After four games of Maccabi Tel Aviv under Patrick Van Leven, one can see direction, as well as his advantages and disadvantages as a coach. The bottom line is that if Maccabi Tel Aviv continues to play like this, Maccabi Haifa is completely dependent on itself. So if the Greens do not do nonsense they are not supposed to do, they will win the championship.
Two main things are currently a problem for the Yellows, and will make it difficult for them to close the gap of eight points:
- The current staff of Maccabi Tel Aviv is indeed deeper than that of Maccabi Haifa, but not creative enough.
- The current game method, which is fixed to 4-3-3 with regular moves.
And evidently, in two of the four games with Van Levon, Maccabi Tel Aviv was unable to score goals from an open game (including a fumbled penalty) and barely got into situations, which is during the period of enthusiasm for a new coach. Except in the derby, where it exploded on a poor red team, which regularly in the past year absorbs a goal and falls apart against big teams.
In the staff analysis, Maccabi Tel Aviv lacks players of numbers. The midfielders (Eyal Golsa, Dor Peretz, Dan Glazer and Eden Kartzev) will score 10 goals together and cook another 10, and that too in a good season. It is likely that Yonatan Cohen and Alexander Peshich will score and cook another 25/30 goals together, but a team that wants a championship needs offensive link numbers (like Charon Sheri / Dolev Haziza / Noble Omar, etc.). In addition, she also needs cooks and gates from the defenders.
These are things that almost never happen with this intended method of play at Maccabi Tel Aviv. Dan Bitton, who was supposed to be this player, is not the coach’s favorite despite six assists, while Tal Ben Haim and Elon Almog still do not provide numbers, and Itai Schechter became the fourth or fifth substitute.
Therefore, if Van Leven goes with it further, with this middle trio that is less creative, wingers who do not provide numbers, and defenders who are hardly involved in the offense, Maccabi Tel Aviv simply will not be able to catch up with an eight-point gap.
In my opinion, there are two things that Maccabi Tel Aviv will have to do during this forced break to return to the struggle:
- Diversify its game more than that regular 4-3-3, with regular moves that teams quickly learn how to play against. It might also help get more players involved and deliver produce.
- Alongside a right-back, also attach creative players, with a record of conquests and cooks. Otherwise, it will have to bring in attacking players from the roster that Van Leven does not currently believe in, and hope it’s good enough. In the meantime, it doesn’t really look that way.
In conclusion, Maccabi Tel Aviv did improve its defensive game, absorbing less. But it is in a situation where it is chasing a team with momentum like Maccabi Haifa, and it needs to erase an eight-point gap. For that to happen, you have to score. Witnesses to score, need to produce a lot of situations. And to create a lot of situations, you need more than what Maccabi Tel Aviv is doing at the moment.
