Saudi League just warming-up, then we'll feel its heat

WITH so many big name stars arriving in the Saudi Pro League, the question I keep getting asked, is what’s it actually like to play out here. 

As manager of Saudi First Divison League Al-Qadsiah, we had our first game of the season this week, and it’s hot, that goes without saying. It’s in the 40s and even late in the evening, when we play, it’s in the high 30s.

We train at night to make it easier on the players, but my club is based on the Persian gulf in the city of Khobar on the eastern side of the country, and the biggest problem is the humidity.

It is unbelievable, especially to someone coming from the city of Liverpool, where the weather problem tends to be the wind off the Mersey!

Steven Gerrard’s club Al-Ettifaq is close by in Dammam, and I can tell you that his captain , Jordan Henderson, has never experienced conditions like these at Anfield, let alone ‘up north’ in Sunderland.

Mind you, it’s not just the imports who find it tough. We signed a player who has already been out here for two years, and after our opening game, which we won, he said it was the hardest match he’s ever played in.