Saudi Professional League 2023/2024

[Smack That Ace]

I don't think we should compare Messi and Ronaldo, because they have their own strengths and to say who is better I think they are at the same level.
We are lucky to be able to witness their greatness and I think it will be difficult to find plyers like them in a very fierce competition. It will be very sad when they decide to retire as footballers.
They are footballers who last a very long time, even their dominance is unstoppable for more than a decade. Although many young players are born who have a good game, they remain a very interesting topic of conversation.
Now that they are old, they are just enjoying their career before deciding to retire later. They deserve to be considered as one of the legends of football.

You can compare them and Ronaldo is all about full force, not about precision and smartness. You can see it when he takes a free kick, he never takes them as a smart shooter. He takes them with full force hoping he hits it right. Messi in contract is a smart player with unmatched precision and unprecedented short way acceleration and deceleration. If someone likes to watch beautiful soccer, Messi is the one to stick with. If someone prefers to watch soccer that is about pure force, Ronaldo might be the better choice.

@Jody.Drummer, I certainly agree with you here. Their golden era is about to end and I am nothing but grateful because I have been able to watch it. But Ronaldo is still scoring goals like he is still in his prime which is amazing. Although he is still 38 years old, he is scoring in the Saudi league like it is nothing. He scored 43 goals this year for Al-Nassr and 10 times for Portugal.

Messi on the other hand won the World Cup which I believe has completed his trophy cabinet. His play always amazed me. I think instead of comparing them, we should enjoy what is left of them and remember them, and be grateful we were able to witness them play!

Duke

[1715210475]

1715210475

[1715210475]

1715210475

[1715210475]

1715210475

[1715210475]

1715210475

[1715210475]

1715210475

[JeffBrad12]

Al-Taawoun vs Al-Nassr Yesterday match of both teams enjoyed very nice match. Al-Taawoun did not play very well. Goalkeeper of Al-Taawoun team had a bad performance for which Al-Taawoun team scored 1 goal. Al-Taawoun team played  scored the first goal in the first 13 minutes of the start. On the other hand, Al-Nassr won the match by scoring 4 goals. I expected to see a tough fight between the two teams in this match, but I could not see it due to the poor performance of the Al-Taawoun team. The two teams were almost equal in the points table.

I was not expecting CR7 would be scoring in the additional time. It was also adding more goal for ronaldo. The reason why the win for Al Nassr is so significant is because I am well aware that if they had not completely controlled the ball, it would not have been possible.
Al nassr is far superior compared to the taawoun in everything. Despite the fact that Taawoun has attempted more goals, Al Nassr's accuracy surpasses theirs. The statistics clearly indicate that Al Nassr has been finding the back of the net with a total of four goals.

That's amazing to see that al nassr got another big win from taawoun.

[Volgastallion]

One thing i was surprised to see when Ronaldo becomes this year top goalscorer, is he dont win this "award" since 2015. and that make me think so many things, and also where i was at that time, and how times flies, it was sad in someways. I am the only one with that feeling?

[TelolettOm]

You can compare them and Ronaldo is all about full force, not about precision and smartness. You can see it when he takes a free kick, he never takes them as a smart shooter. He takes them with full force hoping he hits it right. Messi in contract is a smart player with unmatched precision and unprecedented short way acceleration and deceleration. If someone likes to watch beautiful soccer, Messi is the one to stick with. If someone prefers to watch soccer that is about pure force, Ronaldo might be the better choice.

Although Ronaldo seems to use power over the pure skills, but it also requires the intelligence (smartness). So, it is wrong if you claim Ronaldo isn't a smart player while Messi is smart player. If Ronaldo only focus on the power, he won't get the chance to score many goals. We mustn't deny that Ronaldo already scored many goals that look as smart goals. For me, both Ronaldo and Messi are smart players. When they kick the ball, it will be unpredictable and it probably will be beautiful goals.

