A moment to exemplify Al Hilal\u2019s curious descent arrived in the early running of Tuesday night\u2019s derby defeat.
\nPetros was gifted valuable seconds in possession, 40 yards from goal. The alert Pity Martinez ghosted through the space in-between vacant left-back Yasser Al Shahrani and centre-back Ali Al Bulaihi to take down the Brazilian battler\u2019s lofted ball, before teasing the game\u2019s only strike into the bottom corner while a static defence appealed in vain for an offside call which couldn\u2019t offer redemption.
\nAn unavoidable feeling is that Hilal, satisfied by three major trophies since November 2019, have become a team without purpose. This is an alarming position for those who pride themselves on insatiable achievement.
\nResults are woeful. Just three wins from 11 Saudi Professional League fixtures has opened up a five-point gap to leaders Shabab, plus cost 2019 AFC Champions League winner Razvan Lucescu his job and already cast a cloud over replacement \u2013 however permanent \u2013 Rogerio Micale.
\nYet there remains remarkable consistency in Hilal\u2019s output.
\nThe 1-0 defeat at King Saud University Stadium featured 69-per-cent possession in their favour. Dominance of the ball in 21 out of 22 fixtures in 2020\/21 has been recorded.
\nAverage Saudi Professional League possession, according to\u00a0Wyscout,\u00a0in the triumphant 2019\/20 was 62.8 per cent. This season it\u2019s 65.1 per cent.
\nDribbles per 90 minutes last term were 28.9 and are 29.8 now. Attempts per 90 minutes stand at 12.6 and were 12.4 a season prior.
\nRogerio Micale has a big job on his hands at Al Hilal (EPA).
\nA rearguard breached so effortlessly by Martinez in midweek is conceding 0.8 goals per game this season. It was 0.9 in 2019\/20.
\nFrequency of crossing per 90 minutes has increased to 20.5 from 16.8. A stylistic change, perhaps, which helps partly account for the telling decline of 1.7 goals per game, from last term\u2019s rampant 2.5.
\nThere will be other, more important factors. Careful study about the reasons behind this shift in productivity is paramount for Micale\u2019s prospects.
\nThe Brazilian\u2019s charges did not perform without bite against Nassr. Colombia pit bull Gustavo Cuellar barged into Morocco winger Nordin Amrabat, Nasser Al Dawsari left his imprint on Petros and Salem Al Dawsari did the same to Saudi Arabia colleague Sultan Al Ghanam.
\nSuch intensity, though, was often lacking at the opposite end of the pitch. Nassr centre-back Abdulelah Al Amri\u2019s gutsy first-half sliding tackle to deny Bafetimbi Gomis a tap-in showcased a difference between the sides.
\nThis intervention was celebrated like a goal by an eight-placed Nassr who appear on the right path under Alen Horvat.
\nHilal should have far too much quality to keep on labouring through this increasingly miserable campaign. But something needs to immediately change, with two thirds of matches played.
\nThe message of old does not hold the same resonance. Maybe the likes of Gomis and Sebastian Giovinco have gone on a season too far.
\nArgentine winger Luciano Vietto was the only pre-season alteration to the foreign septet. Unwanted Syria forward Omar Khrbin then departed for the UAE\u2019s Al Wahda in winter, without being replaced.
\nTeams must evolve with time. Or they soon stagnate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A moment to exemplify Al Hilal\u2019s curious descent arrived in the early running of Tuesday night\u2019s derby defeat.
\nPetros was gifted valuable seconds in possession, 40 yards from goal. The alert Pity Martinez ghosted through the space in-between vacant left-back Yasser Al Shahrani and centre-back Ali Al Bulaihi to take down the Brazilian battler\u2019s lofted ball, before teasing the game\u2019s only strike into the bottom corner while a static defence appealed in vain for an offside call which couldn\u2019t offer redemption.
\nAn unavoidable feeling is that Hilal, satisfied by three major trophies since November 2019, have become a team without purpose. This is an alarming position for those who pride themselves on insatiable achievement.
\nResults are woeful. Just three wins from 11 Saudi Professional League fixtures has opened up a five-point gap to leaders Shabab, plus cost 2019 AFC Champions League winner Razvan Lucescu his job and already cast a cloud over replacement \u2013 however permanent \u2013 Rogerio Micale.
\nYet there remains remarkable consistency in Hilal\u2019s output.
\nThe 1-0 defeat at King Saud University Stadium featured 69-per-cent possession in their favour. Dominance of the ball in 21 out of 22 fixtures in 2020\/21 has been recorded.
\nAverage Saudi Professional League possession, according to\u00a0Wyscout,\u00a0in the triumphant 2019\/20 was 62.8 per cent. This season it\u2019s 65.1 per cent.
\nDribbles per 90 minutes last term were 28.9 and are 29.8 now. Attempts per 90 minutes stand at 12.6 and were 12.4 a season prior.
\nRogerio Micale has a big job on his hands at Al Hilal (EPA).
\nA rearguard breached so effortlessly by Martinez in midweek is conceding 0.8 goals per game this season. It was 0.9 in 2019\/20.
\nFrequency of crossing per 90 minutes has increased to 20.5 from 16.8. A stylistic change, perhaps, which helps partly account for the telling decline of 1.7 goals per game, from last term\u2019s rampant 2.5.
\nThere will be other, more important factors. Careful study about the reasons behind this shift in productivity is paramount for Micale\u2019s prospects.
\nThe Brazilian\u2019s charges did not perform without bite against Nassr. Colombia pit bull Gustavo Cuellar barged into Morocco winger Nordin Amrabat, Nasser Al Dawsari left his imprint on Petros and Salem Al Dawsari did the same to Saudi Arabia colleague Sultan Al Ghanam.
\nSuch intensity, though, was often lacking at the opposite end of the pitch. Nassr centre-back Abdulelah Al Amri\u2019s gutsy first-half sliding tackle to deny Bafetimbi Gomis a tap-in showcased a difference between the sides.
\nThis intervention was celebrated like a goal by an eight-placed Nassr who appear on the right path under Alen Horvat.
\nHilal should have far too much quality to keep on labouring through this increasingly miserable campaign. But something needs to immediately change, with two thirds of matches played.
\nThe message of old does not hold the same resonance. Maybe the likes of Gomis and Sebastian Giovinco have gone on a season too far.
\nArgentine winger Luciano Vietto was the only pre-season alteration to the foreign septet. Unwanted Syria forward Omar Khrbin then departed for the UAE\u2019s Al Wahda in winter, without being replaced.
\nTeams must evolve with time. Or they soon stagnate.<\/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\/38172"}],"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=38172"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38172\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38173,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38172\/revisions\/38173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=38172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=38172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}