKE.
REMIND THEM FOR THEY DOES’NT KNOW WHAT THE WORD ‘SOCCER’ MEANS.
@ogango wafula,wendo,kagere,sibomona n nizigiyimana were not eligible to play coz they were signed after gor had forwarded their 20 man squad to caf.this players will participate if gor goes to group stages bt not in preliminaries
let our beloved team kogalo not participate KPL matches unless FKF and KPL reach an agreement. FIFA only rec organizes FKF not KPL. All along Munro and Oguda have mistreated Gor even the prize money was increased to 10million but when they realized it was Gor taking the league it was maintained to 3.5m later 4M. Gor Mahia have really invested this time round that we will suffer if we are burnt by FKF,CAF and FIFA. Let the Chairman Rachier not take part in tomorrows game if not referee of the day, Rachier and Gor Mahia will be burnt. FIFA will not burn Kenya they will only burn teams that takes part in KPL matches BUT FKF league will be genuine one.
Munro and Oguda always Wanted Gor burned so Rachier will be playing into their hands by accepting to honor that match that makes Gor automatically out of FKF list.
There is no difference between the above named ego-centric personalities.
And truly it no longer about NUMBER of teams but real politics.
1. FIFA = BLATTER…..CAF……..fkf……NYAMWEYA
2. FKF = NYAMWEYA…..CORD…….RAO(GOR)…..ALADWA(AFC)
3. KPL = RACHIER……OGUDA &MUNRO…SUPERSPORTS…GOVERMENT.
And that is why Govt is not worried, cause RAO and ALADWA have thrown their political weight behind NYAMWEYA.
WARIO has no time to spend on the corridor of justice with the likes of our learned friends like AAR and ASEMBO each arguing for the downfall of football.
So since soccer is dominant in CORD strongholds like COAST,WESTERN,NYANZA and NAIROBI then UHURUTO has no votes to worry them. Mpira niya Jaluo,Miluya,Kisii,wanapwani so what?
KUFA KIFO YENU..SIASA MBAYA MPIRA MBAYA.. Blame CORD. SIMPLE!
This current government is killing sports slowly…..until the day we shall dis-associate politics from everything else, that is the day we shall call ourselves ‘developed nations’ and our children shall have something for generations to come….now look at this drama…
Athetics – TNA domained, walking dead ?
Boxing -ODM domain, dead and buried ?
Cricket – ODM domain , dead and buried ?
Rugby – ODM domain , the last of the survivors ?
Football -ODM domain , walking dead ?
Golf -TNA domain , survivor ?
Netball -ODM domain , survivor ?
Volleyball -ODM domain , survivor ?
Hockey – ODM domain , survivor ?
so am not worried about KFF nor FKF, football in kenya will soon be dead and buried !!!
olunga’s teamwork helps alot.