[marcous]

A lot of great players have come to this league and the quality of this league is only normal that has increased a lot with the coming with Cristiano Ronaldo and alike.Speaking of Cristiano he is for no reason in my opinion the greatest of all time as he ended the year with 59 or a bit more goals at the age of 38 and he has promised to at least repeat the same performance this upcoming year where he will be 39 in February.I know that most people may say he is playing in a weaker league than in Europe but sometimes it is difficult to get used to play in these so called "lower quality" leagues.I think what is to be appreciated it is this player mindset,he thinks to beat new records even at the age of 39,I don't know any other player thinking the same,that is why for me is the greatest of all time.

It makes sense, Ronaldo movements have always attracted many people, especially if you look at the record he recently set, perhaps no player can do that at the age of 38. If Al Nassr wins the SPL and Ronaldo becomes top scorer, then the image of the SPL will improve even more, I am very sure about that. the impact of Ronaldo presence is very big on the progress of the SPL, there will be many more top european players who will be tempted to move to the SPL by Ronaldo, he has had a big influence. his thoughts and ambitions do not yet show signs of being sufficient, even though we know that he is already very old for a professional player, but that is the challenge for himself, that age does not limit him from continuing to work on the field.

[temple]

Yes, I agree with you that Mbappe, Haaland and Kane are at a different level of competition to Ronaldo and that is a fact. But sometimes at an older age Ronaldo can still be productive and try to compete to chase other records. Ronaldo never once thought about retiring when he was at his current age.

However, what counts is the number of goals and despite being in a different generation, Ronaldo proves that competition still exists. All players have levels depending on their current age and Ronaldo will only be able to place his current performance in the Saudi league and will not be able to be at the top in European competitions like when he was young.

I wasn't talking about different generations here, I am ok with different generations competing with each other. But I don't like the comparison between players who play in totally different environments and under totally different conditions. I know that this statistic is counting goals globally and all players from all leagues are compared, but that's where this statistic lacks meaning as there is a huge difference whether Haaland breaks a record in the Premier League or Ronaldo breaks a record in the Saudi Professional League.

I agree with you on this. It is illogical to compare players from various environments and leagues. It's not all about the objectives, is it? It is about the path to those objectives. Ronaldo is a huge fish in a small pond when it comes to the Saudi League. Although he is undoubtedly a legend, the opposition he currently confronts is nothing like what Haaland encounters in the Premier League. It's like comparing a professional soccer player to a standout high school player - both are amazing in their own right, but not to the same extent. Rather than applying generalizations to every player's accomplishment, we should begin to value each one in its unique circumstances

Exactly, and it would be similar if you compare all basketball players around the world with each other and then come to the conclusion that one guy from some inferior league from Asia or Europe is better than the number one scorer from the NBA because the PPG is higher. That makes no sense and I am sure most people get that.

But I don't want to discredit Ronaldo's performance because he is still acing the game. He is still better than the others as there is some comparison that can be made. Just see how Benzema is doing. That's where it becomes obvious that Ronaldo is still on top of things, but should not be compared across leagues.

[Westinhome]

Although Ronaldo seems to use power over the pure skills, but it also requires the intelligence (smartness). So, it is wrong if you claim Ronaldo isn't a smart player while Messi is smart player. If Ronaldo only focus on the power, he won't get the chance to score many goals. We mustn't deny that Ronaldo already scored many goals that look as smart goals. For me, both Ronaldo and Messi are smart players. When they kick the ball, it will be unpredictable and it probably will be beautiful goals.

Messi May be the smarter player in the game,but you should understand the fact.The Ronaldo had the huge fan bases compared to the rest of the player including the Messi.Both Messi and Ronaldo was the goat in the football.But the game of both this two player was in the different style,the best player in this was none.Every player had their own style,this was the reason for some fans will have their own fans in the football community.If the both this player was playing the match,it will be the biggest match of the history.The organisers will become the millionaire in the single day match in the stadium.The possibility of scoring goals in the penalty will be made by Ronaldo.

