Despite season of shift, Al Riyadh take aim at top-eight finish | OneFootball

It’s been a bit of a strange season for Al Riyadh.

After narrowly surviving relegation from the Roshn Saudi League last term - their first campaign back in the top flight in almost two decades - the capital club set about trying to establish a foothold in both the division, and the city, where their presence can be overshadowed by Al Hilal, Al Nassr and Al Shabab.

At first, Al Riyadh recruited Sabri Lamouchi to take charge of the new era, with the experienced former French international listing on his coaching CV the likes of Cardiff City, Rennes and Nottingham Forest.

It was a strong sign of Al Riyadh’s ambition to play a more prominent role in the RSL, and their summer recruitment matched that ambition. Former Brentford and QPR defender Yoann Barbet arrived in August, as did Red Star Belgrade goalkeeper Milan Borjan.

Also, Al Riyadh struck gold by raiding relegated Al Hazem for Toze and Faiz Selemani, who were both standouts despite their club’s relegation last season, and taking gun striker Bernard Mensah from Al Tai. After netting 14 goals in 30 RSL appearances, Mensah seemed the man to fire Al Riyadh’s quest.

Early on, it looked to have paid dividends: Lamouchi’s side won four of their opening seven matches, including a 2-1 victory against fancied Al Qadsiah, another club looking to make a statement this season.

At that point, Al Riyadh flew as high as fourth in the table. From there, they looked down on clubs of the calibre of Al Ahli, who were last week crowned Asian champions, as well as Al Qadsiah, Al Shabab and Al Ettifaq.

However, since then Al Riyadh’s struggle this season has been consistency. From those heady heights, they won only once in their next five RSL outings to slide down the standings - where they have fluctuated between seventh and ninth ever since.

It’s been tough going since the top flight returned from its winter break, with three victories from their past 17 games. Coming into Saturday’s Matchweek 31 clash at Al Khaleej, they are winless in six.

While none of that makes for pretty reading, it was still a surprise to see Al Riyadh last month part ways with Lamouchi.

To replace him, the club continued the recent trend in the RSL of looking local. They opted to install Bandar Al Kubaishan as caretaker for the remainder of the season, making him currently the fifth active Saudi head coach - caretaker or otherwise - in the division.

Having made the call, the Al Riyadh decision-makers will be hoping it can have the desired effect across the final few rounds as they chase a top-half finish. Indeed, that would represent a great result in only the club’s second season back in the top tier of Saudi football.

While Al Riyadh were put to the sword in their most recent fixture by a clinical Omar Al Somah, whose hat-trick last week lifted him to 10 goals in 13 appearances at Al Orobah, the 4-2 defeat did offer one silver lining: teen sensation Talal Haji registered a debut goal in red and black.

On loan from RSL leaders Al Ittihad, the 17-year-old joined Al Riyadh in January in search of more regular game-time. Even if it hasn’t been as he would have liked – he has featured eight times – his first goal for the club, and extended minutes under Al Kubaishan, is something to build on in the run-in.

The most important point at the moment is breaking the club's winless streak. Thus, doing so at Al Khaleej would be very welcome, as the RSL celebrates its inaugural "Your City, Your Club" campaign.

The Eastern Province side have had a season like Al Riyadh, which explains how they find themselves a one point behind in 10th place.

Taking home a victory is therefore crucial for the ambitions of both clubs; it could draw Al Riyadh to within one win of the top eight.

Understandably, Al Riyadh may have been dreaming of more when they cracked the top four earlier this season. However, a top-half finish would still have to be considered a success for a club who operates as modestly as they do.