Saudi Professional League 2023/2024

[rendravolt]

Last night, both Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal both won the Kings Cup competition over their opponents. Al-Nassr won by a landslide and Al-Hilal could only win narrowly in that match, but at least both teams have good capital to play the Saudi League match this week. Talking about Al-Nassr this week they will face Al-Tai and of course this will be another easy match for Ronaldo and his friends to aim for victory again.

Al-Nassr FC did not need captain Cristiano Ronaldo to beat Ohod. The Portuguese striker was rested and didn't travel for the game. Goals from Sadio Mané,  Seko Fofana, Anderson Talisca, Ayman Ahmed, and Sami Al-Naji devastated Ohod.  The first half ended in a one-all draw and I thought the game might end with a slim win by any side. But Al-Naasr came up with a good plan of attack that made them create more chances and utilize them. Al-Hilal dominated the game and had a massive ball possession but the goal didn't come as expected. But the breakthrough came through Ruben Neves in the 64th minute. Al-Hilal goal was allowed by the video referee in the 73rd minute, but the single goal was enough to give Al-Hilal. Al Jabalain defended very well and they proved that they could stand a quality team like Al-Hilal.

Indeed, Al-Nassr doesn't need Ronaldo's role in an easy match like this and I think the coach made an exception for Ronaldo so that he doesn't have to come to defend Al-Nassr and prioritizes his appearance for this week's Saudi League match. Some of the players you mentioned are very reliable for scoring goals, especially the goal scored by Seko Fofana from a hard kick outside the penalty box which was very difficult for the opposing goalkeeper to save. Regarding Al-Hilal, however, they have tried their best and the results are not what they wanted. Al-Hilal should have scored more than 1 goal but again their opponents also performed quite well.

[1715203100]

1715203100

[KTChampions]

I don't know, I'm not sure Mourinho is aiming for a salary, what I know is that he is always aiming for titles in every club and league, I don't think he's interested in leaving the European League yet at least for the next 2 seasons because he still has a good record. One thing that might make him want to move to the Saudi League is if he has competition as a coach and currently there is no coach in this league who is at Morinho's level. We know there is Steven Gerrard here but he is still under Moronho.

100%. In one of the interviews, he talked about this in detail and the main idea was that he had already earned a lot of money and this issue had been resolved not only for him but for the whole family. I am sure that he still has huge ambitions and is waiting for the moment when he can lead a top club again. If Ancelotti was able to return to the top after Everton, then why can’t Mourinho do this after Roma (with which he achieved success, by the way, unlike Ancelotti).

[CryptopreneurBrainboss]

Regarding Al-Hilal, however, they have tried their best and the results are not what they wanted. Al-Hilal should have scored more than 1 goal but again their opponents also performed quite well.

Al Hilal didn't start their best squad so scoring just one goal was justifiable although considering the decision Al Jabalain are playing in (1st division) and they're sitting in 5th position, Al Hilal is supposed to be beat them comfortably without needing their star players. Al Hilal performance has been dropping each game they played and their coach have to do something about that or they stand to lose their advantages in the title competition in the Saudi Pro league. Getting a narrow win in the king cup of champion match should be a wake up call because although they had all the ball with possession control and had more shots at goal, they still couldn't score more than one goals. This is the first time this two side are meeting so maybe Al Hilal underated Al Jabalain.

Al Nassr coach Luis Castro chose to rest Cristiano Ronaldo, because he believes that Al Nassr can handle Ohod's game without the captain. Al Nassr played in the Saudi Arabian King Cup competition, and met clubs playing in the First Division (second tier of Saudi football) under the Saudi Pro League. In terms of player quality and squad depth, the Al Nassr squad is quite superior, so the big victory over Ohod without Ronaldo is also not surprising.

