Ange’s biggest gamble yet starts now... and Ronaldo could offer a path back to the top

Ange Postecoglou’s remarkable next chapter begins this weekend with Al-Nassr welcoming Al Fateh in the early hours of Sunday morning Australian time.

The former Tottenham, Nottingham Forest and Celtic boss stunned the football world in the hours leading up to the Socceroos’ World Cup clash with the USA in June by joining the Saudi Pro League champions.

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The biggest selling point in Postecoglou’s return to Asian football is that he has linked up with all-time great Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Portuguese superstar is not the only big name the Australian will have at his disposal.

Working with the likes of Ronaldo’s Portugal teammate Joao Felix, Liverpool great Sadio Mane, former Bayern Munich winger Kingsley Coman and ex-Barcelona defender Inigo Martinez would have his tongue wagging too.

Postecoglou’s new gig, which was announced almost nine months after his sacking by Forest, comes with a lot of risk, however.

The man who ended Tottenham’s 17-year trophy drought with the 2025 Europa League triumph dipped his toes into the punditry waters during his time away from the dugout.

He featured on UK network ITV’s broadcast of the World Cup and appeared on the likes of TNT Sports during their UEFA Champions League coverage.

Postecoglou was a regular fixture at iconic venues like PSG’s Parcs des Princes in his role as a UEFA Technical Observer.

But he has traded frosty Champions League nights in Paris and London for warm evening league matches in Riyadh and Asian Champions League trips to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha.

It is a significant gamble but presented with a two-year deal at almost $20 million per season, after his longest stint out of coaching since being axed by Football Australia as national youth teams’ boss almost two decades ago, it was hard to say no.

After that sacking, Postecoglou ended up briefly coaching in the Greek third tier and at local level in Melbourne.

Such an experience was no doubt a reminder that you cannot take jobs in professional football for granted, but Socceroos legend Mark Schwarzer admitted his disappointed in the move last month.

“I dare anyone to try to turn that down,” the goalkeeping great told ABC Sport Daily.

“But I am disappointed from a perspective that I feel he could give so much more still at an elite level, and clearly the Saudi League is not the elite level – I don’t care what anyone tells me.

“Yes, they’ve got some really big-name players, (but) one could argue that the vast majority of them are at the back end of their careers.

“Yes, there’s some good football being played, there are a lot of goals scored but in general it’s a league that’s trying to build. It’s trying to establish itself.”

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“Maybe there’s still a chance for Ange, if he so desired, at some stage to go to another club in Europe,” Schwarzer added.

“There is a pathway. People do it. Let’s hope he’s still got a pretty long career in management. I hope he ends up back in Europe in one of the big leagues soon.”

Schwarzer is right. There are big names who have abandoned the Saudi Pro League for a European return.

Former Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson left Al-Ettifaq after half a season, joined Ajax and then made his way back to the Premier League with Brentford before making his recent move to Chelsea.

The 36-year-old even played his way into Thomas Tuchel’s England World Cup squad this year.

Brazilian superstar Neymar played just three games for Al Hilal in an injury plagued stint before returning to boyhood club Santos and making it to the World Cup.

It has been done but has been not commonplace among managers.

Most notably, Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard has been out of work since leaving Al-Ettifaq last year.

Postecoglou will need to be a trailblazer if he is to shake off the tag that the Saudi Pro League is a retirement village.

It is challenge that the 60-year-old is unlikely to shy away from.

He blazed a trail for Australian managers by making it to the Premier League, but Al-Nassr will pose a different challenge.

From South Melbourne and Brisbane Roar to Celtic and Tottenham, Postecoglou has been a figure of rejuvenation.

Taking over clubs that had been falling short of expectations who needed a manager to shake things up to deliver success.

It is the first time in his career that Postecoglou is taking over a champion team.

Previous boss Jorge Jesus departed after only one year saying he had completed his mission of helping Ronaldo win the Saudi Pro League.

In a positive sign for any future Postecoglou ambitions, he was appointed Portugal manager, replacing Roberto Martinez after they were eliminated in the World Cup Round of 16 by eventual champions Spain.

Maintaining a playing groups’ hunger is something Postecoglou has successfully done before.

He followed up winning the domestic double at Celtic by winning the domestic treble the following season.

But building on the momentum already created by someone else will be a significant challenge.

At least this time around, he has the pre-season to work with the playing group unlike being thrust into the Forest job once the season had begun.

“Al Nassr fans are sceptical,” Mohammed Fayad, a sports reporter for the Saudi-based Arab News, told Football360 last month.

