Steven Gerrard's time at Al-Ettifaq has been anything but smooth, and with his team struggling on the pitch and key allies shown the door, pressure is mounting on the ex-Liverpool skipper
Steven Gerrard
Steven Gerrard has had a tough last few months in Saudi Arabia (
Image: Getty Images)
Steven Gerrard's stint at Al-Ettifaq hasn't exactly been going to plan lately.
When the Liverpool legend traded the familiar intensity of European football for the deep-pocketed ambitions of the Saudi Pro League, there were questions of legacy, of adaptation, and of life far removed from home. Now, 18 months into his tenure, those questions have only intensified.
A concerning winless run has left fans restless, and the club's top brass scrambling for solutions, with two of Gerrard's closest confidants being given their marching orders in recent weeks. Off the pitch, the strain seems just as apparent, with Gerrard's wife, Alex, refusing to live in Saudi Arabia.
As a result, he's staring the barrel of a second-successive managerial collapse. Here, Mirror Football delves into Gerrard's turbulent spell in the Gulf, where, beneath the relentless Saudi sun, he's racing against time to turn things around.
End of a nightmare run
On Saturday, Gerrard's Al-Ettifaq side mercifully ended a nine-match winless streak that threatened to plunge his tenure into an unescapable abyss. They came from behind to beat Al-Khaleej 2-1, with former Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum grabbing one of the goals, to help Al-Ettifaq secure their first league win since mid-September.
They started the season at a canter, winning each of their three opening matches, but a 3-0 hammering at the hands of Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr's side seemed to flip a switch, sending Gerrard and his men into one heck of a downward spiral. Things got so bad that fans began booing them off the pitch, particularly after a 2-0 defeat to local rivals Al-Qadsiah.
Al-Ettifaq's recent form has been a major concern
Last season followed a similar pattern. They began the campaign with a string of victories before faceplanting in the autumn. Between September 2023 and March 2024, Al-Ettifaq picked up just two league wins, and Gerrard will be eager to ensure he doesn't endure such a lengthy wait for his second victory this time around.
The club are 11th in the table, a whopping 21 points behind league-leaders Al-Ittihad, and 13 away from an AFC Champions League Elite qualification spots. With only six points separating them from the relegation zone, another slip in the coming weeks could leave Gerrard teetering on the brink of the sack... and speaking of 'the sack', it brings us on to his former assistant.
Allies axed
As Al-Ettifaq's winless run went from bad to worse, club bosses started getting a little anxious. Gerrard was spared the axeman's blow, but his assistant, Dean Holden, and sporting director, Mark Allen, weren't so lucky.
Both men were brought in to prop Gerrard up, but neither had the desired effect. Results did improve after Holden's arrival in February, but initial hopes that he and Gerrard might have struck gold together quickly dissipated.
Gerrard's former assistant Dean Holden was sacked last month (
Image:
PA)
Allen's departure comes as a particular blow, given that Gerrard worked with him at Rangers. However, just as one familiar face leaves, another has arrived. Stepping in as Holden's replacement is Michael Beale, who worked with Gerrard at both Liverpool, Rangers and Aston Villa.
Wife living abroad
While the financial allure of Saudi Arabia might be irresistible to certain footballing figures, it's often a different story for their families. The Gulf nation has a strict, conservative culture, with particularly stringent restrictions for women, often making it difficult for westerners to properly assimilate.
As such, many families of the players and coaches who have been coaxed to Saudi Arabia in the past couple of years have stayed behind, or, in the case of Gerrard's other half, Alex, decided to live in the neighbouring state of Bahrain - a far more liberal nation than the Kingdom next door.
Gerrard and his wife, pictured here in Dubai, have been living it up in Bahrain (
Image:
Internet Unknown)
She lives in Manama, Bahrain's capital, with Steven and their four kids. Fortunately, it's only an hour's drive from the Saudi Arabian city of Dammam, where Al-Ettifaq are based. Gerrard, who reportedly earns £15million per year - making him the fourth highest-paid manager in the world - has been given a luxury villa in the city, and occasionally stays there himself. But his family are permanently based in Bahrain.
Friends of the Gerrards have hailed them for pulling off a 'tactical masterstroke'. Their six-bedroom villa is a stone's throw away from the homes of members of the Bahraini royal family, and comes with its own swimming pool and tennis court.
It may sound like a life of luxury, but if Al-Ettifaq's performances don't improve soon, that comfort might be short-lived.
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