How RSL veteran Carreno can galvanise Al Riyadh

The language might remain the same, but the message is likely to be quite different at Al Riyadh after Jose Daniel Carreno was appointed as manager at the capital club in the wake of Javier Calleja’s departure.

With only two wins across the opening nine matchweeks of the 2025-26 Roshn Saudi League - more than a quarter of the season - Al Riyadh sit two spots and three points above the relegation zone as the competition headed into the break for next month’s 2025 FIFA Arab Cup.

Not long before Matchweek 9's trip to champions Al Ittihad, the club confirmed their decision to bring in Carreno, the enigmatic Uruguayan who is no stranger to life in the Saudi Arabian top flight.

While he’s already had that one game in charge - that narrow, 2-1 defeat to Karim Benzema and Co - the month-long break gives Carreno the chance to turn things around.

With that in mind, we look at what will be top of his “to-do” list during the next month as Al Riyadh seek to flip fortunes and begin the climb from 14th.

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Plug the defence

It’s an obvious place to start for a new manager taking charge of a relegation-threatened side, but it often rings true.

Defence was an area that required work in the summer, with Al Riyadh having conceded 52 times last season. However, having let in 19 already this season - the third-worst record in the league - something needs to change.

Whether that is added reinforcements in the winter window, or working on a new defensive structure, if Al Riyadh are to turn their around their campaign, then buttressing the backline arguably represents priority No.1.

It’s hard to win many matches when you’re conceding, on average, more than two goals per game. That rate is no surprise considering Al Riyadh have faced the second-most shots of any side, at 133.

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Get on the ball

That Al Riyadh have scored 10 goals could be viewed as something of an overachievement when you dig deep into their stats. Those paint a less-than-pretty picture as to the team’s attacking play throughout the opening weeks.

Having faced the second-most shots, Al Riyadh also hold the mantle as the team with the fewest attempts at the other end, with only 56 after nine games. For comparison, league leaders Al Nassr have almost three times as many.

That the capital club create so few chances follows on from the fact that they have also completed the fewest passes in the division (2,595), and the second fewest in the final third (686). Of course, it’s hard to create when you don’t have the ball.

However, with players such as Toze, Ibrahim Bayesh, Teddy Okou and Mamadou Sylla at his disposal, Carreno has more than enough forward-thinking talent to rectify those attacking issues.

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Finish 2025 on high

When the league returns after the FIFA Arab Cup, Al Riyadh face three fixtures before turning the calendar into 2026. Two of those fall at home, while all three are against sides ninth or below in the table.

So tight are the standings that merely six points separate Al Riyadh in 14th and sixth-placed Al Khaleej. Therefore, a few positive results could make the outlook for the season suddenly shape very differently.

That would give Al Riyadh momentum heading into the New Year and, thus, the back half of the season. So, do well across their closing trio of matches in 2025, and an encouraging finish will be still very much within Carreno's reach.

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Find Midas touch… again

Carreno is no stranger to life in the RSL having worked at Al Nassr, Al Shabab, Al Hazem, Al Wehda and now Al Riyadh.

Across his time in the Kingdom, he’s had some huge highs, such as his title win with Al Nassr in 2013-14 and the recovery mission with Al Wehda (in his first stint at the club). Back in 2019-20, he took the Mecca side from relegation candidates into the top four, qualifying for continental competition.

There have also been devastating lows, though, like when Carreno was unable to save Al Wehda from the drop last season. Indeed, he suffered the same fate with Al Hazem the previous campaign, winning two of 19 games in charge.

Always a colourful character on the sidelines, Carreno will need to use past experience to understand what has worked previously and what hasn’t - and then apply that at Al Riyadh.

For sure, no manager wants to have three successive relegations on their record. Carreno will no doubt believe that it’ll be third time lucky, and he can keep that particular punch off his CV.