It seems that Al-Ettifaq have come under fire for a social media post about their manager Steven Gerrard.
The former Liverpool captain, who joined the Saudi side this summer, has been getting stuck into first-team training at his new club this week but it seems the Saudi side’s social media post hasn’t gone down well.
The PFA (Professional Footballers Association) Tweeted out a picture of Gerrard in memory of when the Liverpool midfielder won the Player of the Year award back in the 2005-2006 season.
Al-Ettifaq quoted the tweet with the caption ‘One of our Own’ which, as you can imagine, received a bit of abuse from the Liverpool fans who adore the midfielder following his iconic spell in Merseyside.
Gerrard has also brought back another former Liverpool captain, English midfielder Jordan Henderson. The former Sunderland man has been getting stuck in during training this week as Gerrard’s side prepares for the new Saudi Pro League season hoping to topple the established four.
Can Gerrard be the difference-maker?
Perhaps it will be a familiar feeling for Gerrard when he takes charge of his first game in the Saudi Pro League against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr.
When Gerrard made the bold move of taking the Rangers job back in 2018, Celtic were still in the midst of their dominance of the division, but Gerrard came in and won Rangers the Scottish Premiership for the first time in a decade.
Gerrard will be hoping he can sprinkle that same stardust on a team that are even bigger outsiders to win the league than Rangers ever were. With Jordan Henderson, a player Gerrard reportedly insisted on according to The Athletic, anchoring the midfield, maybe don’t write off Gerrard and Al-Ettifaq just yet.
Gerrard is one of only a few managers in the league with Premier League managerial experience. That will surely count for something if the Englishman is to be victorious in the Saudi Pro League.