Is Stefano Pioli about to coach in Saudi Arabia? This time it’s Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr, but he was already close at the beginning of July, when his agreement with Al Ittihad seemed really close and fell through because of… Karim Benzema. After a year of Marcelo Gallardo, realistically not good for the yellow and blacks, the intention was to focus on Pioli as the presidential choice. But then the Frenchman had vetoed, indicating three different (and French) coaches to train the club such as Blanc, Renard and Galtier. A chauvinistic choice for the striker, former Golden Ball winner and probably one of the most listened to by the club. A state case that had led to the resignation of the president of Al Ittihad, Louy Nazer.
These are the words of Karim Benzema who, in fact, was a factor in the choice of Laurent Blanc over Stefano Pioli. “I don’t like to talk about last year, what happened. There were a lot of problems. We weren’t just focused on football, so we have to use the lessons learned from that period. That’s what we did in pre-season, there were a lot of changes. It’s about looking forward, learning from the few mistakes we made last year. We’re in the best conditions now. Blanc is known in Europe and people here know who he is. He’s someone who knows football and is very close to the players.”
Benzema’s club – who broke the deadlock in the second round of the championship – have started the season very well, winning both league games played so far. Last year he scored nine goals and seven assists.