Topic: Saudi Professional League 2023/2024 - page 69. (Read 118912 times)

Maybe Neymar still has to do a lot of training sessions to recover his ability because he was absent for a very long time more than 1 season so it is not easy for Al Hilal to use which will later make him injured again if he is not really fit, Al Hilal already has the best players in it so even if they do not use Neymar their performance will be fine. But what is very unfortunate if Al Hilal crosses out Neymar from the list of players again Al Hilal seems to have wasted their money of 90 million euros and Neymar is only contracted for 2 seasons which means next season his contract has expired.

Saudi Arabia is currently undergoing the 3rd round of the Asian Zone World Cup qualifiers, in their first match they faced Indonesia, and surprisingly they had to be held to a draw by Indonesia which is ranked far below them. What is in the spotlight is because Mancini (Saudi Arabia coach) complained about the playing time that the players he has in the current squad get.
https://www.saudigazette.com.sa/article/645341/Sports/Mancini-highlights-lack-of-regular-playing-time-as-key-issue-for-Saudi-players
Indeed, almost most of the players he brought for the qualifying round barely got playing minutes in the domestic league, while there are not many options for the Italian coach to find players who play regularly at the club. Of course this is difficult for the coach, because of the limited players he has. Well, this might also be an evaluation because the teams in the Saudi Pro League themselves are actively bringing in players from Europe.

Neymar has huge talent to succeed but he lack of professionality to be serious with his body and career. His living style affects his body and career more when he passed his 30s and now it seems that Neymar no longer cares too much about his career. Simply look at his body that is overweight, it's not a perfect body for a professional football player at highest level. Injuries can come very unfortunately but by having a bad body, Neymar can not blame his injuries on luck.

Al-Hilal actually are very disappointed with their bet on Neymar and big money spent to this player while in return they got very limited contributions from him. With latest things around Neymar, chance for him to return to Europe is very small too and maybe he will have to look for another club in Saudi Professional League or return to his home land Brazil to play very last seasons in his career.

Terminating Neymar Jr contract with his current club, though he's benched for a lengthy period, it doesn't mean he's not important for the club's progress but the board have already moved on, making more prominent signings for the growth of the club. Neymar Jr is vulnerable to injuries and we should always know the level of capacity and expectations from the Brazilian. To me, It's over for Neymar Jr, he's unable to meet the required expectations from Al Hilal supporters, out of reach for the player.

It's a shame,  Personally, I've always said that when a player like Ney can't play Because of such a serious injury, I know that the team had the utmost patience to allow him to come on and prove his worth, but the team's interests are different, and of course, the benefit of having a Brazilian of his level is unique, and I think that because of the respect that everyone gives him , that's the reason why they won't have his name on the shirt, I wonder how serious his injury is ? Could it be that he can't help the Brazilian team yet? For how long? They need him no matter what.

Neymar not playing is not really a shock. First of all he is injured so he is not ready to come back yet, and secondly even if he comes back nobody should expect him to do that great, he has been injured all his life, ever since that famous injury at Brazil years ago, he has been getting injured quite frequently. Look at his time at PSG, he was great there when he played games, but he missed more games than anyone else, he was constantly injured and constantly missing games as well.

I believe that it is going to be a trouble for him and there is really no way to recover from there at all. The best thing they can do right now would be making sure that Neymar finishes his contract there, or (I know it is near impossible) find a team to get him. Even terminating his contract for cheaper than what he is owed would be fine.

This is a failed purchase made by Al Hilal, failed not because his game was bad but failed because he only played a few games last season. They also cannot regret what they experienced, because the decision they took did not consider the injury record experienced by Neymar, because he was injured several times in one season while still wearing the Paris Saint Germain uniform. There was also a conflict between Neymar and Al Hilal, but it had no effect on Al Hilal. If in terms of business, Al Hilal must have suffered a loss, and when they terminated the contract I think it was not a good decision because they had to pay compensation. This could be a valuable lesson for them to be more careful in buying players.

Al Ahli. They've made some splashy signings with Toney and Firmino. No matter how talented your front line is, without chances and the ball, they'll just stand around looking nice. Lets not even discuss defence. Hilal and Nassr are stacked back. Al Ahli? Not so much.