Resting Ronaldo was necessary because he isn't in his 20's again that he can play multiple games without getting tired. He's on his best form so far after leaving Real Madrid and have scored and started in all or most of his last games, he needed to rest because the opponents weren't much of a threat since Al Nassr has defeated them numerously very easily as well. Sadio mane was in the team and also Talisca and they both scored. Al Nassr winning 5:1 justified they didn't need Ronaldo although as a fan I would have wanted him in this game so he can get more goals to his name. This type of games would have given him a hattrick very easy. I hope in Al Nassr next game, the coach decision to rest Ronaldo pays up and not become a problem as he falls off form that he was on before the rest.

[hahay]

The heat of the Saudi Pro League is just the unbelievable salary of the players on the other side of the career slope. It doesn't attract viewers at all. The Premier League is an empire that has existed for a long time. They have built a good name and quality. Here, we not only see stars competing to shine but also see the strategies of good coaches. I feel like a storybook.

Because the growth of Saudi Professional League is not natural and organic but comes from investment from Saudi Arabian government through PIF, it is an unsustainable growth. If their government lose interest in the league and stop money flow to PIF, top four clubs of the league will no longer be able to pay salary for those star players from Europe as well as will not be able to buy more new star players.

Those clubs and the league will return to where they were before the heating spending wave, and likely end like Chinese Superb League years ago. Hopefully this growth will be continue to at least World Cup 2030 as it is a plan of Saudi Arabian government to host that World Cup in Asia.

I don't think the Saudi Pro League can be compared to the Chinese Superb League because obviously, it's a very different way. The Saudi Pro League managed to bring in many star players while the Chinese Superb League, not at all. Therefore, with the success of the Saudi Pro League like this, then I believe the Saudi Pro League will not end up like the Chinese Superb League because they have a different budget and also a different way.

Therefore, I think the Saudi Pro League will still have continuous development, and certainly not just end up in vain. But yes, if we compare it to the Premier League and or other top European leagues then it is clear that the top European leagues are the main destination for footballers to become more popular in their careers. So yes, it is certainly difficult to match the popularity of the top European leagues, because they have developments that continue to occur every season.

[Volgastallion]

The heat of the Saudi Pro League is just the unbelievable salary of the players on the other side of the career slope. It doesn't attract viewers at all. The Premier League is an empire that has existed for a long time. They have built a good name and quality. Here, we not only see stars competing to shine but also see the strategies of good coaches. I feel like a storybook.

Because the growth of Saudi Professional League is not natural and organic but comes from investment from Saudi Arabian government through PIF, it is an unsustainable growth. If their government lose interest in the league and stop money flow to PIF, top four clubs of the league will no longer be able to pay salary for those star players from Europe as well as will not be able to buy more new star players.

Those clubs and the league will return to where they were before the heating spending wave, and likely end like Chinese Superb League years ago. Hopefully this growth will be continue to at least World Cup 2030 as it is a plan of Saudi Arabian government to host that World Cup in Asia.

I don't think the Saudi Pro League can be compared to the Chinese Superb League because obviously, it's a very different way. The Saudi Pro League managed to bring in many star players while the Chinese Superb League, not at all. Therefore, with the success of the Saudi Pro League like this, then I believe the Saudi Pro League will not end up like the Chinese Superb League because they have a different budget and also a different way.

Yes, indeed Saudi Superleague make a step further comapred to the chinesse one when they brought some stars, because this time from Saudi arabia are bigger stars and also they seem more solid, plus they dont have the problem of the communist party , but well they can have other problems related to the goverment or religion.

[rahmad2nd]

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star players or talented players are not robots who are always able to perform strongly every season because they need rest in several matches, even players who are a little older like Ronaldo also need to rest for several matches so they dont compete. this effort is to stabilize or maintain the player stamina so that they remain strong for several seasons.
so sometimes the star players or mainstay players of a team are not present on the field or just sit on the bench, in fact they are just resting their stamina so they can remain stable in the future and I agree with you that if Ronaldo is rested for a while Al Nassr still has other players like Mane has the talent to be able to provide victory at the end of the match.

