Leader Smalling can spark RSL career by fronting Al Fayha survival bid

Chris Smalling’s debut for Al Fayha couldn’t have gone much worse.

Not only were his side beaten comprehensively, 5-0 at home to Al Raed, but it was he who opened the scoring with an own goal in the sixth minute. To add insult to injury, 10 minutes into the second half, he was sent off.

It was an introduction to remember for all the wrong reasons and a portent of the difficulties that lay ahead for both Smalling and Al Fayha through the opening third of the Rosh Saudi League season.

A solitary win from 13 was not what player nor club had imagined when Smalling put pen to paper in early September – a standout signing for Al Fayha and the league – on a two-year deal.

Only once has the former Manchester United, AS Roma and England defender been able to keep a clean sheet, in that only victory of the 2024-25 season, coming against Al Riyadh in Matchweek 5 at the end of the September. Meanwhile, Al Fayha possess the worst scoring record in the league, not that responsibility for that falls necessarily on Smalling’s shoulders.

But it adds to the malaise at the club through the opening months of this campaign. For that, the RSL’s mid-season break that concludes this week has offered the ideal chance for a re-set, for Smalling and for Al Fayha.

The club has done so in the form of a managerial change, with Christos Kontis replaced by Portuguese coach Pedro Emanuel. Where Kontis was new to the RSL when appointed in July, Emanuel boasts extensive experience working in Saudi Arabia after stints with Al Taawoun, Al Nassr and Al Khaleej. Last term, he guided the latter to an 11th-placed finish.

You’d imagine Al Fayha, 16th in the table as the RSL resumes on Thursday, would take that this time, too.

For Al Fayha to wrestle free of the drop zone, for sure Emanuel will be counting on Smalling to provide the leadership required to lift his new side out of the relegation battle across the final 21 games of the season.

Because, as difficult as the start of the campaign has been, with so much still to play there is time to turn things around. Given his knowledge and know-how, Smalling will certainly be key to that.

Now aged 35, he was a headline addition to Al Fayha and the RSL, coming directly from Italian giants AS Roma. There, he established himself as one of Serie A’s finest defenders, earning the nickname “Smaldini” – Paolo Maldini is considered the club’s greatest-ever in his position – for his performances for the Giallorossi.

His first coach in the Italian capital was Portuguese manager Paulo Fonseca, who heaped praise on Smalling after his debut season in Rome.

"He's an amazing man, so humble, so professional,” Fonseca told ESPN at the time. “He is adored by the fans and established himself as one of the leaders in the dressing room.

“It's not easy for English central defenders to adapt so quickly to Italian football; the record there isn't good. But he has been amazing.”

Like his time in England, Smalling’s stay in Italy was blighted by injury. After a standout first season, he could manage only 16 games in the next, with knee and thigh injuries keeping him sidelined for large parts.

Through it all, however, Smalling has long been lauded for his leadership credentials. During his tenure as Manchester United manager, Louis van Gaal earmarked publicly Smalling as a future captain of the venerated club; a prediction that proved to be correct.

For his part, throughout his time at both Manchester United and AS Roma, Smalling has spoken of his role as a figurehead, wearing the captain’s arm band at both clubs, and looking to lead by example on the pitch.

"I have always liked that competition with the striker and obviously Daley [Blind] is not that sort of centre-back who is going to dominate, so it's a case of I take that mantle on - and I am enjoying it," Smalling said in 2015 after a game against Newcastle United where he kept quiet a certain Aleksandar Mitrovic.

"I wouldn't say I hadn't done it previously in games because I feel like I bullied quite a few players in matches.

"But it's a case of making sure there is that consistency and, hopefully, I can get that consistency where it can be on show every week. I feel like I am playing well, and I am enjoying my football.”

It’s that same mentality and enjoyment Smalling needs to embrace if he is to help Al Fayha rescue their season and avoid slipping into the Saudi First Division. Now, with the fresh start of a new manager and with the chance to get away during the break to recharge, the time is nigh to change the narrative.

Al Fayha’s opening test after the break doesn’t get any tougher, though, with the arrival on Saturday of RSL leaders Al Ittihad. To make matters worse, the 2022-23 Saudi champions head into the Matchweek 14’s closing clash in Buraidah fresh off eliminating Al Hilal from the King’s Cup with a thrilling penalty shootout win.

Karim Benzema was the star of the show in Tuesday’s quarter-final, the Al Ittihad captain continuing his blistering start to the season with another brace. It hoisted him to 12 goals in 12 games across all competitions this term.

Yet Smalling can turn what some would perceive a negative into a positive. Chiefly, that there’s no better stage for him to show he still has what it takes to go toe-to-toe with the best.