If one wants to look at an underdog story in football, there are many this season. Aston Villa in the Premier League, Girona FC in La Liga Nice in Ligue 1. One club, however, that has not gotten the same limelight is Saudi Pro League club Al-Taawoun, who, despite facing clubs with far more cast financial resources, have performed admirably.
On December 30, 2022, one of the most shocking football transfers occurred as Cristiano Ronaldo signed a contract to join the Saudi Pro League by signing for Al Nassr. It was considered the first major coup for a league whose rise was backed by the country’s government, which is part of their Vision 2030. Six months before Ronaldo’s transfer to the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, had taken charge of four clubs, Al Ittihad, Al Ahli, Al Nassr, and Al Hilal.
This meant that these clubs got significant funds from the PIF and used it to get the top players.
Saudi Pro League Top transfers |
|
| Team | Player |
| Al Nassr | Cristiano Ronaldo, Sadio Mane, Otavio, Marcelo Brozovic, Aymeric Laporte,Alex Telles. |
| Al-Hilal | Malcom, Ruben Neves, Yassine Bounou, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Kalidou Koulibaly, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic. |
| Al-Ahli | Edouard Mendy, Riyad Mahrez, Frank Kessie, Allan Saint-Maximin, Gabri Veiga, Roberto Firmino |
| Al Ittihad | N’Golo Kante, Fabinho, Karim Benzema, Marcelo Grohe |
However, after 18 games Al-Taawoun have performed admirably and are currently fourth in the league. This is an incredible achievement for a club whose biggest transfer was for Musa Barrow for only €8 million.
So, how did Al-Taawoun manage to surpass the expectations and compete with the big boys of the league?
Al-Taawoun 2023-24 season
Despite not having the massive resources of the top four clubs, manager Pericles Chamusca has still drilled his side well. His philosophy is to have the ball as much as possible and immediately win it back if they lose possession.
It is reflected in the Buildup Disruption Percentage (BDP), where the team is naked third on the metric. In addition, they are also the fifth-best team in terms of possession. Keeping the ball for long durations helps the team control the game’s flow.
However, since their attacking options are less than the top teams, the club have almost solely relied on the creative brilliance of one man; Alvaro Medran. The Spaniard has been the league’s best player on the Expected Threat (xT), a metric measuring how threatening a player is…
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