Al Wehda look to Carreno to once again stir struggling club

Al Wehda have gone back to the future as they look to salvage their season after a frustrating and disappointing opening 13 matches of the 2024-25 Roshn Saudi League campaign.

It’s a run that has the Mecca club sitting in the relegation zone ahead of the final game this week before the winter break.

Jose Daniel Carreno, a manager who possesses something of a chequered history in Saudi football, has returned for his second stint at Al Wehda, last week replacing Josef Zinnbauer. The outgoing German, installed in the summer, paid the price after only two wins from his first 11 RSL matches, including three of their past four.

Carreno, who won the 1988 Copa Libertadores with Nacional as a player, is no stranger to Al Wehda, or Saudi football, having spent the best part of the past decade working in the Kingdom.

Aside from previously coaching Al Wehda, his time in Saudi dates back as far as 2012, when he was appointed manager of Riyadh giants Al Nassr. It was a successful time in the capital for the Montevideo-native, winning the RSL title in his second season in charge. That campaign, they clinched the crown ahead of fierce cross-town rivals, Al Hilal.

A brief spell in Qatar with Al Arabi and the national team followed, before Carreno returned to the RSL, this time with Al Shabab. That was followed by another stint with Al Nassr, before the former striker ended up at Al Wehda.

After leaving Mecca during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Carreno returned home to Uruguay and to his boyhood club, Montevideo Wanderers, for whom he both played and coached earlier in his career.

However, his Kingdom calling would take hold again. Seemingly unable to stay away, last season Carreno made the move back with Al Hazem. And, while he could not keep them afloat, the fondness with which he is remembered in the holy city paved the way for last week’s comeback to Al Wehda.

Carreno’s first stint lasted almost 12 months, across 2019 and 2020 when he stepped in to replace Croatian Mario Cvitanovic, during which he won 15 of his 27 games in charge and helped the club secure a fourth-placed finish. With that, came qualification for the AFC Champions League - the first, and only time, Al Wehda have achieved that in their storied history.

This time, the situation facing Carreno upon his return is not too dissimilar to that which confronted him in 2019. While further into the season this time around, back then he arrived at a club sitting 12th, just above the relegation zone, having lost two of their opening three games.

Carreno’s appointment had the desired effect: Al Wehda won six of their next eight and at one point, after Round 11, and again in Round 13, ranked as high as second in on the table behind Al Nassr. Ultimately, they settled for fourth spot.

It represents the high watermark for Al Wehda in the Saudi Pro League era, but the good news for the 61-year-old Carreno is there is still plenty of time in the season to turn things around in similar fashion.

Such is the congestion in the bottom half of the table, only five points separate Al Wehda in 16th and Al Raed in 10th. Their latest opponent, Al Ahli of nearby Jeddah, are proof of how quickly things can rebound; only a few weeks ago they were 10th and staring down the barrel. Three straight wins, however, have shot them up to sixth and back in touch with the top three.

For Carreno and Al Wehda, and with the whole winter break to work with the team, the time is nigh to flip the club’s fortunes.

In their final game before the winter break, Carreno’s side host Al Okhdood, who are only above them in the standings on goal difference. Thus, victory at home on Thursday would take them out of the relegation zone as they head into a four-week hiatus. Undeniably, it would give everyone at Al Wehda a boost in confidence at just the right time.

While the class of 2024-25 is vastly different to the one Carreno inherited in 2019, with only five players remaining from that season, there are some familiar faces in the dressing room - important figures in the squad that can help the club rally.

Australian international Craig Goodwin, who joined Al Wehda a few months before Carreno’s first stint, flourished working under the Uruguayan and was pivotal to their fourth-placed finish that campaign.

Goodwin has gone from strength to strength since that season, becoming an increasingly influential player for his national team, including scoring at the FIFA World Cup in 2022. Although, after a bright start to this term, with two goals in Matchweek 1, the forward hasn’t found the net since.

Alongside Goodwin, goalkeeper – and fellow Uruguayan - Ignacio De Arruabarrena worked with Carreno across two years with Montevideo Wanderers. In fact, the 27-year-old shot stopper was Carreno’s preferred option between the sticks in the Uruguayan top flight. For sure, that relationship will be important as he looks to stiffen a defence that has so far conceded a league-worst 28 goals this term.

Finally, veteran midfielder Waleed Bakshween, who was influential in Carreno’s system first time around, remains and has since taken on the captain’s armband, bringing important leadership on and off the pitch.

What’s more, throw in exciting youngsters, such as Morad Khodari and Iraq’s Youssef Amyn, and proven winners, such as veteran striker Odion Ighalo, and there is more than enough talent at Al Wehda to turn things around - arguably more so than in 2019.

Having pulled them out of the quagmire once before, Al Wehda will be hoping that, with Carreno back at the club, lightning can strike twice.

2024-25 RSL Matchweek 12 - In Pictures