The Al-Ittihad Herald
Market9 Nov 2026
Youssef En-Nesyri wants more than Al-Ittihad are offering
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Al-Ittihad
Danilo Pereira was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match7 Nov 2026
6 unbeaten for Al-Ittihad
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Al-Ittihad did not have in the autumn.
Match7 Nov 2026
Al-Ittihad make home a hard place to visit
8 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Al-Ittihad
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Faisal Al-Ghamdi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
The game went through Houssem Aouar — 7.13
Marked 7.13 on 10 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
George Ilenikhena gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Loan watch9 Nov 2026
Kassoum Koné has seen enough of Al-Orobah
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Al-Ittihad, and 10 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Steven Bergwijn is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.23 with 6 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
In brief
- Player ratings Steven Bergwijn beats them one at a time
- Match Youssef En-Nesyri rescues a point for Al-Ittihad
- The dugout Hassan Al-Salem on the point