Maccabi Tel Aviv dropped a bombshell: Last night (Wednesday), the champion announced her departure from coach Yorgos Donis, less than five months after being appointed to the position. At this point, the one who got into his shoes is Patrick Van Leven, who will manage the game tonight against Kiryat Shmona in Bloomfield.
Van Leven, as I recall, managed the Maccabi games at the start of the season – including the “Champion of Champions”, and the double victory over Hapoel B’Shlosha. “Obarov, the goalkeeping coach. But this team, on the face of it, seems temporary – and two main options are at stake, regarding the continuation of the season of Maccabi Tel Aviv.
The first option is to contact Vladimir Ivitch. The coach, who has won two particularly predatory championships with the club, is available after being sacked last week from English Watford, but it is estimated he will not want to go back; What’s more, he was the one who gave up an option for another year, which was reserved for him after winning the last championship.
If Ivica does arrive, he may demand quite a few changes in the players’ sector – and a significant acquisition: Eran Zehavi’s name has already been mentioned as the one Maccabi is examining the option for, but if the Serb decides to return – he will surely demand the return of Dor Micha and Omar Atzili, who were released In the summer in the shadow of criminal suspicions. Estimates at Maccabi are that Ivitch may place this as a condition, which will devour all the cards on the subject.
The second option is a return to the Jordi Cruyff model: that is, the appointment of Van Leven as professional manager (a position that Barak Yitzhaki currently holds, in fact), and the appointment of a less dominant coach under him. For the first time since the arrival of Jordi Cruyff, the club is even considering the possibility of an Israeli coach working under the Dutch manager. Raymond Atfeld, who currently coaches Maccabi Netanya, could have been used as a good option – but he is busy; The option of a Marco-style confusion coach is also being considered.
In the meantime, Van Leven will be the one to lead Maccabi in the near future – with the challenge of reducing the big gap (currently standing at 11 points) from the leader Maccabi Haifa. The Dutchman is considered a very dominant figure, and he likes to determine the method of play himself. As befits Dutch football, he is a big believer in a classic 4: 3: 3, and this is likely to be how his new Maccabi will look.
Sources at Maccabi are sure of one thing: “From today you will see new energies in the players,” they said there, “there is no doubt that the air has returned to them and they will play completely differently.” The results, in any case, will be seen tonight at Bloomfield.
