The 9th of August will witness the start of the Qatari League under its new name (Ooredoo Stars League), as it is expected to witness a fierce competition for the title in an attempt to break the polarity of Al Sadd and Al Duhail that has dominated the championship in recent years.
More than one club has prepared in a distinctive way this summer, whether by strengthening its ranks with player transfers or even coaches to support its hopes of winning the title. Here we take a closer look at the expected betting knights’ coaches to compete for the championship title in the 2024-2025 season.
Felix Sanchez (Al Sadd) – Flexibility and Player Development
He did not find DamLast season’s champion is better than Felix Sanchez to lead him, given his great knowledge of Qatari football and the great achievement he made by winning the 2019 Asian Cup.
Sanchez is a coach who knows how to introduce and develop young players. He introduced Almoez Ali and Akram Afif with Al Annabi, and in his last experience with Ecuador, he did the same thing, giving the opportunity to 17-year-old Kindry Baez, in addition to Jeremy Sarmiento, Willian Pacho and John Yeboah.
Sanchez left the Ecuador national team after they were eliminated from the Copa America quarter-finals by Argentina on penalties, despite having performed well overall, and it suffices to say that he ranks above Brazil, Paraguay and Chile in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
What can be said about the Spanish coach in the Copa America is that he did not play on possession and did not present brilliant football, as he was the third lowest team in the Copa America in average possession with only 42%, and this is strange because, for example, he did not face big teams except for Argentina.
However, the coach has great flexibility in dealing with different playing styles depending on the names and quality he has. In the Copa America, he used 3 playing styles in 4 matches.
Bouya Asbagui (Al Rayyan) – More attacking power needed
In the season before last 2022-2023, Al Rayyan was actually competing to stay in the Qatar Stars League, as it ranked ninth in the standings; but it rebounded well last season when it signed Leonardo Jardim.
Under Jardim’s leadership, Al Rayyan finished second in the Qatari league, reached the final of the Qatar Cup before losing to Al Wakrah, and exited the Emir Cup in the quarter-finals after losing to Qatar SC on penalties.
However, Al Rayyan officials decided to terminate the contract with Jardim and contracted with Swedish coach Boya Aspagi, who, before his experience with Al Shamal, had coached the Swedish club Gothenburg and the Serbian club Red Star, winning the two cup titles in both countries, in addition to coaching the English club Barnsley in the second division.
The coach succeeded in keeping Al Shamal in the league despite having the third lowest market value team in the Qatari league last season (11.3 million euros), but in his new experience he will have to improve some aspects that Al Shamal suffered from last season, including that Al Shamal was the team with the fewest shots on goal in the Qatari league last season (only 84 shots).
Pedro Martins (Al Gharafa) – Clear identity and strengthening deficiencies
Pedro Martinez is settling in with Al Gharafa and has had a great season, having the fewest defeats (4 matches) behind champions and leaders Al Sadd (3) in last season’s league.
The team had a clear identity, which was playing long balls, as it was the second most played long balls with 1306 balls, and it also played on headers, as it was the team that scored the most headed goals (8 goals) tied with Al-Arabi Club last season.
But Martinez always asks his players to shoot from outside the penalty area, so Al Gharafa scored the most goals from outside the penalty area in the Qatari league last season (14 goals), with a clear difference from the second behind them, Umm Salal (9 goals).
Al Gharafa’s problem was the lack of a strong striker due to the weak level of Johan Boli and Mohamed Alaa, so the offensive burden was on the shoulders of Yacine Brahimi, who scored 21 goals.
But the arrival of Joselu from Real Madrid and the Romanian Koeman will strengthen the team’s attacking power, especially Joselu’s strength in heading the ball, which is the preferred style of coach Martinez.
Christophe Galtier (Al Duhail) – Lack of experience and defensive laxity
In the last 7 seasons, Al Duhail and Al Sadd were the two horses of the Qatari league. Al Sadd won 4 titles and Al Duhail won 3 titles. In other words, Al Duhail only accepts competing for the championship.
But the journey of his French coach Christophe Galtier with him last season after his appointment in October 2023 was very bad, as he lost more than he won, whether in all tournaments or in the Qatari League in particular.
When Galtier took over Al Duhail, the team was in fourth place, just 3 points behind leaders Al Sadd, but finished the season in sixth place.
The club renewed its confidence in the former Paris Saint-Germain coach, and supported him with a big player in the transfer market, the star Luis Alberto, the Lazio midfielder, who will add a great quality that Al Duhail lacks in the midfield.
Lack of experience and defense worries Galtier in the Qatari league
But Galtier will have to deal with some issues, including the lack of experience in his current squad, which has the second youngest average age among the squads in the Qatari league (25.8 years), as well as the defensive weaknesses of his team last season.
Al Duhail, along with Galtier, kept a clean sheet only once in the league last season out of 17 matches he led them in, which is the worst number among the Qatari league clubs during that period, in which his team’s net conceded 36 goals.
