- Gor Mahia have shifted to using a back three since the appointment of Sinisa Mihic.
- Mihic took over from the sacked Leonardo Neiva in February.
I don’t clearly remember when I started supporting Gor Mahia. Where I come from once you are born, you are automatically indoctrinated into becoming a K’Ogalo supporter.
I was born sometime towards the end of the 90s and since then, I do not clearly remember seeing the decorated Kenyan club deploy a back three formation in the numerous matches I have watched over the years.
That is until the current regime under Croatian tactician Sinisa Mihic who was appointed in February 2025 to replace the sacked Leonardo Neiva, the Brazilian coach who oversaw just six league matches during his brief tenure.
Since Mihic’s appointment, the club shifted to using a back three system with the trio of Alphonce Omija, Joshua Onyango and Sylvester Owino being deployed often for the Kenyan champions chasing a record-extending 22nd league crown.
Effectively, that ensured that K’Ogalo used up to five defenders in a single game with wingbacks factored into the formation.
For a team of Gor Mahia’s stature who have to do all the attacking in each game, is the formation the right system?
And is the club effectively empowered to play such a formation with the kind of players at its disposal?
Does the formation give advantage to the opponents?
Advantages of playing with a back three?
According to the Coaches’ Voice, a platform featuring world-class football insights from the game’s leading coaches, three centre-backs give extra cover and protection when defending, especially in central areas.
The presence of an extra central defender also makes it easier to force play away from the centre of the pitch. The extra centre-back also helps deal with opposition crosses more effectively.
The extra centre-back can also improve wider defending in a deeper block, providing cover inside and behind the wing-back. Two central defenders are then still able to protect the central spaces if one centre-back moves out.
Similarly, should one of the back three jump to engage an opponent, the remaining two defenders can provide more cover and support than a single centre-back could from a central-defensive pair.
A back three can also provide an extra central passing option in the first line during the build-up phase and wide options for a switch of play. Both of these are useful when trying to beat a high press.
With two other centre-backs present, one can also step into midfield to create an overload or move wide in the opposition half to support the wing-back.
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What are the disadvantages to playing with a back three?
The Coaches’ Voice notes that having a third centre-back removes a player out of midfield or attack. This could lead to attacking in underloaded situations more frequently.
The three defenders will naturally cover less space across the pitch compared to a back four. The spaces around the outside of a back three can thus be vulnerable, especially during counter-attacking moments.
This means other players are needed in the wide areas when defending, so the wing-backs have to cover a lot of ground quickly to recover into defence. This in turn means that, after regaining possession, counter-attacks can lack width because the wing-backs will be behind play.
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Analyzing Gor Mahia’s system
In the last two matches for Gor Mahia, Samuel Onyango and Bryson Wangai, who are primarily attackers, were deployed in the wingback positions against Nairobi City Stars where they succumbed to a 1-2 defeat.
Against Murang’a Seal, Philemon Otieno and Geoffrey ‘Simiti’ Ochieng, who are traditional defenders, were slotted in the wingback positions. The game saw Gor settle for a costly barren draw that dealt a huge blow to their title quest.
In the Kenyan Premier League, it is a known fact that a game against Gor is everyone’s dream. Every team and its players always put on a show and make life as difficult as possible them.
For K’Ogalo to come away with the three points, they have to do all the probing for more than three quarters of the match, if not the whole game.
With that scenario in every game in their season, is a back 3 the best formation to use?