[Nheer]

Ronaldo's SPL dominance with Al Nassr is amazing. I think his success is due to the team's full support, unlike at Man United. 20 goals is impressive, and he's a key player in Al Nassr's title race. With Mitrovic leading the way, Al Hilal is untouchable this season. I wonder whether Ronaldo can help Al Nassr pass them. It'll be hard, but Ronaldo can do it.

The key is consistency and seizing opportunities. Al Nassr has a good chance, but they must keep performing. Although strong, Al Hilal are not invincible. You can never count Al Nassr out with Ronaldo.

Team support brings out the best in a person and it was what Manchester United denied him and despite all the negativity he managed to be the team’s highest goal scorer. They thought Ronaldo is finished just because he can’t dribble anymore but they forgot how good a goal scorer he is, he is not the youngster they once new he is now old and body too weak to run all round the field dribbling.

He is a very important player and plays huge role in their title race, for his age 20 goals in just half season is super impressive this means he could promise 30 - 35+ goals for the league, something no youngster can promise nowadays if not Haaland and Mbappe. It will very hard to pass Al Hilal because they are more organized than Al Nassr and any other team in the league bit if they should show any sign of relentlessness Al Nassr could pass them.

[Mustang Shelby]

Al-Taawoun vs Al-Nassr Yesterday match of both teams enjoyed very nice match. Al-Taawoun did not play very well. Goalkeeper of Al-Taawoun team had a bad performance for which Al-Taawoun team scored 1 goal. Al-Taawoun team played  scored the first goal in the first 13 minutes of the start. On the other hand, Al-Nassr won the match by scoring 4 goals. I expected to see a tough fight between the two teams in this match, but I could not see it due to the poor performance of the Al-Taawoun team. The two teams were almost equal in the points table.

Al Tawoon actually started the match well, but they couldn't continue it. When you look at Al Nassr, they have great players and only the leader Al Hilal can challenge them. Al Hilal currently continues to maintain its leadership by a wide margin. The next matches should be lossless for Al Nassr. Now their only chance will be to wait for Al Hilal to lose points.

[BALIK]

One thing i was surprised to see when Ronaldo becomes this year top goalscorer, is he dont win this "award" since 2015. and that make me think so many things, and also where i was at that time, and how times flies, it was sad in someways. I am the only one with that feeling?

Ronaldo can score a lot of goals in Soudi Pro League. We see good performances from Ronaldo in every match. Also his fitness is still very good. He has managed to score 20 goals and 9 assists in 18 matches this season. I thought Benzema would probably be able to score as many goals as Ronaldo. But we don't see a good enough performance from Benzema in the Saudi league. He scored only 9 goals and 5 assists in 15 matches. He is far behind Ronaldo. On the other hand, Neymar's condition is now very deplorable due to injuries. He has played only 3 matches this season. Couldn't score any goals.

[beerlover]

I wasn't talking about different generations here, I am ok with different generations competing with each other. But I don't like the comparison between players who play in totally different environments and under totally different conditions. I know that this statistic is counting goals globally and all players from all leagues are compared, but that's where this statistic lacks meaning as there is a huge difference whether Haaland breaks a record in the Premier League or Ronaldo breaks a record in the Saudi Professional League.

I agree with you on this. It is illogical to compare players from various environments and leagues. It's not all about the objectives, is it? It is about the path to those objectives. Ronaldo is a huge fish in a small pond when it comes to the Saudi League. Although he is undoubtedly a legend, the opposition he currently confronts is nothing like what Haaland encounters in the Premier League. It's like comparing a professional soccer player to a standout high school player - both are amazing in their own right, but not to the same extent. Rather than applying generalizations to every player's accomplishment, we should begin to value each one in its unique circumstances

That has been always true but unfortunately if you look at Twitter and how many goals he has scored this year, people talk about it like he has done something amazing. I mean look at his Portugal career in this year as well, he hasn't played much, and on the games he played, I remember him scoring against a very weak team once, nothing more.

