Wily Wolf back to lead pack - can Chamusca repeat Al Taawoun success? | OneFootball

There’s a long-held belief in football that you should never go back to a former club, that the chemistry won’t be as good the second time around.

Well, Al Taawoun are about to put that to the test having announced the return of Pericles Chamusca as manager. The Brazilian, who enjoyed two years in Buraidah between 2022 and 2024, spent the past season helping NEOM SC earn promotion to the Roshn Saudi League for the very first time.

It’s a romantic recall for Chamusca, who is still fondly remembered around the Qassim Province for the work in his first stint in charge. Last month, upon confirmation of his appointment, the 59-year-old shared a post on social media, decked out in Al Taawoun colours, saying it “feels like home”.

After the success he had last time out, it’s easy to see why Al Taawoun would go back to Chamusca, a coach whom, ideally, they never wanted to lose in the first place.

In those two seasons in Buraidah, he took a side that finished 12th in the RSL in 2021-22 to fifth in 2022-23 - and then an even more impressive fourth two seasons ago.

In that most recent campaign together, Al Taawoun outdid then-defending RSL champions Al Ittihad, replete with the likes of Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante, to snatch the league's final Asian qualifying spot. In doing so, they earned a place in the newly re-branded AFC Champions League Two.

It represented only the third time in Al Taawoun's history that they finished in the top four, underscoring how significant an achievement it was for Chamusca to guide them to such lofty heights.

It was a blow, therefore, when it was announced that he wouldn’t be continuing for the 2024-25 season, Chamusca instead taking up an offer with NEOM SC in the Saudi First Division League (SFDL).

With his reputation sky high because of his work with Al Taawoun, his appointment was seen as a coup as the hugely ambitious NEOM SC aimed to earn promotion to the top flight at the first time of asking. Given the resources invested, that was the expectation placed upon Chamusca.

To his credit, he never shied away from that. Rather, he embraced it. And, come the end of the season, NEOM SC’s record stood at 24 wins, seven draws and three defeats, breaking the record for the greatest number of victories and the greatest number of points in a single season in the SFDL.

“This was a season that will forever stay in my memory,” a deservedly delighted Chamusca shared on his social media.

Now, though, he is back for unfinished business at Al Taawoun, albeit in an RSL landscape that has dramatically changed since his last took charge of the Wolves.

The addition of NEOM SC this season, who have already signed - among others - former Arsenal and Olympique Lyon striker Alexandre Lacazette, and last term’s emergence of Al Qadsiah, who recently recruited reigning Serie A golden boot Mateo Retegui, has changed the competitive composition.

When Chamusca last coached in the RSL, there was what many considered the established “Big Four”. Now, though, there are more clubs capable of challenging in the upper echelons of the Kingdom’s lead division.

In theory, repeating the fourth-placed finish of 2023-24 could be much more difficult for Chamusca. Not impossible, but more challenging.

Yet the good news is that the core of the Al Taawoun team that he coached two seasons ago remains intact. Captain Aschraf El Mahdioui’s influence and importance sustains - and rekindling that relationship between coach and on-pitch colonel will be crucial for the campaign ahead.

Abdulfattah Adam, meanwhile, flourished with Chamusca in charge during the 2023-24 season, showing signs of the potential he always possessed. Could he emulate his 2018-19 RSL outlay, when he scored 12 goals?

Saying that, there are also new faces that Chamusca will be keen to work with, such as Roger Martinez.

The Colombian international signed in January, going on to finish with five goals and two assists. With half a season under his belt, Martinez might be even better now that he is fully settled into life in the RSL.

With fresh blood no doubt to be added – they have already made permanent the signing of Venezuelan defender Renne Rivas – it’s the familiarly of Chamusca that could be the best bit of recruitment by Al Taawoun this off-season.

For sure, it's one dripping in romanticism. The question now is: will the reality match the romance?