It is normal for a player's performance to fluctuate, even if they have been highly trained. I think the Saudi Pro League competition is not as busy as the European league schedule, so the players who play the competition are not as drained of stamina. However, that doesn't mean the coaches in this competition don't have a strategy to save the energy of some of their players for important matches. as we discussed in this thread.

However, in the match against Ohod, it seems that the coach did not want his players to get injured or have to force themselves to play in every match. Maybe that's why Ronaldo was not played in that match. Ohod is a mediocre team, they play in division 1, and are ranked 16th in the relegation zone. which means, for Al Nassr the Ohod team is not a tough opponent and that is why Luis Castro did not play his full starting eleven. After all, it wasn't just Ronaldo who didn't play, Brozovic was also absent from this match. It was proven that Al Nassr was able to defeat his opponent with a landslide score.

[iBaba]

Resting Ronaldo was necessary because he isn't in his 20's again that he can play multiple games without getting tired. He's on his best form so far after leaving Real Madrid and have scored and started in all or most of his last games, he needed to rest because the opponents weren't much of a threat since Al Nassr has defeated them numerously very easily as well. Sadio mane was in the team and also Talisca and they both scored. Al Nassr winning 5:0 justified they didn't need Ronaldo although as a fan I would have wanted him in this game so he can get more goals to his name. This type of games would have given him a hattrick very easy. I hope in Al Nassr next game, the coach decision to rest Ronaldo pays up and not become a problem as he falls off form that he was on before the rest.

To correct the scores, it's actually 5:1. Five from the side of the Al Nassr FC and One from Ohod with Konrad scoring the goal. I enjoyed the way that the coach played out this game completely without the Saudi Pro League top goal scorer, Cristiano Ronaldo whom was absent in the match. Despite that, the team was in good standing to net those goals. Alternatively, he made use of upcoming stars like Stadio Mane, Aymeric Laporte, and Alex Tellas. That's what a simple squad depth depicts for a small team like that.

I don't think the Saudi Pro League can be compared to the Chinese Superb League because obviously, it's a very different way. The Saudi Pro League managed to bring in many star players while the Chinese Superb League, not at all. Therefore, with the success of the Saudi Pro League like this, then I believe the Saudi Pro League will not end up like the Chinese Superb League because they have a different budget and also a different way.

Therefore, I think the Saudi Pro League will still have continuous development, and certainly not just end up in vain. But yes, if we compare it to the Premier League and or other top European leagues then it is clear that the top European leagues are the main destination for footballers to become more popular in their careers. So yes, it is certainly difficult to match the popularity of the top European leagues, because they have developments that continue to occur every season.

Why you can't compare both league is how the earlier, Saudi Pro League, and the latter, Chinese Superb League. The earlier takes their time to scout for world recognized star players and give them mouth watering offers unlike the other. I think the Saudi Pro League has more money and comfort to offer including the security of live and properties, the tax cuts and other things.

[poodle63]

I don't know, I'm not sure Mourinho is aiming for a salary, what I know is that he is always aiming for titles in every club and league, I don't think he's interested in leaving the European League yet at least for the next 2 seasons because he still has a good record. One thing that might make him want to move to the Saudi League is if he has competition as a coach and currently there is no coach in this league who is at Morinho's level. We know there is Steven Gerrard here but he is still under Moronho.

100%. In one of the interviews, he talked about this in detail and the main idea was that he had already earned a lot of money and this issue had been resolved not only for him but for the whole family. I am sure that he still has huge ambitions and is waiting for the moment when he can lead a top club again. If Ancelotti was able to return to the top after Everton, then why can’t Mourinho do this after Roma (with which he achieved success, by the way, unlike Ancelotti).

My question is which club that will be interested in signing him as a coach? I remember that the day when he was offering himself to the chelsea sea last season but chelsea was rejecting him(bad decision).
Mou's main aim to make more and more record in european competition. He never had interest to go to the saudi pro league. I would like to see him to coach ronaldo once again but it may seem my dream will not come true.

