After watching Al-Ittihad drop to the bottom of the Saudi Pro League in a 2-0 defeat to Al-Fateh, the club’s new manager Slaven Bilic has seen the task that awaits him in his new role at the Jeddah giants.
The defeat, also the first victory for Al-Fateh, leaves the eight-time champions with one point from the opening five games of the season and facing the prospect of a relegation struggle despite kicking off the current campaign with ambitions of challenging for the title.
“I will begin working with the players in training on Monday and we will look to deal with some of the issues,” Bilic, who watched his new charges from the sidelines, said after the game. “We need to pull together and look forward to the challenges ahead. Taking over this team is a major challenge in my coaching career and I promise to work, work and work to bring success to Al-Ittihad.”
It is going to take plenty of energy. After a disappointing season last year saw the club sink to ninth, the club sacked Jose Luis Sierra and brought in Ramon Diaz in May. The Argentine lasted two games before being fired in August.
Results did not improve in the subsequent three league games under caretaker coach Bashar Basirah and the two-time Asian champions also crashed out of the Arab Club Championship in September, losing to Dubai’s Al-Wasl.
In addition to watching their team concede 13 goals in five games, the patience of fans was tried by comments from Majid Al-Nafi, president of rivals Al-Ahli, earlier this week. He declared that Al-Ittihad are no longer a worry for his team when it comes to the title race of the 2018-19 season.
“The current situation confirms that Al-Hilal and Al-Nasr are Al-Ahli’s rivals for this season and the current standings in the league show this,” said Al-Nafi.
There have been rumors in Saudi Arabian media that Al-Ittihad are looking at bring in Zlatan Ibrahimovic or Arjen Robben for the second half of the season, though an official at the club told Arab News that it was too early to discuss transfer targets for the January window.
But Bilic has been promised an injection of talent.
There is already pressure on Serbian striker Aleksander Pesic. The 26 year-old, prolific at Red Star Belgrade, has failed to find the target so far in Saudi Arabia.
Star player Fahad Al-Muwallad has promised that the situation will improve in the coming weeks and months.
“We would have liked to have a strong start to the season but we have had some bad luck and not been able to get the results that a club like Al-Ittihad should,” the winger said.
“Everyone knows that the team is in a transitional phase so it is natural that it will take time to come together, but we are working hard to improve our team understanding and get back to winning ways.”
If Bilic needs any advice, it has been forthcoming from Bandar Al-Ahmadi, a Saudi analyst at the Asian Football Confederation.
“Al-Ittihad must start defending from the front and focus on winning the first and second balls until the results start to improve,” he said. “It is not easy for a coach who comes in after the start of the season. He should adapt to the team and not the other way round, he should bring change slowly.”
At least Bilic, fired by West Ham United last November, has time to work with his team before the next league game against Ohod on Oct. 19.
The team’s Chilean playmaker Carlos Villanueva is looking forward to the new chapter and believes that the club has a bright future.
“Our results have not been as good as they should have been but there is still a long way to go,” Villanueva said. “All the players need to get behind the coach and get back on the right track.”

From: Arabnews