Alert: Abdul Latif Jameel Saudi Premier League 13-14

Nassr topping the league after beating Hilal ... still, a long way to go for the league and Hilal can still over take Nassr

 

A well-deserved victory for Nassr. It's a shame this match came after NT break as both teams were playing good and finding the continuity which is surly missed after +15 stoppage days, but that makes Nassr's win more impressive as they achieved it missing the 3 Brazilians.

The match was overall below average, Nassr played to its strength with the longs balls to a strangely very shaky Hilal's defensive line while applying high pressure in their own half.
Hilal didn't really played a game, the build up was pathetic. GK and the 4 defenders misplayed more passes than I can remember and Castillo & Hermach didn't contribute much offensively in a field already crowded by Nassr midfielders.

Sudairi is responsible for the 2nd goal, he was shaky the whole match too. Currently he isn't the GK for Hilal's level, maybe he will improve in the future but in all the matches he played with the 1st team he misjudge the runs outside his area way too often for a 1st choice for a club of this level. I'm not sure if Fayez will be a better option either as his struggle with the crosses but I'd give him the chance to prove himself.

I think many of German clubs do it.

 

Nassr 3-0 Ittihad. Itti is a total mess but Nassr impressed again and dominated the game. Both of Sahlawi goals were well-taken, I think his type of strikers are very liked by the managers in general, not the best out there with his feet but he is reliable when it comes to scoring goals.

 

Sami Aljaber needs to realize that the 2 holding midfielders in his 4-2-3-1 won't be effective in many times against these small teams or he'll find his team sitting even further from Nassr in the league.
Let Hermach play in the DM and move Castillo back to play as a CB, he's too slow and offensively non-productive to make a contribution against teams that set its mind to defend for the whole match.

What's the story behind sacking the Saudi Sport Channel? it because what he has said when the fans start rioting or there are other reasons?

 

Sorry, somehow I didn't type Saudi Sport Channel commentator there. Here is the video:


I think it's all overreaction, he shouldn't have said "the fans have the right to do this" (jeering, throwing water bottles etc..) but it's clear he didn't mean it the way it came out, and if his colleagues were judged by their words in the same level of tolerance as to Sadagah's I'm sure there won't be many commentators left to criticize by the end of the week.

Regarding Sami's choices, he changed his GK in the last game which is a good move and he may not be as stubborn as other older managers. I'm actually optimistic about him but I hope he knows his team's strength before it's too late in the league.

 

I'm quite happy that Hilal signed him, he's a fantastic footballer and one of a very few players in the last decade who's been consistent in his performances and behaved professionally all his career.

As for the mentality, I don't think many players feel the rivalry as we the fans do, and I certainly won't expect players like Kariri -although he has spent quite log time with Ittihad- to have that sort of connection with the club that make them prefer to play for a Gulf club or small club here than to play for a rival team. I'd be more surprised if that move came from one who have been playing in the youth system & 1st team for years, i.e. Alshalhoub, Altemyat.. etc.

 

Yeah I would have liked it too if Kariri returned to Quadeseyah, or Mohammed Deayea to Attaee for a couple of years before retiring, it would be a nice gesture but it's not a usual habit here like it is in most European countries.

What do you mean by "Shabab does it again"?

 

I have a strange feeling the he will have a relatively success over there. I'm waiting for the day Zori will follow him.

 

I think the draw was fair overall. I don't want to make a quick judgement but I don't think Castillo fits in Hilal, he has nothing to contribute in the offensive side, and he's too slow to even play in CB position.
You need someone more creative with Kariri or you would lose more points even against teams like Nassr and Ittihad who didn't have a single non-Saudi player on their team.

I'm not very impressed with Sami's work so far.

 

The thing is it's very difficult to start your coaching career at such a demanding club like Hilal.

The Asian Champions League has become an obsession and the club may (or probably already did) reach a stage where it doesn't matter how many domestic trophies you win, if you failed to win that cup or at least played in the final it's not going to be enough for the fans, media, and even the club's management (if someone came in Bin Musaad's place, or simply he might has enough doubts in Sami to sack him).

I think a minimum of 3 years is what S.Aljaber needs to make full use out of his experience with Hilal, but as I said that could be "too long" time to wait for the expectations to come true, especially if he had a bad 1st season.
Losing the league to Nassr is quite a good reason for some people to call for his head.

 

I agree with you on many points of your post.
If it were up to me, I would have let Zlatko continue at the head of coaching staff for this season and make Sami take over the under 23 years team for at least one season to ease things a bit and to not build the enormous pressure that comes with the big expectation they have of him now.

A lot of people are already writing him off, the most important thing for me this season is to get to the round of 16 in ACL, Nassr are playing fantastic this season so I don't know about the league but the 2nd position won't be that bad if his team did well in Crown Prince Cup & Champions Cup.

I think both of them carry much less significance than the league but it will give Sami something to build on for the next season