With 10 minutes of Friday’s game against champions Al-Hilal left, Al-Taawoun was heading for a famous victory. Two very late lapses of concentration meant a cruel 2-1 loss instead. The following day, Al-Ittihad were within a penalty shootout of defeating Raja Casablanca to win the Arab Champions Club Cup but had to settle for a runners-up spot.
Both teams ended the weekend by firing their coaches. First Al-Taawoun gave Nestor El-Maestro his marching orders and replaced him with Jose Gomes of Portugal. Then Al-Ittihad announced the departure of Fabio Carille. There are rumors of growing pressure on Pericles Chamusca at Al-Shabab and Mano Menezes of Al-Nassr. In most leagues, these reports would be dismissed immediately, but in Saudi Arabia there is a tendency for the coaches to be the ones dismissed.
Hiring and firings are part of life for football coaches but to see it happen just two games into the season is rare in other parts of the world. There are managers in Europe who are already under pressure, such as Mikel Arteta at Arsenal, but there is no imminent danger of dismissal even for a coach who has been around a long time by West Asian standards.
El-Maestro arrived only in March at Al-Taawoun and oversaw an excellent run of results that saw the team, which had fought relegation the year before, finish fourth and reach the final of the King’s Cup. Defeat in the final was a disappointing end but an extended contract was a reward for a promising spell.
One point from the opening two games was obviously not the start wanted but Al-Taawoun were ahead in both and could have had six points with better luck. The performances were far from poor.
Carille’s situation is different. Appointed in February 2020, the Brazilian started his first full season slowly but ended up taking Al-Ittihad to third in the league and there was even a chance of a title challenge right until the end. A loss and a win started this season’s Saudi Pro League campaign and then there was that thrilling Arab Cup final that ended 4-4 before heading to that penalty shootout loss.
“I am proud of my work here,” said Carille. “We finished in third to qualify for the Asian Champions League. We got good results that we have not had for some time and did not lose in the league against the top five teams. I want to thank the fans for their support and love.”
Such knee-jerk reactions are damaging for the league and Saudi Arabian football. The obvious problem is that they come so soon into the new season. If there were genuine misgivings about the two tacticians then they could have been replaced months ago as the previous season ended. The new men could have had three months preparation, including training camps in Europe and multiple warm-up games. Instead, they face league games coming up in the next few days.
There are other consequences too. Such short-termism is expensive, especially for clubs such as Al-ittihad with well-documented financial problems of late. It means that coaches have to have contracts paid off. It also means that money has to be found for replacements. Gomes at Al-Taawoun will be acutely aware that he is coming into a club where job security is weak. It is telling that Al-Taawoun have given the Portuguese boss a fifth job in the three years since he left the same Saudi club, though he at least knows what he is getting into. Any coach worth his salt will want to be paid an ample amount before sitting in these hottest of hotseats to compensate for the likelihood of a short stay and a cluttered resume. The best tacticians won’t want to come at all.
This extends to football matters. If two results at the start of a season are enough to get a coach fired it is obvious that there is no benefit at all to planning ahead, to thinking about the long-term health of a club or the long-term development of players. The focus is on the next game and that alone.
For a coach who knows that he has to win right now, it is natural to ask himself why he should work hard with teenage prospects when there is little chance he will be around to see the benefits. It is much safer to look to proven foreign talent who can come in and do a professional job immediately. Why persist with a promising but raw Saudi striker when you can get an expensive Brazilian goalscorer who will find the target from the get-go and keep you in the job a little longer?
A lack of patience on behalf of the owners flows down to all levels of the club and can’t produce the kind of atmosphere that helps players perform at their best. Not only do they have to adapt to new managers just a few days into the new season but the constant pressure on the boss must weigh heavily.
Football is a results business everywhere, but coaches have to have room to look beyond the next 90 minutes. Despite all the changes, only one team can win the title, only one can win the King’s Cup and only three can qualify for the Champions League. Not every team can win silverware but all can strive to improve for the medium and long-term as well as the short.
Agents apart, this dizzying merry-go-round does not help anyone.
