7 coaches lost their positions in Saudi Professional League clubs, even though less than half the season had passed, the most famous of whom was Portuguese Nuno Santo, who led Al-Ittihad Club to win the title last season.
Another Portuguese coach, Jorge Mendoza, became the latest coach to lose his position after he was dismissed from coaching the struggling groove on Friday evening.
The new season began on August 11, and we had not reached the end of the first month, until Al-Shabab fired its Dutch coach, Marcel Kaiser. Then, the Riyadh club separated from the Belgian coach, Yannick Ferreira, and Croatian Kreshmir Riztic was dismissed from the leadership of Al-Tai in September as well.
Abha announced the dismissal of Polish coach Czeslaw Meshniewicz in early October, then Al-Hazm parted ways with Portuguese Filipe Gouveia one week later.
It was the turn of last season’s champion, the Portuguese Nuno, as he separated from the defending champion Al-Ittihad after failing to achieve any victory in 5 consecutive league matches, and amid reports that he had entered into a dispute with striker Karim Benzema after stumbling in the AFC Champions League against the Iraqi Air Force.
Nuno had led Al-Ittihad to win the league title last season for the first time since 2009, but he suffered a sharp decline this season, despite signing senior players such as Benzema, Frenchman N’Golo Kante, and Brazilian Fabinho.
Portuguese Nuno Espirito Santo transformed from a hero to Al-Ittihad fans to an unwanted coach within a few months, as he led the Jeddah giants to win the professional league after a 14-year absence last season, but he paid the price for a series of bad results and loss of control in the current season.
Santo is one of the most prominent coaching names to leave the Saudi League (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Al-Ittihad received a golden opportunity to participate in the Club World Cup next month, as the champion of Saudi Arabia, the host country, so it strongly supported its ranks and included the French star Karim Benzema from Real Madrid after winning the Golden Ball, and his compatriot, the French midfielder N’Golo Kante, the former world champion, and the Brazilian Fabinho from Liverpool.
The Santo team started the new season strong and achieved 4 consecutive victories in which they scored 12 goals and did not concede, until they suffered the first shock with a 4-3 loss to Al Hilal.
Until the seventh round of the current season, Al-Ittihad was leading, but it did not taste victory in the last 5 rounds, falling to sixth place, 11 points behind leaders Al-Hilal.
Al-Ittihad tried to direct its focus to the AFC Champions League, where its affairs were stable after 3 consecutive victories in the group stage, before losing to Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 2-0 in Iraq last Monday, as it was the first defeat for a Saudi team ever against an Iraqi competitor in the Champions League. To be the final nail in Santo’s coffin.
Santo, who was recently subjected to booing from the fans, justified the poor results with a large number of injuries since the beginning of the season and this reflected on the instability of the lineup and plan, but this did not convince the fans, the media, or the management in the end.
Despite Santo’s defensive solidity, she was absent this season after conceding 10 goals in 12 league matches. The team lost 3 times and won only half of the matches.
Some believed that Al-Ittihad was affected by the injury of the Egyptian captain and centre-back, Ahmed Hegazy, who played a pivotal role in winning the league last season, before suffering a rupture in the cruciate ligament of the knee, which is the same injury that his defense partner Ahmed Sharahili is currently suffering from.
Al-Ittihad did not benefit from Fabinho, who had been injured for a long time, and dispensed with Egyptian midfielder Tariq Hamed, who excelled last season. They also included Portuguese winger Jota, amid great aspirations after his name rose to prominence in Europe, but they did not register him locally due to dissatisfaction with his level and were content to rely on him in the field. AFC Champions League only.
Al-Ittihad hopes to quickly overcome the Nuno era and appear with a different face in the Club World Cup with the new coach, despite the limited time.
Returning to the rest of the coaches, Mendoza has become the third Portuguese coach in a row to lose his position with the groove suffering and being in 17th place, and penultimate in the league with 7 points from 12 matches.
It is expected that the list of victims will include more coaches, amid Al-Ahly fans’ anger at German coach Matthias Jaisse after stumbling twice in the last 3 rounds.
Until now, leaders Al Hilal remain the only team that has not suffered any defeat this season after playing 13 matches, and its Portuguese coach, Jorge Jesus, is receiving tremendous praise after achieving 6 consecutive victories, despite the fact that he was criticized at the beginning of the season due to his shaky performance.
2023-11-12 17:19:07
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