Wissing Relieved After Al-Ittihad's Narrow Victory
Al-Ittihad walked off with the points, but not without a scare. A 3-2 win over Al-Hazm in the Saudi Roshn League kept the early-season momentum rolling, and left technical director Jens Wissing sounding equal parts satisfied and wary.
“We are happy with the win,” he said after the match. “There is no easy encounter given the fixture congestion. We played five matches in two weeks, produced a brilliant first half and scored, but we lost our sharpness in the second half and allowed the opponent to attack. The most important thing in the end is securing the victory.”
Five games in under a fortnight. Four wins. No defeats. The numbers look healthy. The legs, less so.
Wissing admitted the schedule had bitten hard, especially after a demanding outing against Al-Qadsiah just three days earlier. “We played three days ago against Al-Qadsiah, and we exerted a great deal of physical effort, and that certainly affected us,” he said. The evidence was there in the second-half drop-off, as Al-Hazm pushed with direct, draining football.
“We faced a side that wore us down with long balls, and we were forced to exert a great effort. Every team has its own weapons, and in the end the result is the most important thing.”
Diaby left out: “Not mentally ready”
One of the biggest talking points came before kick-off. Moussa Diaby trained. Moussa Diaby did not play.
Wissing cut through the speculation with a blunt explanation.
“The answer is simple. When a player comes and says he is not mentally ready, he cannot be involved.”
No dressing it up. No half-measures.
“I want players who are ready, and in the coming period we have a lot of fixture congestion, so if a player is not 100% ready, I am not prepared to rely on him.”
The message was clear: with games piling up and intensity central to his blueprint, there is no room for compromise on physical or mental readiness.
High-intensity vision still a work in progress
Despite the strong start, Wissing refused to pretend Al-Ittihad are anywhere near their ceiling.
“We are certainly happy with our start, it is a good one for the season, but we still have a lot ahead of us. The transfer window is also still open, and we are studying our options.”
Since the pre-season camp, he has pushed a clear identity: high tempo, relentless work, constant pressure. Right now, he sees a team moving in that direction, but not yet living there for 90 minutes.
“Since the start of the camp we have been working on developing ourselves, because we want to produce football that relies on high intensity, but we have not reached that yet,” he said.
“The demands I ask of the players are being carried out well, but they are not yet at the best possible level.”
The second-half wobble against Al-Hazm underlined that gap. The ideas are in place. The legs need to catch up.
En-Nesyri backed amid criticism
If Diaby’s absence raised eyebrows, Youssef En-Nesyri’s form raised voices. The Moroccan striker has come under fire for a declining goalscoring return, but Wissing did not hesitate to step in front of him.
“Youssef En-Nesyri is one of my best players. Since my arrival he has been one of the best players, and I do not care what the media or the fans say about him.”
That was not a casual line. It was a firm endorsement.
“He may be unsuccessful in scoring, but he puts in a high and excellent effort, and that matters to me.”
For Wissing, the work off the ball, the pressing, the running, the sacrifice, still carry heavy weight. The goals, he believes, can follow.
Al-Ittihad have the points on the board, a punishing schedule, a demanding coach, and a striker under the spotlight but backed from the bench. As the fixtures keep coming and the transfer window stays open, the question now is simple: can this early resilience harden into a title-level machine?
