Gerrard Al-Ettifaq Aston Villa GFXGOAL

Nine games, three goals, no wins: Steven Gerrard's managerial career is disappearing amid awful Al-Ettifaq run

As Al-Ettifaq's plays sang and danced with delight in the dressing room after kicking-off their Saudi Pro League (SPL) campaign with back-to-back wins, manager Steven Gerrard tried to put things in perspective, pointing out, "It's only two games!"

The Liverpool legend was sporting a broad smile as he spoke, though, and couldn't resist the urge to join in the festivities for a split-second by partaking in a little jig. And why not? Even he knew this was a moment worth enjoying.

Despite seeing his new club spend more money during the summer window than every other SPL side bar the Public Invest Fund-backed 'Big Four' (Al-Nassr, Al-Ittihad, Al-Ahli and Al-Hilal), he hadn't expected to make such a strong start to the season with a team that hadn't challenged for the Saudi title for 30 years.

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After that matchday-two win over Al-Hazm, though, anything seemed possible for Al-Ettifaq.