Spanish coach Vicente Moreno tasked with improving Al-Shabab’s fortunes

RIYADH: Al-Shabab’s search for a coach ended this week with the Riyadh club appointing Spain’s Vicente Moreno on a one-season contract.

The former Mallorca and Espanyol boss has been charged with improving on the fourth-place finish from the last campaign.

The 47-year-old has been a free agent since May when he was dismissed by Espanyol, just a season after leading the team into La Liga from the second division. His record was strong enough to tempt offers from other second-tier clubs in Spain, but Al-Shabab’s offer was the one that earned his signature.

Marcos Delgado, of Madrid-based football data analyst Driblab, has seen Moreno up close and knows what Al-Shabab fans can expect from a coach who likes to play 4-3-2-1.

“Historically, he is a coach that likes to have teams with a strong defense,” Delgado told Arab News, referring to his three prior promotions.

“The defense has been the key part of his great performance in the second division. With Mallorca, in the 2018 to 2019 season, they scored 1.15 non-penalty goals per 90 minutes, which is not a high number for a team that achieved promotion.

“However, the team defended very well and only conceded 0.83 non-penalty goals per 90 minutes. Espanyol dominated the league more, scoring 1.48 non-penalty goals per 90 minutes and only conceding 0.55.”

Now with Al-Shabab, Moreno has a talented team to work with, one that was in the title race for a good part of last season before fading a little. The team also sailed through the group stage of the Asian Champions League and Moreno will have to negotiate the knockout stages of the continental competition early next year.

While Odion Ighalo has left, Al-Shabab still have the talented playmaker Ever Banega, with the