Topic: Saudi Professional League 2023/2024 - page 713. (Read 119182 times)

Al-Nassr ends their final game of the season by 3-0 win against Al Fateh. Though they get the victory, this victory is somewhat bittersweet, as they played the game knowing that it wouldn't make any difference to their final standings. Ronaldo was unavailable for this match. No matter what there will always be critics waiting to criticize, but nobody even cared about it until CR7 arrived and became the center of attention. His first Saudi Pro League season at Al-Nassr ends Trophy-less, but Al-Nassr should hold their heads high. The team will need to stay focused and work even harder in the upcoming season.

Each and every match on the final match day have got results. With the win against Al-Taee the table leader Al-Ittihad confirm its position and becomes the champion of the season. With a 5 point difference between the first and the second team Al-Nassr takes the second position after its 3-0 win against Al Fateh. On the final match day Ronaldo wasn't able to perform due to injury and the expectation upon Ronaldo isn't much fulfilled. Maybe a title win is much to be focused in the upcoming season of Saudi Arabia Pro League.

It's a shame, lately I haven't really participated in this competition. however, speaking of the last match of the Saudi Pro League competition. the 4 teams that are ranked in the top 4, went through their matches with wins. Al Ittihad won the match with a score of 2-0, Al Nassr won with a final score of 3-0, Al Hilal won with a score of 3-2, and Al Shabab overthrew his opponent Damac with a score of 1-4.

Referring to the match statistics, in the first half Damac dominated ball possession. maybe, because Al Shabab scored first in the 13th minute. after that, the home side stepped up their attacking intensity and in the end Damac was able to equalize in the 22nd minute. the second half, it seems that Al Shabab benefited from the elimination of Mohanad Al Najai because he was hampered by a red card. which in the end, Al Shabab dominated the game with 57% possession. in fact, they have many opportunities. recorded, Al Shabab had 12 total shots and 3 of them could be converted into goals. which in the end, Al Shabab won this fight although it did not affect their ranking.

By the way, it looks like in the next season there will be several European league players who have moved on to play in the Saudi Pro League competition. and if that happens, it seems that the Saudi Pro League competition is gaining more and more attention in the eyes of the world.

Ittihad will win the title this year, and they are rich as well, so getting Benzema wouldn't be a mistake, obviously he is way too old and this is a new strategy they are working on, getting famous players for a lot of money, basically overpaying them by a lot, so that they could get more attention.

When you get more attention you are viewed more, and when you are viewed more than it's easier to get players. That way instead of getting 35 year olds to play there for 100 million, they could convince 25 year olds to play there for 100 million in the future. When that starts in a few years, I bet that this league will be easy top 10 league because of all the talent they could afford to pay. However, they need to keep overpaying, otherwise nobody would go there.

I disagree when you say that signing players like Ronaldo is a big step forward, or as you precisely said it is the first step or something like that. This is not enough as the global audience wants real competition between many of the best players of the world. If there is only Ronaldo and a few others, then this helps drawing attention to the league, but it is far away from any of the European top leagues. You need an army of the best players in the world to make the SPL an authentic top league.

When you have one time events like the Grand Prix in formula 1 in Saudi Arabia, that is different. Or when you host a World Cup like Qatar, that is also different because people will still watch it as it is part of a global league or global event. But turning the SPL into a top league requires so much more than just a few stadiums and two stars like Messi and Ronaldo. The problem is that people might watch when the two play against each other, but what happens the other 28 games? You can't copy an ecosystem easily. The Premier League is a global product because the best of the best play there in the best phases of their career.

The words of Ronaldo are very true because Saudi Professional League can become a force and will definitely be among the top five leagues in the world without any doubt. Even though the Saudi is unable to attract many good players because of the difference in cultures and the rules and regulations of the country, but the sheikhs are willing to spend billions to attract those players in their country.

The sheiks won't move to Europe because they're spending that amount of money to attract top stars in their own motherland, and their main intention is to get fame in their own country rather than spending their money of purchasing their clubs in other countries. They're really sure about the things they're doing, and I think in future they might reduce the rules and regulations for the stars only to make them stay in their country.

if Messi joins SPL then it will surly be force and that help earn so much.
The rumours of Messi joining the Saudi premium league. Both  the players will make good force.

