5 high-profile managers who flopped while managing in Saudi Arabia
We all know about high-profile players like Jordan Henderson and Neymar who have struggled since going to the Saudi Pro League. But what about the managers who’ve failed to live up to their reputations?
Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard is not the only familiar face that’s failed to deliver results out in Saudi Arabia.
Here are five high-profile managers who have flopped in the Saudi Pro League.
Steven Gerrard
After being dismissed by Aston Villa, Gerrard stepped away from the spotlight at Al-Ettifaq – where he was (presumably) paid shedloads.
Unfortunately his former Liverpool team-mate Jordan Henderson never settled at the club and swiftly jumped ship, while fellow ex-Red Georginio Wijnaldum is not the player he once was.
Gerrard led the club to a sixth place finish during his one full season in charge, but results have dramatically tailed off in year two. He’s left his position as manager following a run of one win (and seven defeats) from their last 11 league outings.
To be fair, while results were mixed at best, the work he carried out did not go unappreciated.
“Sometimes things don’t go as planned, but the firm foundations he helped build will guarantee a bright future in the long term,” Al-Ettifaq club president Samer Al Misehal said.
“He changed the club for the better and that will never be forgotten. This decision, made with mutual respect and in agreement is in the best interest of both Steven and the club as we move forward.”
Slaven Bilic
The experienced Croatian served as Al-Ittihad’s manager shortly after leaving West Ham back in 2018, when very little attention was paid to the Saudi Pro League.
He only lasted a few months there amid a poor midtable campaign.
After short stints with West Brom, Beijing Guoan and Watford (all of which feel varying degrees of just about right), Bilic returned to Saudi Arabia in the summer of 2023 to take charge of lesser-known Al Fateh – a side lacking in star power, with ex-Barcelona winger Cristian Tello probably their most high-profile player.
He led them to a respectable seventh place before mutually agreeing to depart his post ahead of their disastrous 2024-25 relegation-doomed campaign.
Nuno Espirito Santo
To be fair, “flop” would be extremely harsh for this one.
After his short and inauspicious stint at Tottenham, Nuno bounced back by leading Al-Ittihad to the Saudi Pro League title in 2022-23, his one and only full season out there.
Nuno’s arrival actually predated his compatriot Cristiano Ronaldo by six months and further superstar additions like Neymar and Karim Benzema by a year.
With fewer recognisable faces, his work in leading Al-Ittihad to the title – five points ahead of an Al-Nassr side boosted by Ronaldo – went under the radar a little.
Morocco international Abderrazak Hamdallah finished top scorer that year with 21 league goals.
Despite being bolstered by signings like Benzema, N’Golo Kante, Jota and Fabinho for his second season, Nuno was sacked a few months into the 2023-24 campaign following a string of poor results. Rumours of a falling out with Benzema, in particular, were rife.
“This decision comes after a comprehensive technical evaluation of the past phase during which he was in charge of coaching the first football team,” read a terse club statement.
Al-Ittihad’s loss has proven Nottingham Forest’s gain.
READ: 7 players who fell off the footballing map after moving to Saudi Arabia
Marcelo Gallardo
…Nuno’s replacement at King Abdullah Sports City.
There was a time in the not-too-distant past when Gallardo was widely talked up as the next top coach out of South America.
The likes of Barcelona and Manchester City had been mooted as potential destinations after the fine work he’d done leading River Plate to countless silverware, including two Copa Libertadores.
We certainly bought into that hype here at Planet Football. So there was a real sense of anticlimax when the forward-thinking Argentinian took the Saudi cash and signed on for Al-Ittihad in his first managerial role since leaving the Monumental.
Unfortunately, it didn’t quite work out for him. Al-Ittihad’s bid to retain their title hit the rocks as results got even worse than in Nuno’s final months.
Gallardo lost almost as many games as he won as the club succumbed to a severely underwhelming fifth-place finish, a mammoth 42 points off champions Al-Hilal.
“Gallardo made significant mistakes by requesting the removal of Benzema, which is unacceptable. He is an essential part of Saudi Arabia’s and the club’s project,” Al Ittihad president Louay Nazer told reporters.
Nowadays Gallardo is back at River Plate. We’re getting the feeling us European football watchers might never get the chance to see what the fuss was all about.
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Rudi Garcia
The former Lyon, Marseille and Roma manager was in charge of Al Nassr when they signed Ronaldo, but didn’t last a full season and had been relieved of his duties by the time they bolstered the squad with the likes of Marcelo Brozovic, Sadio Mane and Aymeric Laporte.
Garcia reportedly angered Ronaldo by claiming one of his missed chances “changed the course of the match” in a Saudi Super Cup defeat to Al-Ittihad, and from there the writing was on the wall.
“I don’t feel satisfied with the players’ performance,” Garcia told reporters after another disappointing result in April 2023.
“I asked them to play at the same level as the last game [a 5-0 win over Al-Adalah], but this didn’t happen.”
Four days later he was sacked.
A short while later the Frenchman was controversially chosen to lead Serie A champions Napoli following the departure of Luciano Spalletti.
It was an unpopular appointment from the off and he unsurprisingly lasted just 16 games before once again getting his marching orders.