Embattled Al Nassr Manager Luis Castro Departs the Saudi Pro League Side After a Lacklustre Start to the Season
After an underwhelming start to the season where Al Nassr have managed two draws and one win, the club has parted ways with manager Luis Castro. An announcement on the caretaker manager or plans to recruit Castro’s replacement is yet to be made.
Al Nassr finished trophyless last season due to Al Hilal’s utter dominance in all competitions. During the summer window, the club set out to recruit in areas deemed to be weak points. The hope was that Cristiano Ronaldo would have enough quality around him to help the club challenge Al Hilal and compete for other silverware beyond the league.
However, the team is yet to find their footing three matches into the season. In the Saudi Super Cup where Al Nassr faced Al Hilal in the curtain raiser for the 2024-25 season, Al Hilal convincingly won the match 4-1. Since then, Al Nassr has had three 1-1 draws against Al Raed, Al Ahli Saudi, and Al Shorta and only won once 1-4 away to Al Feiha.
This left the club’s hierarchy with a tough choice to make: give Castro more time to salvage the season or cut their losses early enough to allow someone else to come in and steady the ship before all is lost.
On Tuesday, September 17th, the club announced on its X (formerly Twitter) account that the 63-year-old had left the club, “Al Nassr can announce that Head Coach Luis Castro has left the Club. Everyone at AlNassr would like to thank Luis and his staff for their dedicated work during the past 14 months, wishing them the best of luck for the future.”
Castro leaves Al Nassr seventh in the table, with the Riyadh club set to face high-flying Al Ettifaq next. He stepped into the role in July 2023, managed a second-place finish in the Saudi Pro League, and led the team to the final of the King’s Cup. His successor will need to figure out how to ensure Cristiano Ronaldo’s supporting cast steps up their game to ensure responsibility is spread out to the entire team.