[coupable]

This is the first time I noticed this topic regarding the Saudi League. It seems that Saudi football has become the focus of the world's attention after the series of important secondments carried out by many Saudi clubs and still are. I heard from some media outlets that there are ongoing discussions about recruiting international coaches and professional work crews to enhance the standards of clubs and support the Saudi League so that its matches become watched by the world like the excellent European leagues.
Unfortunately, according to many analyses, if the league is based solely on recruiting professionals, this will not raise the levels of the Saudi players themselves, and the Saudi national team will remain at the bottom of the world rankings, and the last World Cup tournament in Qatar was the best evidence of that.

[Sithara007]

My question is which club that will be interested in signing him as a coach? I remember that the day when he was offering himself to the chelsea sea last season but chelsea was rejecting him(bad decision).
Mou's main aim to make more and more record in european competition. He never had interest to go to the saudi pro league. I would like to see him to coach ronaldo once again but it may seem my dream will not come true.

Never say "never". In the end, the Saudi money power may prove to be too tempting for José Mourinho. All that said, don't expect any miracles from him. This is the same guy who want to bring flop footballer Jadon Sancho to AS Roma at any cost. Anyway, as per news reports, one of the Saudi clubs are offering around £100million for Mourinho. This is manytimes his current salary and I don't think that he will reject this offer outright. I am not sure which club has made the offer, but I believe that it is Al Nassr. In that case, Ronaldo and Mourinho will be working together.

[QueenVera]

Never say "never". In the end, the Saudi money power may prove to be too tempting for José Mourinho. All that said, don't expect any miracles from him. This is the same guy who want to bring flop footballer Jadon Sancho to AS Roma at any cost. Anyway, as per news reports, one of the Saudi clubs are offering around £100million for Mourinho. This is manytimes his current salary and I don't think that he will reject this offer outright. I am not sure which club has made the offer, but I believe that it is Al Nassr. In that case, Ronaldo and Mourinho will be working together.

José Mourinho had made mention that he wasn't going to ever coach at the Saudi pro league and if im not mistaken he rejected an offer to move over there before the league started but i think a very good offer would be enough to tempt him to move over there and a £100m is a very big offer and a very tempting on for that matter and i feel he's not going to reject it

 Hes mot getting any younger and his managerial career is gradually coming to an end, i believe he'll consider that opportunity as a retirement fund to gather emough money from the Saudi League before permanently retiring from coaching, well i know Mourinho to be man of his world and i expect him to stick to it, well sooner or later we'll kmow if he'll keep to his words or be tempted by the huge offer.

[borovichok]

@QueenVera resting Ronaldo is a tried and tested strategy and even Zidane did that while managing him at Real Madrid and if I’m correct he even performed better once he was back hence I expect him to score more goals when he’s back. Also I strongly believe that Al-Naasr is now no longer solely dependent on Ronaldo because they have got quality player’s who can effectively fill in for Ronaldo like we saw in this match.

Al Nassr is an elite club, having good moments in humiliating their opponents. Al Nassr dominated and thrashed Ohod 1-5 in their last meeting, the Knights of Najd supporters chanting songs or victory and having good moments singing and dancing is a sign of improvement for the club. Al Nassr coach, Luís Manuel Ribeiro de Castro made good chances when he rested Cristiano Ronaldo during the game, perhaps he prepared him for the tougher game ahead. Ronaldo is an important player for the club, he's focused on making more positive impact on the club.

[Sithara007]

José Mourinho had made mention that he wasn't going to ever coach at the Saudi pro league and if im not mistaken he rejected an offer to move over there before the league started but i think a very good offer would be enough to tempt him to move over there and a £100m is a very big offer and a very tempting on for that matter and i feel he's not going to reject it

 Hes mot getting any younger and his managerial career is gradually coming to an end, i believe he'll consider that opportunity as a retirement fund to gather emough money from the Saudi League before permanently retiring from coaching, well i know Mourinho to be man of his world and i expect him to stick to it, well sooner or later we'll kmow if he'll keep to his words or be tempted by the huge offer.

