The rebellion and the departure of Saudi coach Mancini are a foregone conclusion

The reporter reported coldly After being held to a 0-0 draw at home to Bahrain on Tuesday night, Italy boss Roberto Mancini seemed to know what awaited him. Yesterday, the Saudi newspaper Riyadh and the Medina newspaper quoted sources in the Saudi Football Association as saying that the Saudi Football Federation has decided to fire Mancini.

In the first 4 rounds of the round of 18, Saudi Arabia accumulated 5 points with 1 win, 2 draws and 1 loss, which was the team's worst record in the same period of the world preliminaries. Saudi Football Federation President Mishar held crisis talks with Mancini on the night of 0-0 Bahrain, but admitted to Saudi media that he "doesn't make decisions when he's angry." At the same time, Michar said that Mancini's fate will be decided by the Saudi Ministry of Sports, and that the emergency meeting between the Saudi Sports Ministry, the Football Association and Mancini in Jeddah on Wednesday will be the node that will decide the fate of the Italy.

Saudi Arabia's influential Middle East Daily listed a list of candidates for the new Saudi coach on the night of the game, suggesting that Mancini would be sacked. Former Saudi Arabia coach Hainach is the biggest favorite, and former Riyadh Victory coaches Rudy · Garcia, Victoria and the idle Zidane, De Rossi, Maurizio Sarri, Tite, Vieira, Klinsmann, Sampaoli, Benitez, Yakhkin, Favre and other coaches are also on the list.

▲ Riyadh newspaper sources confirmed that Mancini was fired

Mancini led the team, not only setting the worst start in the history of the Saudi team in the final stage of the world qualifiers, but also scoring two consecutive games without scoring for the first time. Roberto Mancini has won just seven of his 18 games, a win rate of less than 39 per cent. Of the 22 coaches in Saudi Arabia's history who have coached more than 15 games, Mancini has a higher win rate than Rijkaard (23.5%), Puskas (31.25%), Pizzi (31.8%), Andreas Pereira (38.5%) and Pecero (38.7%). And none of the above five coaches have been able to bring Saudi Arabia to the World Cup finals.

In 18 games, Mancini used 15 forward combinations involving 10 players. Winger captain Salim · Dosari was the only consistent attacker and he had to find a fit with his team-mates in 12 different forward combinations. Roberto Mancini has only had three games in which the attacking combination has been identical, but has never used the same forward line twice in a row. Only 24 goals were scored in 18 games, an average of 1.33 goals per game. In stark contrast, in the 2022 World Preliminary Tournament led by Hainach, Saudi Arabia won 13 games, drew 4 and lost 1 in 18 games, scored 34 goals and conceded only 10 goals, and qualified first in the group in the top 40 and top 12.

With a poor record, Mancini lost the trust of his internationals. Alsaudia-Web revealed that there was little real communication between the Saudi internationals and Mancini, and midfielder Nasser · Dosari had a direct clash with Mancini. After the match against Bahrain, Mancini put the blame for the draw on his players and even directly expressed his dissatisfaction with the number one star when asked by reporters about Salim · Dosari, who missed the penalty, causing the dressing room to be completely disappointed with him. In addition, Mancini made disrespectful gestures to the Saudi fans at the scene, which led him to a desperate situation of betrayal.

▲ "Medina Daily" said that the new coach of the Saudi Football Association has many targets

The Saudi royal family, which has absolute say in Saudi sports, has always had very limited endurance. In September, if Saudi Arabia had not reversed the national football team in the last minute away from home, Mancini might have been out of class at that time. On Wednesday (16th), the Saudi Ministry of Sports and the Football Association held an emergency meeting and decided to fire Mancini, but the official announcement was forced to be postponed due to the failure of negotiations to reach an agreement.

Mancini's annual salary is up to 25 million euros after tax, and his contract expires in February 2027, with a release fee of up to 30 million euros. Even for the Saudi Football Federation, it is not a small number, and it will need to be decided by a higher level.

The Saudi Football Federation's priority negotiation of a new coach Hainach has pushed down invitations from all other teams to regain control of Saudi Arabia, but Morocco media revealed that Morocco coach Amuta, who currently coaches U.A.E. giants in the Abu Dhabi peninsula, is also on the list of candidates. Amuta led Jordan to a runners-up in the Asian Cup before leaving in June to take charge of the Abu Dhabi Peninsula.

The Saudi Football Association hopes to finalize the new coach before officially announcing Mancini's resignation. Not surprisingly, in the round of 18 in November, Saudi Arabia will usher in a new coach. In the final stages of the 1994, 1998 and 2002 World Preliminary Tournaments, Saudi Arabia changed coaches halfway, and the team successfully qualified. This time, will Saudi Arabia relive its dreams?