It was a game without a season, another game between the two most sworn rivals in our football but certainly not a season game, it was a mediocre football game where each team dominated one half and this is the result. A 10 point gap in favor of Maccabi Tel Aviv in Bloomfield is not a game for an entire season.
After four games in which Maccabi Tel Aviv failed to beat Maccabi Haifa in 90 minutes, it can be said that Maccabi Tel Aviv is not a better team than Maccabi Haifa. Of course, this should not interest anyone in Maccabi Tel Aviv because in the end the championship will determine who is the best team in the country and it will almost certainly be Maccabi Tel Aviv.
And this is the biggest mistake of Maccabi Haifa this season, they do not fall in their ability from Maccabi Tel Aviv, they have an equally good squad and yet they are 10 points behind, which probably closes the story. A championship loss is not necessarily against the main rival, you lose a championship against two Petah Tikvayot, against Bnei Rayna and Hapoel Tel Aviv, whoever loses a lot of points against these teams, loses the championship even if he does not fall out of the group in first place.
Coach Masai Dago came to the game in the worst period for him, six games without a win, with the most significant being point losses to Bnei Rayna twice and against Hapoel Tel Aviv. The most disappointing was the home loss to Maccabi Netanya in the quarterfinals of the Cup against 10 players, or at that time it allowed quite a few reporters and commentators Fire Dego and appoint Barak Becher and with this whole “package” he was supposed to beat Maccabi Tel Aviv in Bloomfield. Fortunately for Dego, he was faced with a weak coach in the form of Robbie Keane who clearly let him return to the game, when there was not much left to beat him.
Robbie Keane let Masai Dago back into the game (Alan Shiver)
I have often written that Robbie Keane does not count his bench players and makes many mistakes in the management of the game. Yesterday it was another wrong decision-making when he decided to put Dan Bitton in place of Maccabi Tel Aviv’s engine Yoris Van Overeem who was injured, moved Gabi Kanikowski to the number 6 position and finished his link which is the most important part of the formation. Robbie Keen, at the time of replacing Dan Bitton instead Van Overeem actually called Ali Muhammad and Mahmoud Jaber from Maccabi Haifa and told them “Until now it’s been difficult for you, from now on you can do whatever you want in the middle of the field” and so it was. , as usual, was excellent.
In my opinion, Maccabi Tel Aviv must inform Robbie Keane that he is not continuing next season. If the decision makers Mitch Goldhar and Ben Mansford think that if Robbie Keane brings a championship after 3 years that satisfies them, then there is nothing to be done, I see it a little differently. Defeat 6 1: For Olympiakos, the humiliation in the quarter-finals against Maccabi Tel Aviv, very bad game management in many games, not counting the bench players and most importantly the inability to beat the main rival – all of this leads me to the conclusion that Robbie Keen should not continue another season at Maccabi Tel Aviv .
Yesterday was the highlight for me, just as if my lip had been injured, God forbid, Daniel Tannenbaum would have entered the goal, and just as if Davidzadeh had gone out, Roy Rabivo would have entered, this is how Aden Kartsev should have behaved and put him in instead of Van Overeem. In general, quite a few players in Maccabi Tel Aviv should check quickly if Robbie Keane continues another season, because if he does, they should look for another team from now on, because it can’t be written any better, Keane simply doesn’t count them. Yesterday we saw two From different halves, in the first one Maccabi Tel Aviv dominated except for the opening minutes and could have gone down at halftime with a 0:3 lead.
The second half was completely turned around thanks to the tactical change of Masai Dego who went back to playing 3-3-4, with Kenny Seif and Anan Halaili on the wings, with a good midfield with Lior Rafalov running the game behind the strikers, this was only reflected with Halaili’s equalizing goal, but Only by great luck did Maccabi Haifa not reverse the result. An entire half in complete control of Maccabi Haifa without any reaction from Robbie Keane.
Control passed to Maccabi Haifa (Alan Shiver)
In my opinion, most of the players yesterday who were on the field were of average ability, even Felicio Milson, the best left winger in the country, did not help his team’s attack too much. In Maccabi Tel Aviv the two stoppers Idan Nahmias and Enrik Savorit were better than others, in Maccabi Haifa they were Shawn Goldberg, Mahmoud Jaber and Anan Halaili who even with one injured leg balanced the result with his less good left leg. Coach Masai Dago said after the game “Obviously that I want to continue here” regardless of whether he deserves to continue or not, the media treated him unfairly. I will write my opinion on whether Dago should continue or not. I too am one of those who, like many others, raised an eyebrow at Masai Dago’s appointment. First of all because of his poor resume His, changing a coach of the caliber of Barak Bacher after 3 championships and managing a staff full of ego, not easy for a young coach who just arrived at the big club from the youth team.
On this subject, the owner Yaakov Shahar said, “We have an envelope that will help Dago, instead of investing millions in a foreign coach, we will invest in the players”, there is no problem with such a statement, but this is not a statement that should put Masai Dago to the test after only one season, with quite a few changes in the player roster which is weakened compared to Barak Bacher’s staff and especially after the biggest star Charon Sherry leaves in January.
If the club has patience and they still believe in Dago’s ability to bring a championship, then let him continue. In my opinion, like Maccabi Tel Aviv, a big club like Maccabi Haifa must have a great coach. Dego’s time may yet come, if he coaches other teams for a few years in the Premier League. You can lose to Maccabi Netanya in the quarterfinals, it also happened to Barak Becher. The two big clubs, for all that this implies, and especially impatient fans, have no choice but to replace Dago with a much more experienced coach, because a bad start to the season for Maccabi Haifa could lead to Dago’s dismissal, and in a club that counts its fans so much that year after year they fill Sami Ofer, It will be impossible not to hear the shrill boos, because the crowd is very different from the management with patience, in the stands there is no patience, they want championships and want performances and those who don’t do that are out of their place. Bottom line, in my opinion, the two big clubs should say goodbye to their coaches at the end of the season.
A final word to Lior Rafalov, who in my opinion is one of the best Israeli soccer players in the last two decades. Lior is always modest and humble, seems shy in his interviews and has always been very respectful. Something changed in him in the last month when he reacted to what was happening with Maccabi Tel Aviv, the same was the case with errors of judgment and the same was the case with the court’s decision to return the point to Maccabi Tel Aviv. Doesn’t suit him at all. Yesterday in the game he had to get a red after his wild entry on Enrique Savorit. He was not sent off by Shanir Levy because his name is Lior Rafalov, another player was sent off, and after the game in an interview with him he again talked about Maccabi Tel Aviv and said, among other things, “Maccabi Tel Aviv just threw balls at Milson and Davida”. Not appropriate, no Respectful and I have no doubt that after he cools down he too will realize that he was wrong, Rafalov knows better than anyone that the 10 point gap from Maccabi Tel Aviv, which is frustrating, is due to the poor ability of him and his teammates in the draw against Hapoel Tel Aviv and two losses against Bnei Rayna, here is Lior in the second You lack 8 points that have nothing to do with Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Now Maccabi Haifa is talking about Barak Bachar as a “saviour”. There is nothing to do with how Barak arrived at Maccabi Haifa after 10 years of parking, and Barak Bachar who will arrive after losing the championship probably in the current season. Barak Becher will not have the squad he had and the weights and pressure on him next season will be doubled, he will constantly be compared to Becher of the championships, Vladimir Ivitch also returned to coach Maccabi Tel Aviv and we saw how it ended, not sure that this is the right choice for both sides, if and when .
