Change, however disappointing, finally arrived for Al Hilal this week.
\nRazvan Lucescu – once-exalted engineer of 2019\u2019s hallowed AFC Champions League success and 2019\/20\u2019s subsequent reclamation of the Saudi Professional League – made way after a staggering decline in form witnessed his troops go from 12 wins in 13 matches, to three more victories in the proceeding 13 run-outs. Sunday\u2019s 1-0 loss at lowly Damac kept them an unacceptable third and proved too much for a board who\u2019d shown remarkable tolerance by the region\u2019s short standards.
\nEnter, Rogerio Micale. Hardly a familiar name to most observers.
\nBut this unfamiliar status also applies to 2020\/21 leaders Al Shabab with Carlos Inarejos and 2018\/19 champions Al Nassr with Alen Horvat. An unprecedented \u2013 and eminently curious – situation is at play whereby Riyadh\u2019s three biggest clubs are now led, to varying degrees of permanence, by technical staff promoted from within.
\nIt was Neymar who, rightly, dominated the headlines when Brazil were guided to gold by Micale at the Rio 2016 Olympics. Little fanfare, thus, greeted a 51-year-old who originally landed last December to lead the Under-19 side, fresh from being dismissed by Serie B\u2019s Parana after five defeats from six fixtures.
\nBut supporters of Hilal, and their rivals across the continent, should not make the mistake of immediately counting out a tactician whose greatest achievements at club level include Under-20 tournaments lifted a decade, or more, ago at Figueirense and Atletico Mineiro.
\nThe promotion of Micale \u2013\u00a0until the end of the season, according to Arriyadiyah – should be labelled as an \u2018intelligent gamble\u2019. He, Inarejos and Horvat represent a shifting of outlook.
\nWhen the need for change previously arose, clubs in the Kingdom instantly looked to external options. Now, an increasing desire exists to access internal solutions first.
\n#AlHilal .. A Practice Game and Tactical Plans \u26bd\ufe0f#AlHilal_Infographic ? pic.twitter.com\/Dk6rDzaFhi— AlHilal Saudi Club (@Alhilal_EN) February 16, 2021
\nNassr have, seemingly, decided to tie their development of exciting home-grown products and purchases of elite Saudi talent with a Croatian who boasts familiarity through his previous role as academy manager. Credit must also be given to predecessor Rui Vitoria, whose collective ethos honed at Benfica still shines through despite December\u2019s departure.
\nUnheralded Spaniard Inarejos has continued his fine work with the U-23s. They were five points off the pace in third when Pedro Caixinha was removed in January and now head into match-week 20 with a four-point advantage.
\nMicale will be held up to exacting standards. All Hilal bosses, caretaker or permanent\/heralded or unheralded, always are.
\nBut he will also be expected to coax advancements out of winter addition \u2013 and Saudi Arabia\u2019s great hope \u2013 Abdullah Al Hamdan, plus 24-year-old goalkeeper Habib Al Wotayan. There will be others underneath the first team he must also look to better.
\nPremium imported talent is, of course, vital. Argentina metronome Ever Banega has utterly transformed expectations at Shabab.
\nIt was the triumvirate of Vitoria, 2019 global top scorer Abderrazak Hamdallah and Morocco winger Nordin Amrabat who provided the greatest influence on Nassr\u2019s last title win. Ex-France, Lyon and Galatasaray striker Bafetimbi Gomis is still without compare in the Hilal dressing room.
\nAll three clubs might soon pluck for an established name in the dugout. The SPL\u2019s residual pulling power saw former Sevilla, Espanyol and Alaves boss Pablo Machin opt for promoted Al Ain little more than a fortnight ago.
\nThe capital\u2019s kings have rejected the typical path. For now.
\nIt will be intriguing to see how far they are prepared to carry on in this changed direction.
\n? Rog\u00e9rio Micale managed #AlHilal trainings \u26bd\ufe0f#AlHilal_Video pic.twitter.com\/WcCoZAxwM4— AlHilal Saudi Club (@Alhilal_EN) February 15, 2021 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Change, however disappointing, finally arrived for Al Hilal this week.
