Saudi Pro League – Karim Benzema at Al Ittihad, genesis of discomfort

This is the kind of news that, in 2023, has an impact. Believe it or not: Karim Benzema has left Instagram. Usually so productive on his favorite social network, has the French striker from Al Ittihad decided to cut himself off from the criticism he has been subject to for several weeks for his performances in Saudi Arabia? It’s a hypothesis, nothing more. But one thing is certain, a certain unease is growing around his case.

Tuesday evening, the Jeddah club began its return phase of the championship by being defeated by Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr (2-5). The former Lyonnais, uninspired offensively, symbolically conceded a penalty which benefited “CR7”, and his team was relegated to… 22 lengths behind leader Al-Hilal in the standings. A few hours earlier, the nickname “Ben Hazima”, “the son of defeat” in Arabic, appeared in the Saudi media. Atmosphere. But how did we get there, six months after his arrival with great fanfare?

There is what the numbers say: 20 matches, 12 goals and 5 assists in all competitions, an honest statistical record. And the rest. “What is annoying is that he weighs much less in the game than in Madridexplains Killian Besson, Asia editor for Lucarne Opposée. And he doesn’t seem to care.”. “Fans even call him lazy because of the pace he puts into the game,” specifies Haytham Mohamed, journalist for Goal Saudi Arabia.

If the figures do not live up to expectations, the impact in the game is even less so. And the criticism goes as far as the Frenchman’s behavior in the locker room. “Since the disastrous first half of the season for Al-Ittihad and the dismissal of Nuno Espirito Santo (on November 7, editor’s note), fans and pundits have started to question Benzema’s attituderewinds Haytham Mohamed. There were reports of an argument between him and Espirito Santo.”

Tensions with his ex-coach… and his teammate in attack Abderrazak Hamdallah? Rumors about this have also been rife in the Gulf country, which has not helped his case. “The harshest criticisms are recentnotes Killian Besson. Until three weeks ago, many supporters supported him. But in recent weeks, many have started to find his performances mediocre while Hamdallah has had big matches. So the press is starting to get pretty impatient. The Saudi football press is almost reality TV, so when it comes to gossip and criticism, it’s not the last…”

This encourages us to take these rumors with the necessary perspective. The “Actu SPL” account, followed by 15,000 subscribers on “X”, takes even bigger tweezers. “The Karim Benzema case is more of a media case than anything else, honestly. His recent performances are singled out, but the media adds another layer, and especially opposing supporters like those of Al Nassr or Al Hilal.”

If the Frenchman obviously has his share of responsibility in the current slump on the Jeddah side, he is also far from being the only one responsible, stuck in a context that has become sensitive very quickly in the season. And independently of him.

“The summer transfer window was very poorly managedrecalls Killian Besson. Some players were unwanted and pushed out, before finally being recalled (Ahmed Hegazy, Abderrazak Hamdallah and Igor Coronado). As early as this summer, the club complained a lot that it did not have sufficient resources. Since July, I think that the presidency is more often in the newspapers complaining than in the offices working. At first it was okay because the team was winning. But with the first defeats, everything took on bigger proportions. Espirito Santo fell out with the locker room, including Benzema. Ittihad has players with strong characters and the atmosphere has been disastrous for several months.”

The atmosphere therefore quickly became harmful and the supporters expressed their frustration. “Management is criticized for choosing to recruit ‘finished’ players like Benzema, Kante and Fabinhoadds Haytham Mohamed. This is how the supporters qualify them because they believe that the title holders deserved better foreign players like those recruited by Al-Nassr (Laporte, Fofana, Brozovic, Mané, Ronaldo…) or Al-Hilal (Bounou , Koulibaly, Milinkovic-Savic, Neymar, Malcom…)”.

In such a context, the comparison between Benzema and Ronaldo, who scored his 53rd goal of the calendar year on Wednesday, is even less bearable for his club and its supporters. Episodes like the missed penalty by the Frenchman against Al Ahly at the Club World Cup are even harder to digest. “He is not considered the main problem of Al Ittihad, but a lot was expected of him,” summarizes Haytham Mohamed very simply. It will be very hard to turn the tide collectively. But there is still time to save the furniture individually.