Against four boys the league spoke, double 2
The regular season in the Premier League ended, with the second round (26th round) ending just like the first (13th round), with Maccabi Haifa, Maccabi Tel Aviv, MS Ashdod, Hapoel Beer Sheva, Maccabi Petah Tikva and Kiryat Shmona in the first six. . Although in a different order, but still. The teams that were established at the top of the table at the end of the first round, have come a long way and are not easy, with a middle closure, corona outbursts, ups and downs, and they returned to positions just in time.
After the league split into two parts, and just before the playoffs (top and bottom), and Passover, it was time to reconcile with the four boys who tell the story of the regular season from start to finish, through significant points to players who made the difference for their teams. In the lower playoffs there are five boys to be honest.
Top playoff
Wise: Patrick Van Leven
Patrick Van Leven who went down to the lines at Maccabi Tel Aviv after the dismissal of Yorgos Donis turned the yellow season completely yellow. After the derby he counted 41 points out of 45 possible (91.1% success) after a crazy run of 13 wins and two draws. The Dutch coach completely “ignored” the injuries Of Jonathan Cohen, Dan Gazler, Alexander Peshich and recently also of Andre Geralds and Enrique Sborit.
Van Leven gave an opportunity to quite a few players not counted by the Greek, brought back Itai Schechter who was not happy with his status and changed him 180 degrees, and made sure to keep everyone on constant alert. He was also there to take advantage of the stumbles of Maccabi Haifa, which could have opened a gap of 11 points at the beginning of the second round, lost the summit to the champion of the last two years and returned to it only in the passing round, by only one point.
The incredible balance, the connection of the locker room to it and the belief in its way revived a championship fight that seemed irrelevant and now, on the eve of the top playoffs, is portrayed as ever wiser. All of these, make the criticisms of losing his second points overall more and more angles. The derby may not have been an evening that Patrick and Maccabi will want to remember, but of course it still deserves all the compliments.
Evil: Kobe Medicine
Kobi Refuah can be very pleased with his achievement in KS. The coach who left the northern team in the league last season and promised to build a “team they did not dream of” does exist. His young team, plus players who have already tasted success with the club and experienced foreigners, This season, it has weakened and deteriorated in the table and suffered significantly from the damn virus.
But she was there to score 10 points in the last five rounds and secure a place in the top playoffs, at the expense of the disappointed Maccabi Netanya, Betar Jerusalem and Hapoel Haifa who must see him as “evil” who ended up with the last chance to get the coveted ticket. That you absorb him to add a little “malice” to the quality staff on her paper, but the too-nice turns out.
Tam: Barak Bachar
Barak Bachar knows best of all the qualities and depth he has in Maccabi Haifa. It was naive of him to think that his team would not withstand the pressure and continue to stumble (after the two frequent losses to Maccabi Tel Aviv and CBS Ashdod) without Nikita Rokavica for a month, and it was also naive to think that he would come out unscathed. Goodsway Donio was the right man at the right time and dome for the lack of the king of Premier League goals, who has already returned to conquer 0: 2 over Netanya, and in general the strengths of the Greens have demonstrated well in recent weeks, despite the turnaround at the top and very significant disadvantage.
Neta Lavie took on more in the middle and just got better, Jose Rodriguez continued his tremendous season, Bogdan Planic continued to be the team’s most significant foreigner and raised the level of Ofri Arad, Muhammad Abu Fani, Ernest Mabuka, Raz Meir and San Menachem continued to do the Their work is faithful, Dolev Haziza was also injured and continued exactly where he left off, and Omar Atzili began to mention the player who juggled the Betar and Maccabi Tel Aviv uniforms.
And if we are talking about the yellow rival, then the innocence of Maccabi Haifa to lose points against its direct rival for the championship title, with the Tel Avivians saying the last words twice already this season, with dramatic goals that set a draw and victory in the decisive minutes – must be erased in the playoffs. At least one fight against Van Leven’s gang in order to swing the plate. There is no other way.
Who does not know how to ask: Raymond Atwald
The change that Raymond Atwald instilled in Maccabi Netanya can be told about mountains and hills. The Dutch coach certainly did not fail to bring his team within touching distance of the top playoffs, as the team’s goals at the start of the season were completely different, but the disappointment in Diamond City was very big due to the fact that they had already touched the impressive achievement but lost their place in the season.
Netanya fell exactly where the young people of Ashdod, Petah Tikva and KS succeeded. The balance in the staff and the combination of the young and the more experienced is what brought the successes of the illegal immigrants, when with the Almog Cohen diamonds, Shir Tzedek (Netanya earned its captain as a brake and together with his good friend they are an excellent duo), Chen Ezra and Danny Amos were blackmailed and injured until the last minute. All to lead the group to the top, but their ammunition ran out too soon. In one week they lost three times and lost the top playoff and also the state cup and here the youngsters move aside.
Mentally, physically and tactically (in Netanya they also claim to be judgmental) many things did not work this week that could have made their season a great success, and here also comes the responsibility of Atwald, who did much more than expected from the young team he built last summer but did not know what he was missing. And to his trainees to give that last push.
To win the many games in which they were better than the rivals. In order for Gabi Kanikovsky (the second best goal scorer in the league after Rokavica with 15 goals) to make such a season a dream and not disappear from time to time. And who knows what would have happened if he had maintained stability. The misses of Lamak Banda, the mistakes of Karem Jaber and more and more and more. These are a lot of questions that need to be asked ahead of the rest of the season and the building of the team next season, and the Dutchman is expected to answer, and diligently.