It is not just about the money. If the offer is from Al Nassr (for which I don't have any confirmation), then he will be reuniting with Cristiano Ronaldo. And apart from the salary, he is assured of staying in media limelight. Saudi Professional League is getting more and more popular around the world with every passing week, and obviously Al Nassr is one of the favorites to win the trophy this time. Unless there is explicit statement from Mourinho that he is not going to Saudi Arabia, I would say that all possibilities are open.

[Plaguedeath]

Hes mot getting any younger and his managerial career is gradually coming to an end, i believe he'll consider that opportunity as a retirement fund to gather emough money from the Saudi League before permanently retiring from coaching, well i know Mourinho to be man of his world and i expect him to stick to it, well sooner or later we'll kmow if he'll keep to his words or be tempted by the huge offer.

There's no difference if a manager is getting old or not, actually it's better because he has more experience than he was 50 years old.

What about Ancelotti which already 64 years old and other managers that already 70 years old.

If you look Mourinho's body, he's still has a good stamina and proportional body, even though he looks old with his white hair and white beard. He's still able to manage a top team at least for the next 10 years.

[TastyChillySauce00]

I don't know, I'm not sure Mourinho is aiming for a salary, what I know is that he is always aiming for titles in every club and league, I don't think he's interested in leaving the European League yet at least for the next 2 seasons because he still has a good record. One thing that might make him want to move to the Saudi League is if he has competition as a coach and currently there is no coach in this league who is at Morinho's level. We know there is Steven Gerrard here but he is still under Moronho.

100%. In one of the interviews, he talked about this in detail and the main idea was that he had already earned a lot of money and this issue had been resolved not only for him but for the whole family. I am sure that he still has huge ambitions and is waiting for the moment when he can lead a top club again. If Ancelotti was able to return to the top after Everton, then why can’t Mourinho do this after Roma (with which he achieved success, by the way, unlike Ancelotti).

Mourinho is someone who is hungry for titles. He will never leave Europe because it is his ambition to set a new record in his life in his career as a football team coach.He had been also sending offer to the some big clubs. Money is not a problem for him caused by he was rarely being a jobless even since two decades ago. I hope people will realize that. Coaching mediocre club didn't mean if his career already ended. Mourinho can go up like ancellotti once he will be trusted by a big team.
My dream to see mourinho to join in the PSG as a new coach but that's sad psg was picking enrique instead of him. I would like to see mou to be a coach in EPL. I do like his mentality.
He was just showing even though he was aged but his spirit in making new record is still there. I hope there will be EPL club that will try to recruit him.

[len01]

José Mourinho had made mention that he wasn't going to ever coach at the Saudi pro league and if im not mistaken he rejected an offer to move over there before the league started but i think a very good offer would be enough to tempt him to move over there and a £100m is a very big offer and a very tempting on for that matter and i feel he's not going to reject it

 Hes mot getting any younger and his managerial career is gradually coming to an end, i believe he'll consider that opportunity as a retirement fund to gather emough money from the Saudi League before permanently retiring from coaching, well i know Mourinho to be man of his world and i expect him to stick to it, well sooner or later we'll kmow if he'll keep to his words or be tempted by the huge offer.

It is not just about the money. If the offer is from Al Nassr (for which I don't have any confirmation), then he will be reuniting with Cristiano Ronaldo. And apart from the salary, he is assured of staying in media limelight. Saudi Professional League is getting more and more popular around the world with every passing week, and obviously Al Nassr is one of the favorites to win the trophy this time. Unless there is explicit statement from Mourinho that he is not going to Saudi Arabia, I would say that all possibilities are open.

