If they can’t find some form soon, they could slip out of the race for AFC Champions League qualification – which is awarded to the SPL’s top three. This shaky run also reflects poorly on their high-profile manager, who received significant criticism for taking over in Dammam in the summer.
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Gerrard & Henderson may already be regretting Saudi moves
Are Steven Gerrard and Jordan Henderson regretting their Saudi Pro League moves? Al-Ettifaq are miles off the big four despite massive summer spend
Over the course of the Saudi Pro League’s game-changing summer transfer window, the majority of the eye-watering spending was conducted by the nation’s ‘big four’, Al-Nassr, Al-Ahli, Al-Ittihad and Al-Hilal, all of whom were taken under the control of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund in June. Neymar, Karim Benzema and Riyad Mahrez were just some of the Europe-based stars who were convinced to head to the Middle East, as the country’s top sides looked to increase their stranglehold over the competition.
By the time the ink had dried on all the bumper contracts and the season was ready to get underway, there appeared to be only one club capable of breaking the big four’s dominance: Al-Ettifaq. Stalwarts of the Saudi Pro League, but without tasting much success since their 1980s pomp, Faris Ad-Dahna were the competition’s fifth-biggest spenders this summer and assembled one of the best squads in the division.
However, so far, things have been far from perfect. Currently, Al-Ettifaq are on a quite-miserable run, winning just one of their last five league games and also finding themselves out of the King’s Cup before the quarter-finals.
Gerrard’s ‘new challenge’
The coach in question is, of course, Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard. After being sacked by Aston Villa following a shocking start to the 2022-23 season, Gerrard was linked with several jobs. He was said to be close to taking over at Leeds United in February before the Whites opted to hire Javi Gracia instead, while the ex-Rangers boss was also surprisingly touted for the England and Paris Saint-Germain jobs. Few could have predicted that Gerrard’s next move would end up being more unexpected than even these most outlandish of reports had predicted.
Al-Ettifaq was first mentioned as a potential destination back in June. but Gerrard soon poured cold water on the story, saying: “I was invited over there to look at a potential offer, which I did. I have been analysing that over the last couple of days. But, as we stand right now, I won’t be taking that offer up.”
Well, that was that then. Except it wasn’t. Just a fortnight after these comments, Gerrard was stood in Al-Ettifaq’s offices speaking ‘Scouse Arabic’. What caused this sudden change of heart has never been revealed, but Gerrard did offer the following explanation when the move was confirmed: “I think there were a lot of reasons for me wanting to join the club. I think the club has a lot of good people who represent the club from the board down. When I went down to Saudi, I got a real family feel, they made me feel extremely welcome.”
“There are three things that I always consider and they are in a particular order,” he added. “It needs to be right for my family first and foremost, we have to be excited and motivated by the challenge. I think the football project needs to be ambitious, it needs to be for the right reasons in terms of the challenge and the remit. And of course, you need to feel secure, that the contract is right, but that always comes at the very end. It was a combination of reasons and I’m extremely excited and happy. I can’t wait to start and meet all the supporters and all the players. But the people I have met so far that represent Al-Ettifaq have been absolutely outstanding and I think we share a lot of things in common.”
Plenty of summer reinforcements
Al-Ettifaq backed their new manager heavily in the summer. Georginio Wijnaldum, one of the PSG ‘undesirables’ was snapped up after his loan spell at Roma came to an end, while Moussa Dembele – previously a target of several Premier League clubs – arrived from Lyon on a free transfer.
Jack Hendry was also signed from Club Brugge and Demarai Gray came in from Everton following a falling out with Toffees boss Sean Dyche. There was some Saudi-based recruitment too, with the club losing their top homegrown prospect, Faisal Al-Ghamdi, to champions Al-Ittihad.
Their most notable new arrival, though, was Liverpool skipper Jordan Henderson. The move provoked a fractious debate in England. Henderson had previously been an outspoken ally of the LGBT community and many felt betrayed by his decision to move to a country where homosexuality is illegal. The midfielder attempted to explain his decision in an in-depth interview with The Athletic, but did not receive much sympathy and was loudly booed by England fans in October.
Regardless of the controversy, the recruitment drive left Gerrard with an extremely-talented squad to work with as he looked to improve on his new side’s seventh-placed finish in 2022-23.
A solid start
And this new-look Al-Ettifaq side soon showed signs that they could cause the elite clubs some serious problems. Handed a tough opening-day game against Al-Nassr, albeit a Faris Najd side without Cristiano Ronaldo, they secured a surprise 2-1 win, with goals from Moussa Dembele and Robin Quaison cancelling out Sadio Mane’s opener.
The good times kept on rolling the following week. Al-Ettifaq had several key players missing, including Henderson, but that did not stop them beating Al-Hazm 2-0.
