Raz Amir 14/02/2021 06:40
Peshich celebrates with Ben Haim (Radad Jabara)
It is too early to predict how this crazy season will end, but last night (Saturday) Maccabi Tel Aviv returned to first place in the Premier League and showed that at the very least, it will fight for what it has until the last minute. The 0: 1 over Hapoel Kfar Saba ended as only 0: 1, but this was the second time in the last few days that Patrick Van Leven’s team already looks much more dangerous in its attacking game and without the huge misses, it would have ended this game with more balls. On the net.
There are several reasons for the improving ability of the Yellows under Patrick Van Leven. One of them is the Dutch coach’s insistence on getting Dan Bitton involved. He started with him against Maccabi Haifa in the game of the season, and in the last two games he returned him to the squad. The result last night was perhaps without a goal or a touchdown, but with 5 key dedications in one game, out of 10 that Maccabi Tel Aviv delivered in the entire game (the most this season in the Premier League). Quite a few doubts about what will be with him next season.
Van Leven changed his role, started playing with him on the right side and he gets quite a bit from him. Bitton after the last game is the king of key dedication of the league with 25 such, 4 more than Dolev Haziza who also played much more than him. Bitton is also the king of the cooks with 8 or in short – currently he is the king of morals of the Premier League, and this is a contribution that Maccabi Tel Aviv will need to know to translate into more goals and fewer misses.
Along with Van Leven’s insistence, Barak Yitzhaki should also be complimented. For two years he followed Lewis Hernandez and Alexander Peshich, their names sitting at the top of the notebook. These are two players he recommended to Vladimir Ivitch to bring and then to Georgios Donis. In the end they arrived, albeit belatedly, and no doubt both suffered from the Greek coach who stood on the lines, but something has been released in the Serbian striker recently, while on the brake it can clearly be said that he is much better at Van Leven, , The qualities of Hernandez are also becoming more prominent.
Van Leven led Maccabi Tel Aviv to 28 of 30 in the Premier League, and in seven games the team kept a clean sheet. A lot of this can undoubtedly be attributed to Hernandez, even in the difficult period under Donis, when he suffered quite a bit of fire, at Maccabi Tel Aviv continued to insist that it is one of the best brakes to come to Israel in recent years. As for Peshich, his goal last night to win the game was his eighth in the Premier League and he narrows gaps from Jonathan Cohen. Peshich was also a player that Barak Yitzhaki tried to bring for two seasons and was in constant contact with his agent until the moment when he managed to get his money from the team in Saudi Arabia and made his way to Israel.
Tal Ben Haim should be added to both. His ingenious cooking last night was overall his first of the season in the Premier League, but note how significant Ben Haim’s goals and cooks are. One led to a quick draw against Maccabi Haifa, the second goal defeated Be’er Sheva and the cooking against Kfar Saba was the winning goal in the game. Yitzhaki was the one who kept in touch with Ben Haim throughout last season already. He is the one who kept asking him to wait for Maccabi Tel Aviv and wait for the moment when Mitch Goldhaar will agree to release an official offer. They were placed in the table and now the Yellows will have to continue to press the gas to complete it completely, even without the need to wait and see what Maccabi Haifa will do.
Along with the good things that Maccabi Tel Aviv has now, last night the Yellows left with a headache around Yonatan Cohen who was supposed to start the game. Cohen finished most of the warm-up, before feeling pain in the quadriceps muscle area, where he suffered a small tear The big concern is of course the opening of the scar and a more significant rupture of the muscle. Cohen really had a hard time climbing the stairs to the bleachers and had to use a handrail to get to his chair slowly. In the warm-up in front of Kfar Saba, this can be a very hard blow for the Yellows, because if it is indeed the opening of the scar, in most cases, it is also a longer recovery time.
As for Eyal Golsa, the midfielder was injured in front of Hapoel Beer Sheva and suffered a blow to his foot near the ankle. Currently the injury is defined as an injury only, and Golsa does train, but every time he tries to increase his pace he feels sharp pains rising towards the ankle. Due to the sensitivity of the place, no risk is taken with the player who continues to receive treatments alongside his attempts to train. A source at Maccabi Tel Aviv also said last night that “this is not a dramatic injury, waiting for the pain to stop”, and the hope of course is that this week will be the last week in which the player is absent. In any case, it is very doubtful if he can play against Shakhtar Donetsk.