It was a good performance by Ronaldo to help Al Nassr secure the second position and he isn't to be blamed for not lifting the trophy with Al Nassr. Let's not forget he only cam in the second half of the season and needed time to adjust to the league still he managed to get 14 goals in the league so far and might score more today. I hate it when leagues get won while we still have games to be played. It take style whole suspense and entertainment form the game as coaches tends not to take the games seriously again and players as well unless those hoping to impress so they can draw more after to themselves.

I think Al Nassr wins Al Fateh but it's doesn't matter since it won't get them the title, I hope Cristiano Ronaldo don't get criticize for not winning the title, he can't do that alone especially as he isn't playing with the brightest of players that you'll expect the best results from them. He has done his best now he should focus on the future and see if he can leave that club back to fhe premier league as Newcastle united has secure a too 4 position. Let see if he can work with the players over there to get them to the champion league finals.

Well I would say never say never as nothing is impossible to achieve only if the mindset of doing it is there. Well for the case of turning the SPL to one of the top leagues is something that is quite possible I believed, first the attraction of major players like the likes of Ronaldo need to be always there and paying them handsomely is another factor but like you said its all depends on the owners and management of the league for this dream to be a reality and one thing I know and beleive the Arab men for is the actual will power that pushes them to achieve all their goals.

Today is the last match for the SPL season and even though the competition between Al-Ittihad and Al-Nassr is no longer very attractive because Al-Ittihad has officially won the SPL this season, I hope that each team will still give a good performance to close the season. Of all the teams competing today, there may be 3 teams that I think are quite interesting to watch, namely Al-Feiha, Al-Adalh, and Al-Khaleej who are currently trying to secure a safe place from the relegation zone.

Al-Adlh and Al-Khaleej have the same 28 points and Al-Feiha has 30 points. Even though Al-Adlh and Al-Khaleej are 2 points away from Al-Feiha, if these two teams manage to win the game then Al-Feiha will be relegated this season. It will be very interesting to see that the opportunities for these 3 teams are still very wide open to qualify for the SPL next season and I am quite enthusiastic about this competition later.

Of course there is nothing wrong with that statement, but that doesn't mean that the statement is realistic or ever becomes true. He can say whatever he wants. But you neglected something else I said and that is it won't be sustainable. To make players go to the SPL we all know the prices they have to pay now. They themselves raised the bar so high. How much are they going to spend on players to build a "Barcelona vs. Madrid" clasico situation in the SPL? It is not possible with Messi and Ronaldo only. If they try to rebuild PSG in the SPL, that would cost them three billion dollars in salaries per year. And then? If you are a really competitive player you want to be up against the best of the best in the world. But where are they? Not in the SPL. Haaland wouldn't even have considered for a second to go to Saudi Arabia unless they offered him a billion dollars per year. It will take decades and decades until there could be a slim chance for the SPL to significantly increase in quality and public appreciation. The only reason for now is money and even that has limits for the Saudis.

The problem with developing leagues there is not only because of their culture, so it will be difficult for professional players to go there where they have to comply with the culture of that country, but because leagues in Europe and Arab or Asia are under the auspices of different football organizations. Europe is under the EUFA while the league in Asia where the Saudi Pro League is under the auspices of the AFC, so the management and rules are also different but for Asia the Saudi Pro League is top in terms of number of spectators even beating the Japanese League, but I agree one that might make the reluctance of young professional players to Arabs is because of the way of life that is not the same in Arabs, and also if we judge that young players will get a big salary I don't think so, because what Ronaldo gets of course other players will not get because it turns out that the salary Ronaldo get at Al Nassr was not fully paid by the club but more of his portion was paid for by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund which also owns the Newcastle club and one of the missions of presenting Ronaldo is to improve the image of football in Saudi Arabia, so when he says things that include the league would be the best 5 in the world it makes sense because it might as well be in the contract.

