Yahoo Sports Steven Gerrard under pressure in Saudi Arabia
Steven Gerrard is under pressure to turn around results at Al-Ettifaq next month after sliding down the Saudi Pro League during a run of two months without a victory.
The former England captain, 43, arrived at the club in the summer as a high-profile managerial appointment and started with a run of wins that took the club into the AFC Champions League Elite places. However, they have since slipped into mid-table without a victory since Oct 28, ahead of a break for the Asia Cup.
While there have been no signs of Gerrard being sacked imminently, it is understood the club have not been happy with results in the two months before the mid-season break.
Gerrard has been given signings including England international Jordan Henderson, ex-Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum and former Premier League winger Demarai Gray, as well as France striker Moussa Dembélé to help bring success to the club. But after five months they are in eighth place in the SPL table and were knocked out of the King Cup by Sadio Mane’s winner for Al Nassr.
Gerrard: ‘We need to make a lot of changes’
Just before Christmas, Gerrard insisted his team needed to be active in the January transfer window to try and turn results around.
“We have already had important meetings at Al-Ettifaq in terms of mid-season updates and where every individual is, and where the group is at,” he said. “The message, in summary, that we have sent is that we need to be aggressive, we need to be ruthless, and we need to make a lot of changes to make this team more competitive.
“We are really happy with a lot of individuals, both foreign and some local players. But if you look at us, once Moussa [Dembele] came out of the team [through injury], the weaknesses in our team have been highlighted, as have the options we had.
“We need to show in this window, and also the summer window, that we mean business and we want to be competitive at the top of the league, and not where we are at the moment.”
Al-Ettifaq have not shown patience with their managers in recent seasons, with their past three appointments lasting less than a year. Gerrard succeeded Antonio Cazorla, who was in charge for four months, while French coach Patrice Carteron had less than a year before that.
Their next match is on Feb 15 against Al-Khaleej, after the Asia Cup is over.
Gerrard’s assistant coach, Ian Foster, is also set to join Plymouth as their new manager. Foster is a former England Under-20s manager and is the leading candidate to replace Steven Schumacher, who left the club for Stoke City last month.