They may win some games, especially against weaker clubs. They'll play catch-up in the title battle. You may be lucky sometimes, but you'll be overwhelmed. Al Ahli has promise, but they must improve to compete. Until then, I'd be cautious about betting on them for the title.

Speaking on unfilled tasks open by Neymar Jr, not good enough for the club but he's on the bench due to crucial injuries obtained. Al Hilal don't need the services of Neymar because they've stocked the team with high-profile players that are capable of netting top targets for the SPL club. Neymar Jr is in one of the best ranking club in Saudi Arabia following his move from Paris Saint-Germain. Probably the best skillful player in football, watching the Brazilian falling from his prime, it means quite alot.

In Al Hilal, people are still unhappy about their player, Neymar and they are not counting on this Brazilian player anymore. Neymar was out of the good form for a long time and he was mostly injured in the past however we can't blame him for it because that's because of the playing style of this player.
Now Jorge Jesus the coach of Al Hilal started talking about Neyamr and he said they will remove the name of Neymar and use Renan Lodi instead of Neyamr in the list which can show Neymar is still not in the good form.

I like Bergwijn's attitude with his reply to Ronald Koeman. because however I also don't agree with the words and attitudes of a coach like Ronald Koeman. And we'll see, maybe if Bergwijn can play well and make a good reputation here then he will definitely be called up by the Dutch national team. And I'm sure Bergwijn will be even more motivated to play well at Al-ittihad. And with the presence of Bergwijn at Al-ittihad, Al-ittihad now has another quality wing midfielder. And I think this will make Al-ittihad get more attention from its opponents this season, especially Al-hilal and Al-nassr who seem to be competing fiercely in the SPL in the race for champions.

Al-ittihad has brought in many new players into their squad. And the 5 new players they got included from Aston Villa, namely Moussa Diaby, then Houssem Aouar from AS Roma, Predrag Rajkovic from Mallorca, then Pereira from PSG, and Bergwijn from Ajax. It looks like Al-ittihad have gathered everything they need for this season.

The Saudi League is making really important strides, but if they don't get a place in the Champions League, I think their influence will continue to be narrow. The players they want to sign are players who want to play in the Champions League every year. I think they want to play in the Champions League more than which league they play in. I think one of the most obvious examples of this is Harry Kane. Instead of playing in the Premier League, he went to the Bundesliga (a less competitive league than the Premier League)...

UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin has already said Saudi teams will not participate in the Champions League. I hope he agrees with the Saudi League's efforts and paves the way for the Champions League for Saudi teams...

Al Ahli performed well last season with the foreign squad they have even better than Al Ittihad they managed to finish in 3rd position in the standings last season but this season Al Ahli seems to have difficulty competing in the Saudi League and has even experienced 1 defeat from 2 matches they have played so I also think the same as you that Al Ahli may not be able to surpass the abilities of Al Nassr and Al Hilal in the hunt for the title especially this season the arrival of the promoted club Al Qadisyah where they recruited many foreign players who seem to be going to make a breakthrough this season. In terms of squad Al Nassr and Al Hilal are still the most superior in the SPL but in my opinion Al Hilal is still a very tough rival for many clubs in the SPL.

Ângelo Gabriel to Al Nassr is kinda a smart move. Its about creating for the future, not only about purchasing a headline. Thats how you create a league that lasts. This action might rewrite the story on the SPL. These days, they're not only retirement homes. Young players see opportunity, not a career dead end

Young stars are fantastic, but to grow them you need outstanding guidance. Without that, nothing is gained at all. Not to mention local talent either. Simply piling your squad with foreigners and hoping the league would flourish is not how it works. Though its a long trip, the SPL's on the right path. They must make investments in local players' development, coaching, and a competitive atmosphere. Only then will they be a force to be reckoned with.

Just like you, I also sometimes have doubts about every match Al-Ahli faces. Not because I underestimate this team but I also see that sometimes Al-ahli lose their consistency. Even though last season they managed to show very good quality, it is not certain that this season they will still be as good as last season. Because I also saw that the teams that were considered weak last season had made very good preparations and yes, this could make big teams like Al-ahli lose points. Al-fateh is not at all a favorite in the match against Al-ahli. but they can win. And it seems that Al-Ahli becomes quite weak when they play away games.
But actually Al-Ahli currently has good players in attack. Namely they have Mahrez, Firminho and even Ivan Toney. But this team doesn't have enough good players at the back.

