FIFA in the dock: did the international break wreck Fiesing's tactics at Al-Ittihad?

Al-Ittihad have played twice since the last international break and lost both. Al-Hilal beat them 3-1, then Shabab Al-Ahli of the UAE came to Jeddah and won 2-1.

Two goals scored, five conceded. That is more than Al-Ittihad had shipped in their previous five games combined.

The damage could have been far worse. Al-Hilal and Shabab Al-Ahli carved out chance after chance in front of Serbian goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic, and wasted nearly all of them.

For clubs stuck in a rut, the international break is a gift. Two weeks on the training ground, a coach free to rip things up and start again.

Teams in form get the opposite. Momentum drains away the moment the fixtures stop, and the climb has to begin all over again.

This last break was no ordinary one either. FIFA merged the September and October windows, stretching the pause to roughly three weeks.

One interruption instead of two protects the rhythm, in theory at least. Drag it out long enough, though, and getting bodies and minds back to a normal level becomes a job in itself.

Al-Ittihad and German coach Jens Wiesing look like the clearest victims of it. The side that came back from the break bore no resemblance to the one that went into it.

Al-Ittihad suffered more from this break because of the German coach's extreme tactics, which involve pressing extremely high up the pitch.

Press that high and the spaces open up: between attack and midfield, between midfield and defence, and behind the back line.

Vicing leans heavily on pressing with every line and leaving gaps in behind, so the press has to be sharp and error-free. Any slip is a serious danger to his own goal.

That was not the case for "the Dean". Against Shabab Al-Ahli the pressing was weak, which opened the door to dangerous passes in behind the defensive line and two goals.

Vicing will have to put things right quickly, either by changing some of his tactics or by rehabilitating and selecting the right players capable of implementing his style of play immediately.