“You’re going from Jorge Jesus, a serial winner to Ange Postecoglou who, while he does get stuff in his second season, you can’t do that at a big four club in Saudi and tell the club you’re not going to win a trophy in your first season.

“They don’t believe he’s managed a club (in this situation) that has won a trophy the season before, so how is he going to do better than Jorge Jesus? If he goes into mid-season by the winter and he’s third or fourth in the league, that could get him sacked at Al Nassr.

“That’s why it’s such big, big, big shoes he has to fill in terms of Jorge Jesus. It’s (winning) either the league or the AFC Champions League (Elite). There’s no way, I believe, Ange lasts the season if he doesn’t win either of those trophies.”

How Postecoglou manages Ronaldo will be the key to it all.

The former Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus superstar copped widespread ridicule throughout the World Cup.

“Your centre forward has to move, he has to contribute, he has to press, he has to have variation in his play and he doesn’t,” former England international Chris Sutton said on the BBC after Portugal’s loss to Spain.

“He’s waddling around the field like a Grandad, that’s why Portugal are out. Cristiano Ronaldo does nothing. He did nothing.”

The 41-year-old’s struggles do not exactly fit the mould of Angeball – Postecoglou’s high octane, high pressing and exciting preferred playing style.

The Australian will almost certainly have to tweak his tactics to accommodate Ronaldo.

Although, football fans may have to wait get a glimpse of how their relationship will work with Arabic daily newspaper Arriyadiyah reporting that Ronaldo will miss Al-Nassr’s opening two games of the season following his wedding.

Ronaldo returned to training on Thursday, and Postecoglou denied those reports by saying, “Ronaldo is always ready”.

With 1,000 career goals within reach (Ronaldo has found the back of the net 976 times in his career) and Al-Nassr paying him roughly $340 million a season to score goals, the manager will take the fall if the relationship does not pan out.

On the flip side, Ronaldo could reach his milestone in the blink of an eye if Postecoglou can successfully have his teammates feeding him inside the box.

The Australian missed out on the chance to work with England captain Harry Kane at Tottenham as he left for Bayern Munich.

He will no doubt be relishing the chance to form a partnership with a legend of the sport.

“I think the most important thing for me is during my whole career, I’ve enjoyed taking on new challenges, new competitions, working with different people and growing from that,” Postecoglou told the club’s media arm shortly after his arrival in the Saudi capital that he was looking forward to the test.

“So, it’s another opportunity for me to test myself in a new environment and new country with a new team.

“I have a lot of ambition too, so I’m glad the club has – that’s why I’m here. I’ve worked a lot through Asia and come from this part of the world [Australia]. And even when I was in Europe, I always said to people that all the success I’ve had has been harder; just because it is in Asia doesn’t mean it’s easy.

“I know how difficult it is [in] every competition, the challenges. You look at the Saudi league and how much it’s grown in the last few years and now there’s four, five, six clubs that all are very, very competitive and want to win. Champions League Elite is very, very challenging.”

Postecoglou is set to have other big challenges ahead of him.

In his first match in charge, a pre-season friendly, Al-Nassr were beaten by Portuguese outfit Benfica’s B team during a training camp in Lisbon.

Albeit that was without Ronaldo and other World Cup stars.

More concerning is what has been happening off the pitch.

Reports emerged last month that Al-Nassr are in financial trouble.

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, who own 75 per cent of the club, have cut back on their spending this year.

They removed their backing of LIV Golf and with $305 million of debt reportedly hanging over Al-Nassr, the sovereign wealth fund has said no to making new signings until dollars start flowing in from sponsors and via other revenue streams.

The PIF are allegedly even interested in selling part of the club to private investors.

It is an unwelcome distraction that will tie Postecoglou’s hands in the transfer market and will draw parallels to his time at Tottenham when long-time owner Daniel Levy was reluctant to open the cheque book during multiple transfer windows.

For a manager who famously won a trophy everywhere he went before Forest, it made things a lot more difficult.

Not that he is using it an excuse.

Regardless of the financial situation, Postecoglou promised fans that his tenure will be a thrill ride.

“For me, it doesn’t matter, first year, second year, third year. Every year I coach, I want to win things,” he told the club’s website.

“But it’s not just about winning; it’s about how you win, how you play your football. That is also very important to me.

“I’m super excited to be here. It’s a privilege and an honour for me to coach such a big club, and we’ll have some fun this year.

“We will make an impact. We’ll try and be as successful as possible and we’ll do it in a way that everyone enjoys.”

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