Al-Shabab’s start this season was not up to the expectations of its fans, after it was eliminated from the King’s Cup early against Al-Wahda with a score of 3-2, before its troubles spread to the Saudi Professional League, where it played the first seven rounds without achieving any victory, in a start that put the team and its technical staff under increasing pressure.
During that stage, German coach Thomas Leitch reiterated that the team was still in the process of construction, and that a number of players were not present during the summer preparation period, which was reflected in the readiness and harmony in the first weeks of the season.
During the international break in competitions on September 13, and until the return on October 9, Al-Shabab found he had nearly a month to rearrange his papers. The technical staff, led by German Leitch, took advantage of that period to raise physical readiness and work on harmony between the players, in addition to playing three friendly matches, after the team lived through seven consecutive rounds between draws and losses.
Before the pause, Leach did not hide the extent of what his team needed. After the goalless draw against Al-Fayhaa, he spoke about the presence of many issues that require development, defensively and offensively, and he clearly relied on the pause period as an opportunity to correct mistakes and work longer with the players.
But that stage did not pass completely calmly at the level of administrative decision-making. After the negative results continued, especially after the confrontation with Al-Fayhaa, the Youth Administration submitted a request to the Saudi Professional League to end its association with Leitch, but the request was rejected due to the lack of financial solvency necessary to complete the dismissal.
This decision kept the German coach in his position, and the club management then moved to support the existing technical staff instead of changing it. Among its steps was contracting with Englishman Oliver Bartlett to assume the duties of physical trainer and fitness coach, in a move aimed at enhancing physical work and raising the team’s readiness.
After the cessation, it was not very similar to what came before it in terms of results. Al-Shabab returned to the competition and achieved its first victory of the season over Al-Taawoun with three goals free of charge, breaking a streak that extended seven full rounds without a win.
The improvement did not stop at that match. In the next match, Al-Shabab drew 2-2 against Al-Faisaly, before defeating Al-Fateh 3-1 away from home, so the team’s results began to give what they had worked on during the pause period a clearer reflection on the field.
Before facing Al-Ahly, Leitch himself returned to talking about the impact of that period, noting that the preparation stage during the pause helped Al-Shabab to improve, and that the team became in a better position after collecting seven points in three matches.
The picture of the options available to the technical staff has also changed. Before facing Al-Ahly, the coach spoke about the presence of 25 players in training, and about the difficulty of choosing the lineup and match list due to the diversity of positions and levels of players. This is an image that differs from the first stage, during which the conversation was linked to a lack of readiness and incomplete preparation.
The confrontation with Al-Ahly gave the path of improvement its biggest title, after Al-Shabab achieved a wide victory with six goals to one at home and among its fans.
Leach had described Al-Ahly before the confrontation as the favorite “on paper”, in light of the strength of its elements and its results, but Al-Shabab emerged from the match with its biggest victories in this series, confirming that the transformation that began after the break was no longer limited to one result.
Between the first seven rounds without victory and the results that followed, the previous break seemed like the decisive stop in Al-Shabab’s season so far. This is the period that Leach bet on when the results were tightening around him, and he later returned to referring to it as an essential part of the improvement that occurred in the team.
Now, Al-Shabab is entering a new period of pause, but with completely different calculations. The previous time, he was looking for the first victory and rebuilding confidence and readiness, but this time he entered it after a series that carried more positive victories and results, led by the Al-Ahly hexagon.
The club granted its players leave, and training will return on Wednesday, November 11, so that the technical staff will begin a new work phase through which it hopes to continue building on what has been achieved.
The coming period will give Al-Lyuth an opportunity to recover a number of injured people, work to fill the gaps and find additional solutions within the roster, especially after the absence of its defender Yedfay was confirmed due to an injury to the cruciate ligament, which forces the technical staff to rearrange some of its defensive options.
Between the first stop, which came while Al-Shabab was under pressure for seven rounds without a win, and a new stop that came after victories and a clear shift in the results, the picture around the team changed. The challenge this time will be different: not to search for a new beginning, but rather to preserve what the youth have begun to build and turn the recent awakening into a more stable path when competitions resume.
