Contrary to other opinions, the surprise is not the dismissal of Yorgos Donis from Maccabi Tel Aviv, but the vacuum that did not lead to a major crisis before. The most important roles in the club. The arrival of Vladimir Ivitch managed to obscure the real needs of the club.
Before they left, Cruyff and Mansford built strong foundations and in the vacuum they left, Ivica came in at a perfect timing for him. He wanted to control every detail of the club and the locker room and become an absolute authority. Combined with excellent results, it gave a wrong feeling to the decision makers at Maccabi Tel Aviv that it can work out that way over time. But in the long run it may not work, certainly when you choose a coach like Donis. Not only is he not like that, but 180 degrees of it. Disassembly of control and descent to managerial and professional details on the grass.
Thousands of miles away, Cruyff and Mansford were the filter that helped Goldhaar feel the pulse of Kiryat Shalom from Toronto (even if they waited for his emails back too long ….). This made it possible to manage the locker room at the strategic level, even when a crisis starts. Manage frustrated players. Dealing with communication. Prepare coaches with a resume from abroad and select them themselves when needed. They were authoritative figures who connect all the parts to an entire club that works on a regular basis.
So Donis is not coaching well enough for the current situation in which Maccabi Tel Aviv is, and certainly not the right character at the present time. This could be seen with a professional eye, every game. In my opinion, there was no room to satisfy the need for the move. Maybe even before. To the requirements of Maccabi Tel Aviv as a football club.
The question is what Maccabi Ta does from now on. Signing a coach who is almighty at the club? Signing a managerial figure to restore stability? Promoting Patrick Van Leiben to one of the two roles? We have already learned in the Cruyff era that the zigzag between management and coaching does no good to the system. You have to make a difficult decision in the middle of a season that you want. We have seen Maccabi Tel Aviv overcome most of the crises in the Goldhaar era. The question is whether Canada currently understands that the problem is not just the lack of a coach.