In the next match Al-ahli will visit Al-nassr headquarters. And I think this match will be difficult to predict. Even though I might hope that Al-Nassr wins as host, sometimes Al-Nassr is also the same as Al-ahli. Where they sometimes lose points at unexpected times.

After his move to the Saudi league was criticized by Ronald Koeman (Dutch coach) who said that the door to the Dutch national team was closed for him and it seems that this did not discourage Bergwijn and he responded to the harsh comments. He felt that Ronald Koeman should have been able to have a telephone conversation instead of describing Bergwijn badly in the media.

I think there is some truth to this and no matter how upset a coach is, he should be more mature to understand his players from the other side. We all know the main reasons why European players go here and that should not be something to talk about, especially for a coach like him. I hope that this negative news will not interfere with Bergwijn's performance with Al-Ittihad and of course we are looking forward to a better depth of Al-Ittihad squad for this season. At least they will get attention from Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr at the top.

Actually Al-ahli also has many foreign players in their squad. Because last season they were also quite active in hunting players. But the quality of the players brought in by Al-ahli is not as good as the players brought in by Al-Nassr, Al-hilal and Al-ittihad. So I also have the same thought that Al-ahli might be able to continue to compete well at the top. But I also doubt they are in contention for the title. I think the title fight will still be between Al-hilal, Al-nassr and AL-ittihad. I see that Al-ittihad is quite active in adding new players to their squad in the current transfer market.

It is true, this season Al Ahli did not bring in many players from big European clubs. I personally don't know the reason. However, if you look at the current Al Ahli squad, it can be seen that there are still many gaps that need to be filled in several lines. Firmino is indeed a pretty good striker, but if for example Al Ahli's midfielders and wingers are unable to provide good passes or opportunities to Firmino, I think Firmino will definitely have a little difficulty scoring goals. For this reason, I also think that Al Ahli really needs new players (wingers and centers) to be able to create a good combination on Al Ahli's front line. Apart from that, bringing in Ivan Toney is not a bad thing, but in my opinion it would be a little less effective. The reason is that Firmino and Ivan Toney have the same position, namely center front line. So with this, it is very likely that Al Ahli's front line will be less sharp. Because as I said, currently Al Ahli only needs to bring in good wingers and midfielders, so that they can provide good opportunities for Firmino. So if Al Ahli only brings in forward players, in my opinion Al Ahli's current attack flow is still not optimal.

And currently Al Ahli is ranked 8th in the Saudi Arabian League with 3 points from 1 win and 1 loss to date. Apart from that, I personally am still a little hesitant to bet on Al Ahli, even though the opponent is a team that is not too strong. The reason is, when Al Ahli faced Al Fateh, who was actually not very strong, Al Ahli lost at that time. So keeping this in mind, I'm a little hesitant to bet on Al Ahli. Maybe I only dare to do BTTS in Al Ahli matches with any team.

I think Ivan Toney decision to move to the Saudi Pro League with Al Ahli is the right move financially, he would never have earned a salary of 403 thousand pounds per week if he had still played in Europe, although on the other hand his career with the England National Team is threatened. With a 4-season contract, Ivan Toney can generate a fairly large income, he is taking advantage of the opportunity well. The Saudi Pro League will develop over time, with abundant finances they can achieve their goal of building a more competitive League. It is no wonder that in the future every top European player will be tempted to leave, the offer of a fantastic salary is certainly the main attraction.

Some players who refuse to continue their careers in Saudi are likely to have stable finances and it is possible that they are tied to a long-term sponsor contract, some also refuse it for family reasons. However, I tend to believe that most of them will take the offer to play in Saudi, and will not miss the opportunity that comes even though they are still relatively young.

It seems that Al Ahli still needs a lot of professional players who are very experienced to be able to compete with top teams like Al Hilal and Al Nassr. The arrival of Ivan Toney and Firmino does not mean that they can provide great results and compared to the Al Nassr and Al Hilal squads, it seems that Al Ahli is still too far for me.
Al Ahli still needs quality defenders and all quality players must be brought in from Europe and currently Al Ahli is still having difficulty bringing in quality defenders. And that means Al Ahli might be able to compete but not to get the SPL title.
But at least bringing in Ivan Toney will improve Al Ahli attack line and there is no doubt to bet on Al Ahli victory when playing against a slightly weaker team.