For the first time in many seasons, the Al Ittihad team went to zero in the first four rounds of the league, as their matches in the first four rounds of the last five seasons were not without goals. In the 2017/2018 season, Al-Ittihad started the season at that time, conceding three goals at once, losing in the first round with a substitution (1-3).
In the 2018/2019 season, Al-Ittihad managed to go through the first and second rounds with a clean sheet, but got a record number of goals in the third round when they suffered a large defeat by Al-Taawun (3-5).
While he missed the 2019/2020 season in the first round of the competition at that time, although he started it with a victory over Al Raed (3-1).
And the federation team returned to receiving two goals in the first round of the 2020/2021 season, losing by agreement (1-2).
In the last season of 2021/22, the team did not hold out much, and lost in the first round to Al-Faihaa (0-1).
Al Ittihad denounces the fact that they have kept a clean sheet so far this season, and after 4 rounds of the excellent organization of the defense of their Portuguese coach Nuno Santo, where he resorted to playing in a new way, which the Federation did not. played before, especially at the defensive level, and the Federation is almost the only team that plays in this way in the Saudi Roshan league, according to the 3/4/3 method, relying on three defenders, initially Ahmed Sharahili, Ahmed Hegazy and Omar. Havsavi and newcomer Ahmed Bamasud were hired to make up for the absence of the injured Sharahili in the Persian Gulf match that preceded the stoppage.
Santo’s reliance on 3 defenders requires him to give special assignments to accessories and defenders when the ball is lost, at the cost of numbers density in the midfield, which encourages the ball to be captured in the advanced areas before it poses a threat to Grohe’s goal.
Santo has expressed his admiration for the team’s defensive organization and the ability of its players to carry out their duties properly, but he is now looking to ensure that the team’s offensive organization is at the level of the defensive organization.
In previous statements, Santo told him: “The fact that the team is not scoring goals yet, despite the strength of the opposition, is good, and it matters for the players.”
And Santo’s defensive organization with Al-Ittihad will be a real test immediately after the current league shutdown when the team will be visiting Al-Nasr at Mrsul Park in the fifth round of the Roshen League, where Al-Nasr is characterized by the presence of strikers with high technical quality, relatively different from attacking teams that Al-Ittihad have faced in the last four rounds.