But then came a mini-wobble. Henderson’s return against minnows Al-Khaleej was not the boost Gerrard would have been hoping for, with his team held to a surprise 1-1 draw at home. And, as well as they had done to vanquish Al-Nassr on that opening weekend, they could not repeat the trick against high-flying Al-Hilal. The 18-time Saudi champions were completely dominant in Riyadh, restricting Gerrard’s team to just six shots on goal en route to a comfortable 2-0 victory.
However, buoyed by the late arrivals of Wijnaldum and Gray, Al-Ettifaq rallied well in the aftermath of that defeat, stringing together successive victories together against Damac, Abha and Al-Tai.
The wheels fall off dramatically
After building up a head of steam, the team had an excellent opportunity to pick up a statement result over one of the big four, Al-Ahli, at the end of September. Despite registering a credible 0-0 draw, this game again highlighted how far Al-Ettifaq are off the very top sides. Just like against Al-Hilal, they could only muster a handful of shots, with the hosts’ poor finishing sparing them from suffering defeat.
The disappointment was only getting started, too. First, they lost to Al-Fateh at home. This was followed up with an even more devastating 1-0 loss away to Al-Riyadh. They also crashed out of the Kings Cup to Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr in a fractious tie that witnessed two red cards and an on-field scuffle between Henderson and Ronaldo. The nadir of Gerrard’s time in Saudi Arabia was still to come, though.
After restoring some confidence with a dramatic 3-2 win over Al-Raed ahead of that narrow cup defeat, the scene was set for what was supposed to be a day of celebration in Dammam. On Saturday, the club opened their new 35,000-capacity stadium, which is likely to be included in the country’s 2034 World Cup bid. The arena was less than half full, however, and the supporters who did turn up saw Al-Ettifaq fail to beat Al-Raed – a side who have won just once all season long and sit bottom of the Pro League table.
At least the fans were treated to a light show. That was pretty cool…
Any regrets?
The pre-game phantasmagoria would have done little to ease Gerrard and Henderson’s frustration, though. For all of their public comments claiming they are loving life away from England, there have been a some seriously testing moments so far.
Just 696 spectators turned out to watch Al-Ettifaq lose to Al-Riyadh in October. To put that into some sort of context, Gosport Borough, who play in England’s seventh tier, have averaged a higher gate than that this season – and their star player is a scaffolder!
For Al-Ettifaq’s European other stars, who are used to playing in the most atmospheric stadiums on the planet, it must be hard to justify moments like this, even if there are advantages to playing in the Middle East.
Henderson, who was lucky enough to play at Anfield for over a decade, will feel stung by this lack of atmosphere more than most, but at least his decision to turn his back of the Reds does not appear to have affected his England prospects. Despite the supporters’ discontent, manager Gareth Southgate has repeatedly backed one of his most trusted lieutenants.
“I really don’t understand it. He is a player with 79 caps for England. His commitment and what he has delivered for England is exceptional. His role on and off the pitch is phenomenally important,” Southgate said after England’s victory over Australia, where Henderson was jeered.
Southgate’s handling of the situation points to the conclusion that Henderson will go to the Euros. Whether he is trusted to start is a different matter. And with the Three Lions scrambling around for another deep-lying midfielder in the wake of Kalvin Phillips’ struggles, it’s hard to shake the feeling that he would have been in the starting XI in Germany if he hadn’t voluntarily ducked out of facing top-level opposition every week.
Can they halt the slide?
Gerrard may also be having a few second thoughts. While he was dismissed by many as a ‘money-grabber’ for his decision in the summer, it would be disingenuous to suggest that a character like him was not at least partly tempted by the footballing side of things too.
Gerrard has always painted Al-Ettifaq as a long-term project, and the new stadium is an important step on the road. But if the goal is to challenge the big boys, as opposed to jostling to be Saudi’s fifth-best team, it’s hard to see how they will achieve it.
In a recent press conference, Gerrard vowed that further signings are on their way in January as Al-Ettifaq look to bridge the gap. “To assure our fans, we are going to scour Europe for more options. But we’ll also, more importantly, need to scour locally to improve this squad to be more competitive,” he said.
This is all well and good, but the reality is that they will never be able to compete with the four state-backed teams in the transfer market. Because of this, winning a title – or even securing Champions League qualification – could be an impossible task.
And is Gerrard even the man to take them there? Al-Ettifaq have looked well-drilled in some games this season, but at the time of writing, clubs with far more meagre resources, like Al-Taawoun and Al-Fateh, are threatening to finish above them this season.
January recruitment will be massive as they aim to improve on their current seventh-placed position and, in the short-term, results must get better. Finishing anywhere lower than fifth this season would have to be seen as a failure.
For Gerrard, who would have hopes of rehabilitating his flailing managerial reputation in Saudi Arabia, that would be disastrous.
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