The technical staff of the Al-Fateh team, led by Moroccan Jamal Al-Salami, granted the team’s players a five-day leave, coinciding with the current cessation of the Saudi Professional League Championship as a result of the postponement of Round 13, as well as the entry of the “FIFA” days, after which the team will resume training in preparation for the next stage, by playing more than one friendly match before the league resumes.
The administration is seeking to organize more than one friendly match with its counterparts in the Al-Sharqiya clubs, specifically Al-Ettifaq and Al-Khaleej, given that Al-Qadisiyah has not played against it yet and it was scheduled to take place after two rounds before the decision to postpone the round and reschedule a number of matches, and therefore it is unlikely to face it in a friendly manner during the current suspension period.
Work is also underway to create real support for the administrative staff, by agreeing with a name capable of combining administrative discipline and technical discussion with the coach, after it became clear that one of the causes of the team’s problems is the indifference of some players, whether in some training or matches.
The date of the current suspension of the league championship came before its scheduled date, to give coach Al-Salami a greater opportunity to get to know the players and their potential and abilities early, after he was anticipating the scheduled halt of the upcoming Asian Cup tournament, but the decision to schedule the continental championship was made, which means that the league will continue in the months of January and February, which makes the current halt the primary opportunity for the coach to get to know more about his players and their levels after he complained of the lack of time that left his team in a “miserable” state and kept him among the clubs. Threatened to collapse.
Al-Fateh is experiencing a major crisis of confidence in terms of surpassing its current status in the Saudi Professional League after it continued its series of negative results and collected only six points from 12 matches, the second weakest point average it achieved with the end of the first third of the league.
This rate represents Al-Fateh’s second-worst start in at least the last ten years, as it was the worst in the 2024 season when it was led by Swedish coach Jens Gustafsson, under whose leadership the team collected only five points from the same number of matches it played in this season’s league, after which it was dismissed in the 12th round and the Portuguese coach José Gómez was hired, who played the role of savior in that season, but the team’s condition did not improve much other than its guarantee of remaining among the adults for a new season amid difficult circumstances. Last summer, he decided to move to a new station, currently led by the Gulf team.
The options for replacing the technical staff led by Moroccan Jamal Al-Salami appear to the Al-Fateh administration to be weak, given that Al-Salami originally came as a replacement for Saudi coach Khaled Al-Atwi after eight rounds had passed, after he collected three points with the team from draws, while Al-Salami only won one win out of four matches in which he led the team, as the last pause period was an opportunity to replace Al-Atwi.
In light of the relationship that was marred by some kind of tension between the new coach and the players, the coach seeks to tone down the tone to create a more positive atmosphere in the next stage in the hope of correcting the team’s path with new contracts in the upcoming winter registration period. However, waiting until that period cannot be acceptable to the club’s management and supporters as there is importance in the point harvest with what is currently available in terms of local and foreign players and names.
Coach Al-Salami criticized the levels of a number of players and mentioned them by name in some press conferences, which raised concerns about the coach’s approach in this aspect and his ability to contain technical matters internally through training or private meetings with the players.
Al-Salami praised the team's performance in general, despite the loss to Al-Hilal in the last round with two unanswered goals in Riyadh, in a clear shift in his approach, although he implicitly criticized the weakness of the parties in his team, especially the two full-backs, expressing his surprise at the recent departure of players from Al-Fateh in these positions.
In more than one season in the last rounds, Al-Fateh escaped the threat of relegation, and this is what made a number of former club employees warn through the popular proverb, “Not every time you hand over the jar.” This means that the management must learn from mistakes, especially since the threat is repeated from one season to another, with a reminder of an important feature of the club, which is its presence alone as a representative of Al-Ahsa Governorate, which is rich in talent and whose people, with all their inclinations, stand behind the team in matches, which made Al-Fateh fans among the top five clubs in terms of attendance, where they contributed. This is about overcoming difficult obstacles, and this is what the management, coaches and players have acknowledged on many occasions.
