Saudi League thread

shamans

Thinks you can get an STD from flirting.
Joined
Oct 25, 2010
Messages
18,225
Location
Constantly at the STD clinic.
As most on here I don’t know much about the league. Ronaldo’s move there has sparked my interest in the league a bit and after checking out the top teams it’s not as bad as it looks.

So much so that I honestly wonder if it will be “easy” even for Ronaldo.
 
It's pretty much pinnacle in football. Also, most games are on a knife-edge I heard.

Haters gonna hate though.
 
The crowd attendances vary from 150 people to 22k, depending on the team, 4 of the clubs have had lows of 1000 or less. The most successful Asian team is the Saudi club Al-Hilal with 4 AFC Champions League triumphs.

Ighalo, Banega, Aboubaker, Luiz Gustavo, Ospina, Talisca, Adam Maher (wasn't he some wonderkid alongside Bakkali at PSV?) ply their trade in the league. Nuno Espirito Santo manages Al-Ittihad. The league has 3 Portuguese managers.

After 10 games, Talisca (his teammate) is top scorer with 9 goals. Ighalo is second with 6 goals.
 
I watch the majority of games in the league. Im quietly optimistic that a broadcaster might pick up some games.

It’s a pretty competitive league, especially the top sides. The locals are the highest level in Asia outside of Japan/South Korea. A fair bit better than Chinese/Qatar locals. The foreigns are also very good (relative to Asia) the level has improved the last couple of years. Hilal have had some really good sides over the last 5 years and gave Chelsea a competitive game in February.

Nassr are probably the 3rd best side this season behind Shabab and Hilal. Isn’t that much between them all this season though

Not that sure Ronaldo improves them all THAT much. Talisca basically has a free role behind Aboubakar (not too dissimilar to what Bruno actually had at times at United). Talisca is really good for the level but he’s prone to just shooting from anywhere. He really doesn’t compliment Ronaldo on paper. They’re allowed 7 foreigns so I’d imagine they’ll play Talisca, Aboubakar and Ronaldo which could lose them balance potentially. This will probably only be an issue against the better sides though. There’s a fairly big gulf from the top few sides to the bottom 4/5. A few opportunities for star padding.
 
For Asian standards they're very good.

Al hillal for example holds the record for most Asian champions leagues won and they generally get some very decent talent from the abroad.
 
Spiersey said:
I watch the majority of games in the league. Im quietly optimistic that a broadcaster might pick up some games.

It’s a pretty competitive league, especially the top sides. The locals are the highest level in Asia outside of Japan/South Korea. A fair bit better than Chinese/Qatar locals. The foreigns are also very good (relative to Asia) the level has improved the last couple of years. Hilal have had some really good sides over the last 5 years and gave Chelsea a competitive game in February.

Nassr are probably the 3rd best side this season behind Shabab and Hilal. Isn’t that much between them all this season though

Not that sure Ronaldo improves them all THAT much. Talisca basically has a free role behind Aboubakar (not too dissimilar to what Bruno actually had at times at United). Talisca is really good for the level but he’s prone to just shooting from anywhere. He really doesn’t compliment Ronaldo on paper. They’re allowed 7 foreigns so I’d imagine they’ll play Talisca, Aboubakar and Ronaldo which could lose them balance potentially. This will probably only be an issue against the better sides though. There’s a fairly big gulf from the top few sides to the bottom 4/5. A few opportunities for star padding.
Click to expand...


very insightful thanks!
 
Fanboy alert. Apart from that, league is shite.
 
It's ranked around 27th globally for it's competitiveness, it's below the Championship.
 
TheNewEra said:
It's ranked around 27th globally for it's competitiveness, it's below the Championship.
Click to expand...


The Football Lovers have ranked the top 50 football leagues in the world. Our ranking of the best soccer leagues in the world is based on TV views/popularity, the presence of top players, social media buzz generated from league games, and the success of clubs from these leagues in various continental tournaments.
Click to expand...


