Being able to achieve success as a player does not guarantee that they will achieve the same success when they become coaches. Many great players end up not being able to do anything when they become coaches, and conversely many great coaches can be born from ordinary players. So everyone has different skills, maybe they can apply every strategy given by the coach very well, but they cannot create a good strategy that can be played by their students.
Actually, I was quite surprised by this, because previously it was Stefano Pioli who was often talked about becoming Al Ittihad's coach, some reports even said that he had reached a personal and verbal agreement, he just needed to wait for the time to be stated in the contract. However, after this news emerged, it seemed that something had not reached an agreement between the two, so they failed to bring in Stepano Pioli. Now that Laurent Blanc has been introduced by Al Ittihad, they will embark on a new season with a new coach.