It also seems impossible for Mourinho to accept the offer to go to an SPL team because even though there has been no confirmation of this speculation, I have broader thoughts such as the current SPL team does not really need a top class coach but what the teams in the SPL need are star players or talented players who are reliable to drive greater popularity. now lets try to think logically, a reliable player or a star player will definitely have a lot of fans and this is what the team in the SPL wants to attract the player fans to focus on where the player is going and the team popularity will increase compared to a famous coach who not necessarily have many fans, the fact is that with the existing coach Ronaldo and other players are able to get the desired score.

btw the next match Al Nassr will face Al Ta'ee and this is Al Nassr opportunity to catch Ittihad and Al Hilal points because it is certain that Ronaldo, Mane and Telisca will defend their team to win and Al Ta'ee is not a too strong team. different from Al Hilal in the next match they will host
Even though Al Shabab is not a very strong team, this team has a very strong defense so there is still a chance that the match will end in a draw.

[shinratensei_]

@QueenVera resting Ronaldo is a tried and tested strategy and even Zidane did that while managing him at Real Madrid and if I’m correct he even performed better once he was back hence I expect him to score more goals when he’s back. Also I strongly believe that Al-Naasr is now no longer solely dependent on Ronaldo because they have got quality player’s who can effectively fill in for Ronaldo like we saw in this match.

Al Nassr is an elite club, having good moments in humiliating their opponents. Al Nassr dominated and thrashed Ohod 1-5 in their last meeting, the Knights of Najd supporters chanting songs or victory and having good moments singing and dancing is a sign of improvement for the club. Al Nassr coach, Luís Manuel Ribeiro de Castro made good chances when he rested Cristiano Ronaldo during the game, perhaps he prepared him for the tougher game ahead. Ronaldo is an important player for the club, he's focused on making more positive impact on the club.

Ohod is a weak team, there's no need to put ronaldo into the main squad to win against ohod. Nassr's coach picks the right decision to benched ronaldo this game. It's caused by there will be more important match to come soon.
Al nass will be fighting against ta'eee soon. Al nassr needs to get full points to keep up with its competitors in the league.

[Strongkored]

The big match of the eighth week is between Al Ahli vs Ettifaq FC, the two teams have strengths that are not much different, but if you look at the odds, Al Ahli, who is the home team, is quite far ahead so this will very likely be a victory for Al Ahli, who previously lost to Al Nassr, and also head to head Al Ahli have better results, my prediction is that both teams will score goals and even though Ettifaq is not the favorite they will put up tough resistance so that the victory achieved by the home team will have to be very difficult.

[rendravolt]

Al-Ittihad escaped dramatically in the Kings Cup match against Al-Khoolood last night and no one thought that Al-Ittihad would have difficulty winning in normal minutes. Statistically, it is clear that Al-Ittihad was able to control the course of the match with 68% possession of the ball, but in fact the 7x shot on target opportunities they had did not produce anything and they were very lucky to get the lead through an own goal from an opposing player. Meanwhile, Al-Khoolood, who had just one shot on target, immediately resulted in a goal. Because the match series continued until the penalty shootout round and Al-Ittihad managed to win the penalty shootout with a score of 6-7.

[borovichok]

The big match of the eighth week is between Al Ahli vs Ettifaq FC, the two teams have strengths that are not much different, but if you look at the odds, Al Ahli, who is the home team, is quite far ahead so this will very likely be a victory for Al Ahli, who previously lost to Al Nassr, and also head to head Al Ahli have better results, my prediction is that both teams will score goals and even though Ettifaq is not the favorite they will put up tough resistance so that the victory achieved by the home team will have to be very difficult.

More entertaining and interesting it would be, I will get ready for the tough game this weekend. Predicting the winner, ofcourse its clear because both team possessed the strength and support from their fans. Checking out the past history of the game, it was an intriguing one, both sides keep dominate when at their perspective home stadium. However in this game feature, Al Ahli is home, a direct signal of them having good probability of winning. Al Ahli headcoach, Matthias Jaissle will improve his game against Al Ettifaq at King Abdallah Sports City.