I believe that it's quite obvious that he is not as good as he used to be, but people seem to be not caring about that. Like lets assume he didn't had any fight with ETH, and he was doing very well with him in relationship wise so ETH uses him as striker even to this day instead of getting Hojlund, do you really think that he would have scored anything similar? Or even something like 20 goals all year long? I doubt that.

[rahmad2nd]

Last night was a victory that Al-Shabab really missed because in the last 6 matches in the Saudi league, Al-Shabab have never tasted victory again. They did this when they hosted al-Wehda at home and the win with a narrow score of 1-0 allowed Al-Shabab to breathe a sigh of relief to be able to move away from the relegation zone again. Abdullah Radif was a hero for Al-Shabab's victory in this match and if he had not scored a goal in the 86th minute then it is certain that the two teams would only be tied for 1 point.

Al-Shabab is indeed one of the teams that has experienced a drastic decline this season and they are very doubtful of being able to return to the top flight. But if they close this season without being relegated, that would be the best achievement they could do.

After the 2023-24 season is held, one of the strong teams that competed in last season's competition. in the competition, the minimum was to finish in the top four, experiencing various obstacles. in fact, in the last three seasons, Al Shabab has always been in the top four of the Saudi Pro League standings. unfortunately this season, Al Shabab is the team that stands out the most in terms of a very significant decline in performance. now, Al Shabab is in 11th place after overthrowing Al Wehda by a narrow score. at least, for the time being Al Shabab is in a safe position. this team's performance is really fluctuating, which last season was able to provide competition. this season they were only able to win 5 of their 19 matches in the Saudi Pro League. 6 draws, 8 with losses. even though, this team is not an ordinary team. I mean, Al Shabab has a pretty good financial condition. however, to compete with the other 4 clubs, it seems that it will be difficult and requires hard work apart from spending money to bring in several top European players.

Speaking at the Al Wehda match, Al Shabab was able to end its bad results after not winning in its last 6 matches. even to overthrow Al Wehda, which incidentally Al Shabab is playing at home, they have to work hard to win even though they have many opportunities. in fact, this competition still has a lot of matches left. however, it seems that it will be difficult for Al Shabab to finish in the top four until the end of the 2023-2024 season. at the very least, the Al Shabab coach must continue to correct weaknesses and improve the quality of his players.

[borovichok]

One thing i was surprised to see when Ronaldo becomes this year top goalscorer, is he dont win this "award" since 2015. and that make me think so many things, and also where i was at that time, and how times flies, it was sad in someways. I am the only one with that feeling?

Cristiano Ronaldo is aged 38 and he's still doing quite brilliance in Saudi Pro League. He's such a confident and influential player the pitch, not just the pitch but it also extends to the entire team performance and big positive impact on the team he plays for. Ronaldo is not relenting in his performance and he's capable of doing the impossible, which I must fall on his goals tally this season alone. Ronaldo bagged 54 goals in calender of 2023 and he surpassed all of his opponents with clear stats, that alone proved him to be the best when compared to his mates and the new generation of football.

[Arenga pinnata]

Al-Taawoun vs Al-Nassr Yesterday match of both teams enjoyed very nice match. Al-Taawoun did not play very well. Goalkeeper of Al-Taawoun team had a bad performance for which Al-Taawoun team scored 1 goal. Al-Taawoun team played  scored the first goal in the first 13 minutes of the start. On the other hand, Al-Nassr won the match by scoring 4 goals. I expected to see a tough fight between the two teams in this match, but I could not see it due to the poor performance of the Al-Taawoun team. The two teams were almost equal in the points table.

