Georgios Donis arrived to take charge of the Saudi Arabia national team fully aware that the fans are not merely waiting for improved results. They want a new identity for the Green Falcons, one that restores their sense that the team is heading in the right direction. The Greek coach had spoken of his desire to present a team with a clear attacking identity, after a long period in which a defensive character dominated Saudi Arabia's style of play.
That promise never made it onto the pitch in the manner the fans wanted. Saudi Arabia failed to deliver the expected attacking level during the World Cup, and continued to look much as they had under Roberto Mancini and Hervé Renard, with no major change to the shape of the side or its approach to matches.
The Gulf Cup may hand Donis a different opportunity to reintroduce his ideas. The nature of the tournament, the level of the opponents and the technical gap compared to the World Cup give him greater room to try a bolder approach, and perhaps to fulfil the promise that has yet to be delivered.
An attacking promise not yet seen
From the start of his assignment, Donis wanted to give Saudi Arabia a more attacking character. The implementation of those ideas collided with a difficult reality: the short period before the World Cup, the pressure of results and the need to handle matches at the highest level against sides of great quality.
Transforming the team into a different attacking side within such a short window was never going to be easy. Saudi Arabia had grown accustomed over the past years to more conservative calculations, relying on defensive organisation and reducing the spaces available to opponents before considering any attacking risk.
Yet the fans were waiting to see clear signs of change. Those signs did not appear in the required manner during the World Cup, delaying the answer to the most important question. Can Donis really build an attacking team with a different character?
Gulf Cup: an opportunity outside the difficult calculations
The Gulf Cup may be completely different from the World Cup in the nature of the competition and the technical conditions. That gives Donis a chance to make some changes he perhaps could not carry out with the same boldness in the World Cup matches.
Gaps between the Gulf teams may allow Saudi Arabia to hold possession for longer periods and push forward with more players. They also give the coach greater room to test different attacking solutions instead of focusing all the time on how to stop the opponent.
Here the tournament can turn into a suitable arena for the ideas Donis spoke about, especially if he decides to load the attacking third, press harder after losing the ball, and win back possession in advanced areas rather than waiting for the opponent in the defensive third.
Donis faces a chance to restore confidence
Saudi fans do not only need to hear new promises. They want to see these ideas translated on the pitch, and the Gulf Cup gives Donis a real chance to answer the criticism aimed at the team during the past period.
Set Saudi Arabia up in an attacking manner, with better movement between the lines and a greater ability to create chances and reach the opponent's goal, and many impressions of the current phase could change, even if the tournament is weaker than the World Cup.
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Fail to develop, though, and the question marks over the coach's ability to implement his ideas will return. The fans will treat the Gulf Cup as an opportunity in which the team was supposed to look bolder, given the difference in conditions and the gap compared to matches at world level.
The lost promise: does it begin from the Gulf?
Donis now faces a chance to restore the promise that went unfulfilled in his first appearance with Saudi Arabia. Winning the matches will not be enough. The team must appear with a different character, one that convinces the fans a genuine new phase has begun.
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The Gulf Cup may be the space the coach needs to bring his attacking ideas into reality, especially as the nature of the tournament allows for greater risk and for trying solutions that would be far harder against teams of the calibre of Spain and Uruguay.
Should Donis exploit this opportunity and present a Saudi Arabia side that is bolder, more organised and more dangerous in front of goal, the features of a new era for the national team may genuinely begin. The old promise would become the start of a different reality, rather than remaining merely a statement that never found its way onto the pitch.