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The Greek coach has a difficult task
In tournaments the size of the World Cup, you can lose a game, or you can suffer a heavy defeat against a big team, but what worries fans more about the result is the feeling that the team lacks a clear personality or a predictable artistic project.
This is exactly what surrounds the Saudi Arabian national team ahead of their match against Cape Verde in the early hours of Saturday in the third and final round of the 2026 World Cup.
In just a few days, talk has gone from full belief in a certain way of playing to strong indications of changing it entirely, as if the technical staff were still searching for answers even as the tournament reached its crucial stage.
The problem here is not related to five or four defenders, but to the most important question: what does Donis want to do?
Unstable identity
When Donis took charge of the Saudi national team, the biggest hope of the fans was that he would quickly be able to create a distinct personality for the team and put his artistic stamp on a group of players who have a lot of experience at international and continental levels.
But as time passes, the same question still remains. what is the real shape of the saudi arabia national team under dennis?
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In modern football, a coach is not required to stick to one way of playing all the time. Conversely, flexibility has become an essential element of any team’s success, but flexibility is completely different from lack of identity.
So far, the Saudi Arabian team seems to be jumping from one idea to another in search of the ideal solution. one match in which he leans on the defensive formation and retreats, and another in which the coach talks about the importance of pressure and attack, of players coming into the starting line-up and then quickly disappearing and changing roles from game to game until it becomes difficult to predict the shape of the team.
These quick transitions not only give the players a sense of instability, but also make the fans unable to understand the artistic project that the coach is trying to build.
The most worrying thing is that this situation does not arise in the preparation period or friendlies, in which ideas can be freely tested, but during the World Cup itself, in which any team must participate knowing very well what it wants to present on the field.
Has reaction become the main driving force?
After the 4-0 defeat to Spain, Donis was heavily attacked by fans and the media. Criticism was not limited to the result, but extended to the method of play itself, the selection of the squad, the nature of the roles given to the players and even the way the team handled the match.
It is noteworthy that the coach came out immediately after the game to defend his technical decisions, stressing that he does not regret the program he relied on and that what happened was more a result of the opponent’s superiority than a tactical error.
But after just a few days, strong indications began to leak of a return to a back four and abandoning the idea of playing with five defenders.
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And here the questions begin. If the coach was really convinced by what he presented against Spain, why did his ideas change so quickly? If he was not convinced, why did he appear before the media with such confidence?
These controversies open the door to another explanation, which is that the amount of public and media pressure after Spain’s quadruple may have played a role in reformulating the coach’s ideas.
There’s no denying that any coach in the world is influenced by the atmosphere around him, but first-team teams are usually driven by technical convictions, not reactions.
Cape Verde will not test the plan…rather, they will test the coach
Some may think that the Cape Verde match will be a test of the Saudi Arabian team’s ability to bounce back from their defeat to Spain, but the truth is that the biggest test will be for Donis himself.
Since the result alone will not be enough to judge what happened, the Saudi Arabian team can win, but if they appear again without a clear personality or with a completely different style from previous matches, question marks will remain.
However, if “Al-Akhdar” shows a balanced game and performs on the field with a clear organization, understandable movements and a stable personality, then the coach can finally convince the fans that he has a real project that he is going for.
The problem is that Saudi fans are no longer just looking for victory or qualification, but rather want to see a team that knows its characteristics and can understand the coach’s mind.
The showdown with Cape Verde could therefore be the most important match of Donis’ career so far, as it will not only decide the team’s fate in the tournament, but could also determine the fans’ belief that the man has a clear vision for the future.
If he succeeds, he will be out of doubt for the first time since assuming the mission, but if the same state of confusion continues, talk of plans and formations will become mere details in the face of a much bigger crisis.