Al-Taawoun played well at first. But after they scored 1 goal, it seemed like Al-Nassr actually became more motivated to get up and return the goal. Al-Taawoun put up quite strong resistance and they also made attacks with quite good accuracy. Unfortunately all of this was thwarted by Al-Nassr and Al-Taawoun had to concede more goals. Well, Al-Taawoun's performance was not as good as we expected in this match. Or maybe it looks like that because currently there is a big difference between the performance of Al-Nassr and Al-Taawoun. And what is certain is that Al-Nassr has now improved their back line to be a little more solid. So it is not surprising that Al-Taawoun had difficulty scoring another goal in this match.

[nullama]

~snip~
Cristiano Ronaldo is aged 38 and he's still doing quite brilliance in Saudi Pro League. He's such a confident and influential player the pitch, not just the pitch but it also extends to the entire team performance and big positive impact on the team he plays for. Ronaldo is not relenting in his performance and he's capable of doing the impossible, which I must fall on his goals tally this season alone. Ronaldo bagged 54 goals in calender of 2023 and he surpassed all of his opponents with clear stats, that alone proved him to be the best when compared to his mates and the new generation of football.

That is true, but he is currently not playing at the top leagues, so his performance might drop in the future, also considering his age, because he is definitely now in his biological prime any more.

He will continue to score of course, but I don't think we will see him at the next world cup, he is basically retiring in the SPL in my mind.

[klidex]

Last night was a victory that Al-Shabab really missed because in the last 6 matches in the Saudi league, Al-Shabab have never tasted victory again. They did this when they hosted al-Wehda at home and the win with a narrow score of 1-0 allowed Al-Shabab to breathe a sigh of relief to be able to move away from the relegation zone again. Abdullah Radif was a hero for Al-Shabab's victory in this match and if he had not scored a goal in the 86th minute then it is certain that the two teams would only be tied for 1 point.

Al-Shabab is indeed one of the teams that has experienced a drastic decline this season and they are very doubtful of being able to return to the top flight. But if they close this season without being relegated, that would be the best achievement they could do.

This was an impressive victory for Al Shabab, at least this victory closed the end of a beautiful year and at the beginning of 2024 Al Shabab can improve its performance even better, thanks to this victory Al Shabab is now in 11th place and has started to move away from the relegation zone even though it is in the middle of the standings but Al Shabab still has to fight because the difference in points with relegated clubs is not that much. Al Shabab must widen the gap to stay safe and avoid relegation this season.

Al Shabab this season seems to be experiencing a decline and has to fight from a relegation position even though in the previous season Al Shabab was able to compete with the top clubs in the Saudi Pro League and in the last 2 seasons Al Shabab finished in the top 4 while this season it looks like Al Shabab will finishing in the middle of the standings, I think this is because competition in the Saudi League is getting tighter because there are European players joining the Saudi League.

[Mustang Shelby]

~snip~
Cristiano Ronaldo is aged 38 and he's still doing quite brilliance in Saudi Pro League. He's such a confident and influential player the pitch, not just the pitch but it also extends to the entire team performance and big positive impact on the team he plays for. Ronaldo is not relenting in his performance and he's capable of doing the impossible, which I must fall on his goals tally this season alone. Ronaldo bagged 54 goals in calender of 2023 and he surpassed all of his opponents with clear stats, that alone proved him to be the best when compared to his mates and the new generation of football.

That is true, but he is currently not playing at the top leagues, so his performance might drop in the future, also considering his age, because he is definitely now in his biological prime any more.

He will continue to score of course, but I don't think we will see him at the next world cup, he is basically retiring in the SPL in my mind.

Maybe he can postpone retirement in SPL. I think he can play in his country with the Sporting jersey, even for 1 year. Of course, when it comes to Cristiano, I am sure that Sporting's door will always be open to him, even though he is 40 years old. Age is just a number to him. He continues to break his best records at every age. Living legend right now.