Not sure the ranking is very trustworthy for the lower leagues. They ranked MLS in 10th, higher than Brazilian Série A, Scottish SPL, or the Turkish Süper Lig… But yea it is reasonable to suggest the Saudi League is on the same tier of the championship… I’d have thought their very top teams are better than championship level and the rest are on a much lower level.
 
Sounds like Ronaldo might end up with a hattrick of relegations to the bench if Shamans is to be believed because let's be honest, Ronaldo's an extremely poor player right now.
 
CallyRed said:
Ronaldo fanboys do. And there are plenty on this forum who will fishing for a stream to see their hero in action.
Click to expand...
Aah, looking forward reading on Caf how EtH was horrible to him and should have let him play every second of every game when he scores a goal, or two.
 
Who would you like to win it... Al-Nassr? Al-Shabab? Al-Hilal? Al Capone? Anyone but Al-Nassr?

How about a poll?
 
Lots of casual racism in this thread. Just because nobody cares and it's a rubbish league doesn't mean it's a rubbish league that nobody cares about.
 
Luiz Gustavo went
from Gylfi Sigurdsson at Hoffenheim (he left when Firmino came in January 2011)
to Schweinsteiger, Lahm, Robben, Ribery, Müller, Neuer, Alaba (Bayern)
to Draxler, De Bruyne, Schürrle, Bendtner, Perisic (Wolfsburg)
to Evra, Payet, Balotelli (Marseille)
to Özil (Fenerbahce)
to CR7... at Al-Nassr...

He won the CL and even played in a historical... World Cup semi-final.
 
Sassy Colin said:
I don't think anybody cares about the Saudi league.
Click to expand...

Surely someone must care about this league. Even with Ronaldo, there’s no particular reason to cram in this league into one’s viewing schedule unless you’re from the region.
 
shamans said:
As most on here I don’t know much about the league. Ronaldo’s move there has sparked my interest in the league a bit and after checking out the top teams it’s not as bad as it looks.

So much so that I honestly wonder if it will be “easy” even for Ronaldo.
Click to expand...

How so? I'm curious how you can say that, did you very quickly just watch several of their matches in the last few days?
 
Gazza said:
How so? I'm curious how you can say that, did you very quickly just watch several of their matches in the last few days?
Click to expand...
Trying to make out it's a fairly good level for when his hero CR37 scores.

Shameless fanboys are shameless.
 
It looks like the PL... One horse league. Unfortunately for CR7 he didn't join their City: Al-Hilal.

FlVHXI6XgAA1r7X
 
Gazza said:
How so? I'm curious how you can say that, did you very quickly just watch several of their matches in the last few days?
Click to expand...

Googled the squads and there a lot of players I recognize: Igahlo, Abubakar, Talisca, Ospina. I had no clue they played here. Really should have been obvious enough without me explaining


alexthelion said:
Trying to make out it's a fairly good level for when his hero CR37 scores.

Shameless fanboys are shameless.
Click to expand...

you sound like an angry little kid. Go for a walk. Yes I am fan boying when I wrote in the OP that on merit Ronaldo may not even find it easy :wenger:
 
alexthelion said:
Trying to make out it's a fairly good level for when his hero CR37 scores.

Shameless fanboys are shameless.
Click to expand...

Pretty much. "You know up until yesterday I thought the Saudi league was of a very low standard, but then I looked at the league table and saw that they have some very good teams." :confused:
 
shamans said:
Googled the squads and there a lot of players I recognize: Igahlo, Abubakar, Talisca, Ospina. I had no clue they played here. Really should have been obvious enough without me explaining




you sound like an angry little kid. Go for a walk. Yes I am fan boying when I wrote in the OP that on merit Ronaldo may not even find it easy :wenger:
Click to expand...

So 'it's not as bad it looks' = there are some players I have heard of. Got it! Was just asking you to elaborate, no need to be so sensitive!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.