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On one hand, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud want Saudi Arabia to become a global sports hub. And on the other hand, the royal family wants to cling on to their customs. Both of these can't go side by side. If they want to attract the best sporting talent from around the world, then they need to change their laws. And what is the big issue if someone wants to stay in a live-in relation instead of marrying? IMO, it is better than the Saudi Arabian custom of having 3-4 wives. If Ronaldo gets fed up and quits the SPL, then the reputation of the entire Kingdom will be tarnished.

European football is the most prominent, gaining global reputation, and there is no doubt that they will continue to dispatch other leagues since they have what it takes to lead for a decade. Saudi Arabia performed a substantial feat by signing Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United; now their objective is Messi, and bids have already been lodged, pending responses from Messi and PSG. Leo Messi's prospects of playing till he is 40 are very limited; he appears to be older than Cristiano Ronaldo; there is a significant disparity between the two phenomenal names. The Saudi Arabia league is gaining popularity in the football world, owing to the big-names they are attempting to get in; Messi is not the only one on the list.

I think Al Shabab will definitely win over Damac, and if you look at the results of the Damac match
have inconsistent performance. And from 29 matches, only 9 wins, 9 draws and 11 defeats are in 7th position of the standings with 36 points.
Meanwhile, Al Shabab in 29 matches, Al Shabab managed to record 16 wins, 5 draws and 8 defeats, which made them occupy 4th place in the standings with 53 points. And with this result I feel that Al Shabab has the upper hand, and even though Damac is not an easy opponent, in the end they will still lose even if they play at home. And maybe the score will be 1-2.

The match between Damac vs Al-Shabab is going to start in Saudi Professional League. It is not clear which team will win between these two teams. But I think Al-Shabab team is ahead in the points table for which Al-Shabab team is in this match. There is a big chance to win. And if Al-Shabab performs badly then Al-Shabab can't win this match. Maybe the match can be a draw. Damac team plays very well in every match but wait to see what they will do in this match.

Being on the King rule, giving relaxation to the foreign players never be a big issue. Already Ronaldo is enjoying the exception of live in relationship which according to Saudi Arabia is against their law. However the lifestyle of what they enjoy in European countries can't be expected to happen in Saudi Arabia. The transition is slowly happening in Saudi Arabia, maybe in the future we can expect big changes. For now the government is much focused on improving the country's economy through sport, traditional and tourism activities. So, we can expect something better than now in the next season of Saudi Arabia Pro League.

@shogun47 there’s nothing wrong with his statement as he’s justifying to his fan’s why he’s playing there and his dream can turn into reality if he can continuously convince star player’s who’re in their prime to come and play there. Also as we saw that the rules were relaxed for him and I believe that Saudi will offer the same relaxation to other foreign player’s which will further improve their leagues image and attract the top talent in the long run.

Big star and super star players only join such leagues when they are old enough. Like Ronaldo joined them when he lost his position in top leagues in Europe. Some players joined them because of money when they are younger than Ronaldo but they are not at same level and quality of Ronaldo.

Skills are helpful and I know about risk of serious injury. With old players, a serious injury can terminate their career any time. If Messi won't have serious injury, he will have a long career and his style can help him to reduce injuries he might get. He got many injuries when he was young but in later of his career, he changed his style an more wisely on field to avoid tackles. Like we see Messi got less injuries than Neymar and I believe he will not lose his skills in Saudi Arabia League.

Ronaldo is also smart to avoid injuries too but even he succeeds, he was not able to get a body like his twenties or early thirties. Messi will face similar body problems next 2 or 4 years.

One major problem for the Saudi Professional League is that not may professional players would want to live there for many years. Many professional players appreciate the Western free lifestyle. They would go there for two or three years and some maybe longer, but it will take a lot of time in my opinion until young talents would decide to go to the SPL before they had a great career in Europe, living in England or Spain or other places. Is is also the whole European socer ecosystem that you can't quickly copy with a few billion dollars. Ronaldo says that about SPL becoming top 5 because it is his job to do that. When you get paid half a billion dollars, why not just say it and then think who cares. He probably knows it is not realistic. SPL would have to be among England, Spain, Germany, Italy and maybe France or Portugal. We are not even talking about Argentina or Brazil yet.