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Al Shabab are busy embarking on a new era following last week’s appointment of Thomas Letsch as manager.
But who is the vastly experienced German? And what are the former Red Bull Salzburg, Vitesse Arnhem and VfL Bochum head coach’s objectives for his debut season in the Roshn Saudi League, which kicks off next month.
Well, we get it straight from the man himself, since Letsch sat down with Al Shabab’s official media team to shed some light on why he chose the club, his 2026-27 targets and bringing along the fans for the journey.
Thomas Letsch is hoping to bring the good times back to Al Shabab
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Could you introduce yourself and tell us tell us how to pronounce your name correctly?
"I think this is not too easy, anywhere in the world… so my name is Thomas Letsch. I'm 57 years old. I'm from Germany and now, for more or less 30 years, I’ve worked as a coach.
"I started on a lower level and also in the youth on the highest level before I started my career in professional football in the German Bundesliga. I worked for different clubs in Austria, in Germany and in the Netherlands."
Before Al Shabab, Thomas Letsch was most recently managing Austrian giants Red Bull Salzburg
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How would you describe your coaching style?
"This one question we can talk about two hours. But, in general, I'm educated by the Red Bull style of Ralf Rangnick. So for me, it's always important that we are active to play against the ball, that we want to be active the whole time on the pitch.
"So I don't like to stay passive, move from left to right. I want to have players who make good decisions and I prefer the direct way to the goal instead of playing left, right and then create something.
"But it's a mixture of all. So again, active football against the ball, active football with a ball, and the most important is that the team works together in one direction.
"This is also the challenge right now: that we bring our philosophy as soon as possible to the team that, when we start, that it's not my philosophy, that it’s the philosophy of the club and, of course, especially from the players."
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What do you know about Al Shabab?
"When we were [first] in touch, I informed myself about the history of the club, about the last seasons, of course. But for me, Al Shabab is a real great club, an important club here in Saudi Arabia.
"The challenge is now, after struggling a little bit in the last couple of years, to bring the club back on the level where it should be.
"And also, my first impressions here, my conversations during the video calls were all great. Everybody was so polite and open and had a clear idea about how they want to play football.
"And my first impressions here with everybody; everybody's nice and it's a pleasure to be here in Saudi Arabia. It's the first time for me."
Al Shabab captain Yannick Carrasco commits to another season at club
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Why did you choose Al Shabab?
"There are many reasons. So on the one hand, I was out [of work] since February and I thought about, ‘OK, what is the right challenge to do right now?’
"As I told before, I worked in different clubs in different countries in Europe and I always had in mind to do something totally different and to get a little bit out of the comfort zone. And when they contacted me from the club, from the White Lions, then I thought, ‘Hey, this can be exactly the challenge'.
"And the more we spoke, the more I had the feeling that the ideas of the club and the ideas of my football fit together, then it was clear, so I wanted to do it more and more.
"Also, when I talked to my staff members and described a little bit what is our plan, everybody said, ‘Hey, this is the perfect challenge. This is exactly what we're waiting for.’ Yeah, this was more or less the reason."
Thomas Letsch busy putting his new Al Shabab players through their paces in preseason
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What message would you like to share with the Al Shabab fans?
"Well, hopefully everybody is also excited to come to the first game and that the season starts as soon as possible, and that we have a full stadium and that we all go together in one direction.
"Because this is the most important. It's not the team; it's not the coach; it's not the board around; it's not the supporters. No, everybody together.
"And if this is possible for us that we all go in the same directions with you guys, with me, with the team and the supporters, then we will have a great time and a successful season."