Bottom playoff
Smart: Nir Klinger
After Hapoel Tel Aviv’s bad season opener, Nir Klinger deserves all the compliments for a huge turnaround he instilled in the Khodorov complex, for the second year in a row. This time, he did it alone, professionally of course, with Moshe Sinai, the former owner’s representative and backer, Fired at the start of the season.In situations where other coaches would get up and go home, or be fired themselves in the face of bad results, Klinger caught up with Wolfson in his belief that it was possible to get out of the difficult situation the team was in. But, provided the right players arrive in the transfer window.
And they arrived. Klinger added to his team several names he wanted to bring in last summer but ran into difficulties and such. In their head, Dan Einbinder and Ben Bitton who changed Hapoel Tel Aviv’s game from end to end. Lidor Cohen and Raz Stein added a lot to the attacking game, Ofek Bitton was intriguing every time and Shlomi Azulai started to get into things and then got injured. 5- From the red line he became 4+, the State Cup quarterfinals on the way and even the first derby in two years without a loss, and with a goal. Klinger returned the fire to Hapoel. And now, he and his players will have to stay smart and maintain their position at least, to continue progressing and survive the Premier League season.
Evil: Matthew Liovich
Emoji warning light
After his first season in Israel, Matthias Liovich opened the current season with a storm. Even in the days when Bnei Yehuda was considered a great promise and started the season great, he recorded 5 assists in the first 8 rounds and the future looks promising. But then came the big fall of the Oranges, and her Serbian connection didn’t really help her get out of the difficult situation she was in, perhaps quite the opposite.
He has yet to score in the league, suffered two silly red card dismissals and was ruled out of two more games due to his behavior, multiple injuries, and most importantly – did not demonstrate at all the ability that earned him many compliments last season, and was not there for his team. Through his own fault and not his own fault. Endless misses, narcissistic ability and a sea of mistakes. A player like Liovich is expected to sweep a weak team like Bnei Yehuda this season, or at least lead it to another victory or two with the help of his high personal ability. But instead of bringing her points this season, he took more from her, somehow.
He is not “evil” in the sense that he meant it, but he is mostly bad for Bnei Yehuda this season. The problem in the Hatikva neighborhood is that expectations have drained to the Serb, while the rest have become accustomed to playing below their level, and even when the team rises – with Elisha Levy, Nir Berkovich, Kfir Edri, Tamir Ben Ami and Yossi Aboksis – it fails to take points. Even Aboksis knows that only “something extraordinary will cause a stay.” And beyond the plethora of professional and mental problems he has on the roster, improvement on the part of Liovich, as the team’s key player, can drag others forward towards the goal, even if it is not achieved in the end.
Tam: Elisha
Elisha Levy, the former national coach, was further discouraged. He was naive to think when he thought that only he would determine professionally in Bnei Yehuda and perhaps used to it from the past, but the selection of foreigners and acquisition players, as well as strategic decisions have long been not just decisions of a coach. And he was even more naive to think he could get something out of the weakest squad built (and even after it was renovated) at Hapoel Kfar Saba this season.
He was fired from the Hatikva neighborhood and also from the Greens from the Sharon. After this also happened to him at Maccabi Petah Tikva, which was eventually relegated, the same team he built, the lovable character named Elisha Levy may be on his way to a time-out from the front of Israeli football. And maybe even beyond that. But it can never be eulogized.
Who do not know how to ask: Slobodan Drapic and Shai Barda
Slobodan Drapic and Shai Barda waited only a short time after the loss in Ashdod to announce their resignation from the position of Betar Jerusalem coaches. The burden of not qualifying for the top playoffs was heavy on them and they took responsibility. It is noteworthy in today’s era and we all know more experienced and established coaches. Would have preferred to earn a few more salaries and not make that move.but not Slobo and Shay.
They had all the conditions for success, and also all the circumstances for failure. The never-ending Sheikh saga, the Corona outbursts, the postponed games, the half-built staff (not good) they received, Antoine Conte who disappeared, Mathesino who signed and returned to Brazil due to injury and Corona, the zombie stopper who did not come due to ego and muscle Celebrates that he managed professionally in the middle between them and the fired Roni Levy and other Jerusalem storms that can not be planned in advance but should always be taken into account at home and in the garden. Storms that would justify every hand-raising of every coach in the world, but they did everything they could until the last minute.
The coaches, who were very successful with Betar in their first term in the capital, where they broke out as a duo on the main stage, failed to instill their familiar and good diamond method from Netanya in Jerusalem. They tried to do it by force, changed a bit, but almost nothing worked for them. Eliran Atar scored 9 goals and disappeared at times, Idan Vered had to give much more of himself, Michael Ohana is unable to maintain stability due to repeated injuries, Jordan Shua began to be released but it really is not enough. Certainly not at the crazy price paid for him.
Uriel Degani and Itamar Nitzan looked good on defense and the bright spot was of course the talented Aviel Zargari. But in the test of the result Betar failed this season, no matter what it does in the lower playoffs, so Drapich and Barda – whose portfolio on the roster from mid-summer and January, is theirs, and of course the bad results in the league – did not know enough to ask the right questions this year, themselves, The boss, the players and in general, unlike the previous term maybe, but at least knew how to be decent and take responsibility for it.