The Saudi club Al-Nasr, which includes Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo, dismissed its French coach, Rudi Garcia, on Wednesday, due to a “loss of confidence” in his management of the team, three sources told AFP.
An official in the club confirmed, on Wednesday evening, that “Al-Nasr decided to end his relationship with his French coach, Rudi Garcia, immediately,” noting that “the club will officially announce the news within hours following ending all financial matters for the French coach.”
The Don.. the butcher of the trainers
Garcia’s dismissal reinforces the idea of dismissing coaches every season for the team to which Ronaldo belongs, since his departure from Real Madrid 5 years ago.
And Western media reported that Garcia is the sixth coach to be dismissed during his training with a team that includes “Don” Cristiano Ronaldo, during 6 seasons. The “guillotine” included:
- Massimiliano Allegri, Juventus coach, in 2019.
- Maurizio Sarri, Juventus coach, in 2020.
- Andrea Pirlo, Juventus coach, in 2021.
- Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Manchester United coach in 2021.
- Manchester United coach Ralph Rangnick in 2022.
- Rudi Garcia, Saudi Al-Nasr coach in 2023.
Did Ronaldo cause them to be dismissed?
The presence of Ronaldo may not always be a major reason for their dismissal, but his presence represents great pressure on the management, to achieve results and productions, and justify the amount paid with Ronaldo.
Rudi Garcia outside the walls of victory
Rudi Garcia outside the walls of victory
Why did they fire Garcia?
An official at Al-Nasr club said, on the condition that his name not be revealed because he is not authorized to speak to the media: “Garcia mismanaged the big matches this season, and we have to save the season before the situation worsens,” 6 days before his upcoming meeting once morest Al-Hilal, the defending champion.
Al-Nasr included Ronaldo at the end of last year in a resounding deal estimated at more than 250 million euros for two and a half seasons, in the hope of leading him to regain the titles absent from his coffers three years ago.
Al-Nasr, nicknamed “Al-Alamy” in Saudi Arabia, is three points behind leaders Ittihad Jeddah, 7 rounds before the end.
A second source familiar with the team said, “The club decided to terminate Garcia’s contract because the dressing room lost confidence in him, especially following the loss from Al-Ittihad” early last month, in the second defeat once morest the same team that eliminated it by three from the Saudi Super Cup semi-finals last January.
The source pointed out that “the players complained more than once regarding Garcia’s technical style and his lack of benefit from the team’s energies.”
