Fallatah accuses Inzaghi of wasting Al-Hilal’s money after defeat

“He wasted Al-Hilal’s money”: after the 1-3 defeat to Al-Shamal, Saudi journalist Abdullah Fallatah launched a scathing criticism of Simone Inzaghi, the Saudi club’s coach. The loss came on Tuesday at Al-Bayt Stadium in Al-Khor, on the third matchday of the AFC Champions League Elite league phase. Fallatah identified the Italian’s technical decisions as the main cause of the defeat.

His criticism focused in particular on the use of the regular starters. “Money is not everything; you need a coach who knows how to manage it. The team has players worth up to one billion riyals, and then Inzaghi puts them all on the bench,” he said. Fallatah made the comments during appearances on Thmanyah channels, which broadcast the Saudi Roshn League. His objection was not limited to the result: he challenged how the coach selected his side, given the value of the players available to Al-Hilal, in his view.

The journalist also accused Inzaghi of treating Al-Shamal as a recent team. Fallatah countered that the Qatari club had been in contention for its country’s championship last season. He also praised the quality of its players, naming Riyad Mahrez in particular. In Fallatah’s account, therefore, the loss could not simply be put down to unfamiliarity with the opposition: the coach’s choices remained decisive.

Fallatah did acknowledge that the defeat did not end Al-Hilal’s campaign in the competition and was not a final. But he set that perspective against what he saw as the club’s need to protect its pride: in his view, the regular starters should not have been left out in this way. He described Inzaghi’s line-up as a strange mix of second-rank players removed from the atmosphere of matches, and said the coach bore full responsibility for the setback.

For Fallatah, a coach has the right to rotate, but what happened did not amount to rotation. He called it contempt, damage to the team and disrespect towards the opposition. The team selection helps explain the strength of his reaction: against Al-Shamal, Inzaghi started only three players from the regular first-choice group—full-backs Muteb Al-Harbi and Theo Hernández, and midfielder Mohammed Kanno—and filled the rest of the side with substitutes. That decision, more than the score alone, lies at the heart of Fallatah’s accusation against the coach.