The horse “Al-Douh” and the mare “Excited Lady” were crowned with the Prince Saud bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Cup for horses and mares, respectively, in the most prominent competitions of the twenty-eighth ceremony hosted by the King Abdulaziz Equestrian Square in Riyadh, on Saturday, within the fourth week of the “Riyadh Racing Season,” which witnessed the holding of the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth celebrations on Friday and Saturday.
The horse “Al-Douh”, owned by Abdulaziz Musaed Salem Al-Salem, clinched the Prince Saud bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Hosn Cup, after excelling in the tenth round, extending over a distance of 1,600 metres, under the supervision of trainer Badan Al-Subaie and led by Al-Khayal Muhammad Al-Yami. Prince Saud bin Salman bin Abdulaziz handed the cup to the winning stable crew after the end of the half.
In the ninth round, designated for the Prince Saud bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Cup for Mares, “Excited Lady”, owned by Al-Shafi’ Muhammad Ali, succeeded in winning the race over a distance of 1,600 metres, led by Al-Khayal Khalid Al-Maimoni and under the supervision of trainer Badan Al-Subaie, who thus achieved two successive victories in the two rounds of the cup. Prince Saud bin Salman bin Abdulaziz handed over the mares’ cup to the winning stable crew.
The eleventh round, which was held for the Abdullah bin Ibrahim Aba Al-Khail Appreciation Award for a distance of 1800 metres, witnessed the victory of the horse “Lalla Durrah”, owned by the sons of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, under the supervision of trainer Ahmed Mahmoud and the horseman Camilo Ospina. Prince Abdullah bin Miteb bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz received the appreciation award after the end of the race.
At the conclusion of the twenty-eighth ceremony’s competitions, “God Bless You,” owned by Al-Khalaibis Stable, won the twelfth heat over a distance of 1,600 metres, led by horse rider Nawaf Al-Madian and supervised by coach Fahd Al-Abdul-Moneim.
The ceremony's competitions began with Al-Ghalia, owned by Fahd Abdulaziz Al-Jabr, winning the first half over a distance of 1,200 metres, led by Al-Khayal Muhammad Al-Yami and supervised by coach Abdullah Al-Hamad.
In the second half, "Ya Karim", owned by Prince Faisal bin Khalid bin Abdulaziz, achieved first place in the race extending for a distance of 1,400 metres, under the supervision of coach Salman Al-Adhiyani and led by the horseman Nawaf Al-Madhiani.
The stable of Prince Faisal bin Khalid bin Abdulaziz continued its presence in the third half, after “We Are All Al Khafji” snatched victory over a distance of 1400 metres, led by the horse Ricardo Ferreira and under the supervision of coach Salman Al Adhyani, so that the stable achieved two successive victories.
As for the fourth half, which was held for a distance of 1,400 meters, the victory of “Lamaa Saja”, owned by Mohammed Fahd Mohammed Azab, under the supervision of coach Bassam Al-Mousa and the leadership of the horse, Alexis Moreno.
In the fifth round, Afzal Muhaymin, owned by Adiyat Al-Qaed stable, succeeded in achieving victory over a distance of 1,600 metres, led by Al-Khayal Raed Al-Fayrouz and supervised by trainer Ali Al-Amil.
The title of the sixth round went to Al-Ghabra, owned by the stable of Mubarak Bin Hindi Al-Khalidi Sons Company, after it won the race over a distance of 1,600 metres, led by Al-Khayal Victor Gutierrez and supervised by coach Saleh Al-Midfa.
In the seventh round, Riyad Riddell, owned by Athba Racing Stable, outperformed his competitors in a 1,600-meter race, led by Alexis Moreno and supervised by coach Mustafa Al-Moussa, adding Moreno his second victory during the ceremony.
The eighth half witnessed the victory of “Ana Ashhad”, owned by Sheikh Abdullah Hamoud Al-Malik Al-Sabah, in the race extending for a distance of 1,600 meters, led by the horse Ricardo Ferreira and under the supervision of coach Abdullah Al-Sidrani, so that Ferreira in turn achieved his second victory of the evening.
