Yorgos Donis and Maccabi Tel Aviv are no more, which is not really surprising. The Yellows announced the dismissal of the Greek from training after 11 league rounds and when they are 11 points away from Maccabi Haifa which is at the top (even though they have a game in hand). Now, the reasons for the decision are revealed and they are not just related to ability on the lawn.
In fact, there are two main reasons why Donis was fired even before the game against KS. The first: a crisis of confidence with the players that reached a point of no return. The dressing.
The second reason: Maccabi Tel Aviv’s ability was in sharp decline. Already after the game against Betar Jerusalem Teddy, in which the Yellows played badly and barely endangered Itamar Nitzan’s goal, talks began with Jack Anglidis and Mitch Goldhaar about the need to make a shock. Talks continued yesterday (Tuesday) into the night and this morning in Canada (Israel Afternoon), the decision was made that he would end his career.
These two reasons led to the understanding that there is no point in Donis standing on the lines in the upcoming game against Kiryat Shmona because it was so difficult to beat her as well. The Greek managed to deliver the concluding training, conducted a tactical training and then received a notice of termination of employment.
There are many other reasons for the dismissals and the feeling at Maccabi Tel Aviv was that he could not exhaust even 50 percent of the staff and even bring him half of his true ability. The gap from Maccabi Haifa was a factor of course and the club’s assessment was finally.
“There was no professional progress in the team, neither in defense nor in attack. The exchanges were frightening and in recent games we have always reached a state of ‘dying with the Philistines’ and betting on everything,” said a Maccabi Tel Aviv player. “It is not football and not a trained team.” .
In addition, there are too many disgruntled players in the team, and the degrading attitude towards Itai Schechter and Tal Ben Haim, who came up in the final minutes against Betar, also had an effect. Players like Schechter, Shachar Phiben and Avi Rikan were completely out of the rotation, and players who were supposed to make progress this season like Elon Almog (21) and Eden Kartzev (20) went even further back.
At the same time, there is no doubt that Donis’ late arrival at Maccabi Tel Aviv, the blow of the corona that was in the middle and the fact that the staff was weakened, hurt him. On the other hand, there is no doubt that Maccabi Tel Aviv should have looked better. Players complained about a low level of training, lots of games without a hitch and video meetings that lead nowhere.
Bottom line, the testimony of one of the players tells the whole story: “After the draw against Maccabi Netanya, Donis stood on the grass and told us: ‘We are all in this boat, I believe in you and we will get out of this together,’ but no one really listened.”