\nRazvan Lucescu \u2013 once-exalted engineer of 2019\u2019s hallowed AFC Champions League success and 2019\/20\u2019s subsequent reclamation of the Saudi Professional League \u2013 made way after a staggering decline in form witnessed his troops go from 12 wins in 13 matches, to three more victories in the proceeding 13 run-outs. Sunday\u2019s 1-0 loss at lowly Damac kept them an unacceptable third and proved too much for a board who\u2019d shown remarkable tolerance by the region\u2019s short standards.
\nEnter, Rogerio Micale. Hardly a familiar name to most observers.
\nBut this unfamiliar status also applies to 2020\/21 leaders Al Shabab with Carlos Inarejos and 2018\/19 champions Al Nassr with Alen Horvat. An unprecedented \u2013 and eminently curious \u2013 situation is at play whereby Riyadh\u2019s three biggest clubs are now led, to varying degrees of permanence, by technical staff promoted from within.
\nIt was Neymar who, rightly, dominated the headlines when Brazil were guided to gold by Micale at the Rio 2016 Olympics. Little fanfare, thus, greeted a 51-year-old who originally landed last December to lead the Under-19 side, fresh from being dismissed by Serie B\u2019s Parana after five defeats from six fixtures.
\nBut supporters of Hilal, and their rivals across the continent, should not make the mistake of immediately counting out a tactician whose greatest achievements at club level include Under-20 tournaments lifted a decade, or more, ago at Figueirense and Atletico Mineiro.
\nThe promotion of Micale \u2013\u00a0until the end of the season, according to Arriyadiyah \u2013 should be labelled as an \u2018intelligent gamble\u2019. He, Inarejos and Horvat represent a shifting of outlook.
\nWhen the need for change previously arose, clubs in the Kingdom instantly looked to external options. Now, an increasing desire exists to access internal solutions first.
\n#AlHilal .. A Practice Game and Tactical Plans \u26bd\ufe0f#AlHilal_Infographic ? pic.twitter.com\/Dk6rDzaFhi\u2014 AlHilal Saudi Club (@Alhilal_EN) February 16, 2021
\nNassr have, seemingly, decided to tie their development of exciting home-grown products and purchases of elite Saudi talent with a Croatian who boasts familiarity through his previous role as academy manager. Credit must also be given to predecessor Rui Vitoria, whose collective ethos honed at Benfica still shines through despite December\u2019s departure.
\nUnheralded Spaniard Inarejos has continued his fine work with the U-23s. They were five points off the pace in third when Pedro Caixinha was removed in January and now head into match-week 20 with a four-point advantage.
\nMicale will be held up to exacting standards. All Hilal bosses, caretaker or permanent\/heralded or unheralded, always are.
\nBut he will also be expected to coax advancements out of winter addition \u2013 and Saudi Arabia\u2019s great hope \u2013 Abdullah Al Hamdan, plus 24-year-old goalkeeper Habib Al Wotayan. There will be others underneath the first team he must also look to better.
\nPremium imported talent is, of course, vital. Argentina metronome Ever Banega has utterly transformed expectations at Shabab.
\nIt was the triumvirate of Vitoria, 2019 global top scorer Abderrazak Hamdallah and Morocco winger Nordin Amrabat who provided the greatest influence on Nassr\u2019s last title win. Ex-France, Lyon and Galatasaray striker Bafetimbi Gomis is still without compare in the Hilal dressing room.
\nAll three clubs might soon pluck for an established name in the dugout. The SPL\u2019s residual pulling power saw former Sevilla, Espanyol and Alaves boss Pablo Machin opt for promoted Al Ain little more than a fortnight ago.
\nThe capital\u2019s kings have rejected the typical path. For now.
\nIt will be intriguing to see how far they are prepared to carry on in this changed direction.
\n? Rog\u00e9rio Micale managed #AlHilal trainings \u26bd\ufe0f#AlHilal_Video pic.twitter.com\/WcCoZAxwM4\u2014 AlHilal Saudi Club (@Alhilal_EN) February 15, 2021<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35855"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=35855"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35855\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35856,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35855\/revisions\/35856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=35855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=35855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=35855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}