The Controversy Surrounding Mancini’s First List of Official Matches for Saudi Arabia

2023-11-11 08:19:33

A look at the first list of official matches for Saudi Arabia under the leadership of Mancini, as they face Pakistan and Jordan..

The first thing any coach is asked regarding when he is hired is the “player selection mechanism,” which is something that is supposed to be reflected in his list in the various camps. Tonight, Italian Roberto Mancini; The technical director of the Saudi national team, under the guillotine of this question..

Yesterday, Mancio announced his first official match list with Al-Akhdar following two previous friendly camps, as he prepares to face Pakistan and Jordan, as part of the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.

Of course, if controversy does not accompany the list of any team in the world, then we will know that the end of the world is approaching. This is the only case that will prevent the public from disagreeing regarding the coaches’ choices, but even if the public holds the coaches more than necessary many times, the Italian deserved this. This time..

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Be honest in word and deed

From the Italian’s first day in Saudi Arabia, and during his first press conference to introduce him to the media, the coach declared it explicitly: “I like to rely on young players. This is how I did in Italy, and in the same footsteps I will follow in Saudi Arabia.”

Mancini was right in what he said, and yesterday he included a list containing a group of young players, to reduce the average age in the national team, and indeed the average age currently is approximately 25 years, as there are ten players out of 28 who joined, their ages range from 16, such as striker Talal Haji, to 23 years, such as Faisal Al-Ghamdi, Nawaf Al-Aqidi, Eid Al-Mawlid, Ayman Yahya and others.

Better still, according to what is clear from the list, is that the coach’s attendance at Roshen League matches from the stands was not in vain as it was before. In the past, the coach and his assistant staff were assigned to attend, and in the end the names themselves were the names.

But with Mancini following the league well within three months, players who really shined and deserved the opportunity joined, regardless of the colors of their shirt and without considering the exclusion of a big star in their favour. The result was the inclusion of Faisal Al-Ghamdi, Walid Al-Ahmad, Aoun Al-Salouli, Moaz Faqihi and others.

But the accusations drag themselves towards him

Although we talk regarding the fact that Manchu’s thought does appear clearly on the list, in fact, the fact that there is something incomprehensible in it cannot be overlooked at the same time.

We will not talk regarding the fact that quite a few of the invitees were not called up over the past two camps. There is no problem given that the coach at the time did not get to know the players well. However, if the Italian does not come out and explain the mechanism of his choices to public opinion this time, it will open up a lot of room for doubts regarding him.

We agreed that he tends to choose young players and to call up players who actually deserved the opportunity that some of them were denied before in favor of players bearing the word “star” more than them. So what regarding calling up players who do not participate in the first place and excluding others who are more involved and whose ages are younger?

The conversation here specifically concerns Firas Al-Braikan. Al-Ahly striker, as for his age, he is 23 years old, and as for his participation, he is the most involved and the most contributing to goals among the quartet that Mancini summoned, whether Abdullah Redeef, Talal Al-Hajji, Muhammad Maran and Saleh Al-Shehri.

Al-Braikan participated in 13 matches this season, during which he scored 8 goals and assisted four others, while Redeef appeared in eight matches during which he did not score any goal, and Maran played one match without any contribution, and the same was the case for Haji, while Al-Shehri played seven matches and his score was one goal. !

Aside from Al-Braikan, there is also Al-Nasr right-back Sultan Al-Ghannam, who was a constant element in Mancio’s two previous camps, even if he was on the bench, until he decided to exclude him permanently this time.

The Italian’s view of Al-Ghanem may have been strangely clear from the first day, as he preferred to field the centre-back, Hassan Timbukti, as a right-back and in a position other than his, in exchange for not having to field the Al-Nasr full-back, even though the 29-year-old is experiencing one of his best periods on the field, participating with Al-Alamy in 13 matches. During which he contributed seven goals, in addition to his defensive roles.

Compared to the duo joining in the same position, Fawaz Al-Saqour has only two contributions with Al-Shabab in 15 matches, and Saud Abdel Hamid has only four contributions with Al-Hilal in 19 matches.

Even apart from this and that, what regarding Abd al-Ilah al-Maliki? The Al Hilal midfielder, who participated for only nine minutes this season, divided into three matches? Does he not even fully meet the age criteria, as he is 29 years old!

Bottom line: Is quality Mancini’s standard? There are names that he called up without participating with their teams, and others were excluded from participating. Is age a criterion? Firas Al-Braikan shined when he was young and was not called up, waiting for the Italian to reveal his mechanism and resolve the controversy..

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