[Solokan]

~snip~
Cristiano Ronaldo is aged 38 and he's still doing quite brilliance in Saudi Pro League. He's such a confident and influential player the pitch, not just the pitch but it also extends to the entire team performance and big positive impact on the team he plays for. Ronaldo is not relenting in his performance and he's capable of doing the impossible, which I must fall on his goals tally this season alone. Ronaldo bagged 54 goals in calender of 2023 and he surpassed all of his opponents with clear stats, that alone proved him to be the best when compared to his mates and the new generation of football.

That is true, but he is currently not playing at the top leagues, so his performance might drop in the future, also considering his age, because he is definitely now in his biological prime any more.

He will continue to score of course, but I don't think we will see him at the next world cup, he is basically retiring in the SPL in my mind.

Yes, I agree with you because Cristiano Ronaldo's performance is very good and I think many young players are inferior to him in terms of skill and technique, and it is proven that almost every time Al-Nassr plays, of course Cristiano Ronaldo always contributes goals and this is a sign that Cristiano Ronaldo very good. and indeed there is no young player currently who can compete with Cristiano Ronaldo.

I'm sure that even though Cristiano Ronaldo plays in the Saudi league, I don't think it will reduce Cristiano Ronaldo's performance. Yes, of course we won't know about Cristiano Ronaldo's performance in the future, but I always see that Cristiano Ronaldo always takes good care of his health and he seems to enjoy everything and when he competed against the Portuguese national team he was also very good and not inferior to the other players and regarding I also don't know whether he will play part in the World Cup or not, but I am sure that Cristiano Ronaldo has the potential to play part in the World Cup and I am sure that many people are hoping to see Cristiano Ronaldo appear in the World Cup.

[rendravolt]

Last night was a victory that Al-Shabab really missed because in the last 6 matches in the Saudi league, Al-Shabab have never tasted victory again. They did this when they hosted al-Wehda at home and the win with a narrow score of 1-0 allowed Al-Shabab to breathe a sigh of relief to be able to move away from the relegation zone again. Abdullah Radif was a hero for Al-Shabab's victory in this match and if he had not scored a goal in the 86th minute then it is certain that the two teams would only be tied for 1 point.

Al-Shabab is indeed one of the teams that has experienced a drastic decline this season and they are very doubtful of being able to return to the top flight. But if they close this season without being relegated, that would be the best achievement they could do.

This was an impressive victory for Al Shabab, at least this victory closed the end of a beautiful year and at the beginning of 2024 Al Shabab can improve its performance even better, thanks to this victory Al Shabab is now in 11th place and has started to move away from the relegation zone even though it is in the middle of the standings but Al Shabab still has to fight because the difference in points with relegated clubs is not that much. Al Shabab must widen the gap to stay safe and avoid relegation this season.

Al Shabab this season seems to be experiencing a decline and has to fight from a relegation position even though in the previous season Al Shabab was able to compete with the top clubs in the Saudi Pro League and in the last 2 seasons Al Shabab finished in the top 4 while this season it looks like Al Shabab will finishing in the middle of the standings, I think this is because competition in the Saudi League is getting tighter because there are European players joining the Saudi League.

Indeed, even though Al-Shabab can climb to the middle of the table, everything is not very safe because they only have a difference of a few points from the other teams below them and will also be very vulnerable to being pushed back if they lose in the next match. Al-Shabab must pay more attention to their current situation and not stop just because they have just won and they must continue this winning trend.

This season has not been very good for them and they are slowly making improvements and even though the results are still quite doubtful, they have tried to cover it up with a performance that needs to be emphasized even more. It's not easy to lose a good performance that was lost in just an instant and they are trying to restore it again and will continue the rest of the season to finish in a position that is more worthy than just bottom of the table.

[roksana.hee]

~

Absolutely, the current standings do reflect a delicate situation for Al-Shabab. While their recent performance has shown promise, it's important for them to maintain consistency to secure a safer position. Losing the momentum gained could be detrimental.

What strategies do you think Al-Shabab should employ to ensure a steady climb in the table for the remainder of the season?