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Stepping in place: The Israeli team is unable to take a step forward

While Northern Macedonia, Finland and even Luxembourg are taking a step forward, our team is lagging behind.

Absorbance in away games is already a matter for psychologists and Rotensteiner knows exactly what is being written about him and suddenly tries to run a game

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• Israel national football team

• Willy Rotensteiner

Ron Amikam

Saturday, November 13, 2021, 11:00 p.m.

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Summary: Austria - Israel 2.4 (Sports 1)

During the game yesterday (Friday) against Austria, I had to check again and again that I did not accidentally go into the "recordings" to watch the game again against Scotland. Then I remembered that Scotland played a dark blue a month ago. The fact that we experience de ja vu in every away game of the team against a team that is not sluggish, it is already a matter for psychologists. When it comes to professional surgery it is already repeating itself. Even our summary columns already look the same.

There is a recurring pattern here: we start with Beavers Natcho, and we manage to neutralize the opponent in the middle third and make a passing game of touching the ball that also takes us quickly out of the dangerous area, but in the offensive section there are very few players to produce anything.

The opponent usually plays with fewer touches, more accuracy, and puts a lot more players into the final third.

When Beavers comes out - yesterday already after 20 minutes - we seemingly get younger and more energetic players, but ones who are less able to handle the ball.

The middle third collapses, and we surrender with the opponent.

Suddenly the multiplicity of their players and the accuracy in dealing with the ball creates situations of conquest in abundance and our goalkeeper - who excels in the first part - begins to get the goals in the second part, including those who could have stopped.

More on Walla!

Manor Solomon: "There was a mess on the pitch, we did not know how to defend"

To the full article

That they will not tell you stories.

Rotensteiner (Photo: Bernie Ardov)

More on Walla!

• The Israeli team lost to Austria 4: 2, third place in danger

• Disappointment with Rotensteiner to end: "I wish I had avoided the mistakes"

• Austria celebrates revenge on Israel, redeems: "We wanted it more than them"

• Doctors recommend: six minutes, twice a day and no pain

Our goals - both against Scotland and yesterday - are the same pattern: a free kick and a change of direction of the ball.

There are no football goals here, there is not a single goal here that even mentions a goal that one like Marco Arnautovic produces.

Although he scored "only" in the penalty shootout yesterday, there was no doubt for a moment who the best player on the field was.

We lead and there is no one at home (and the truth that on the field as well) who does not know that the team will lose in the end.

That they will not tell you stories. Willy Rotensteiner knows very well what is written about him and what is said about him, and when he is told that he does not know how to play a game, and that is a few days before his future is decided, he suddenly tries to play a game. Yesterday, he threw Omri Gandelman into the fray in the 20th minute. The initial instinct wondered where Muhammad Abu Fani was, was he injured? No, Abu Fani was not injured, he came in instead of San Menachem in the closing minutes. Why Gandelman instead of Natcho and not Abu Fani? Because this is a pose. Here I make a sensational exchange at an early minute and send into the campaign a 20-year-old boy who was first called up to the national team just last week because I saw in him things I had not seen in others. I'm a football genius. And what did Gandelman do? Not much, we barely felt its existence. Were it not for a commentator here 11, a Netanyahu named Uri Ozen who mentioned him here and there, we would not have felt his existence, for he did not exhibit an extraordinary presence. Gandelman only highlighted the unfortunate fact that Dor Peretz is out of shape - even though he scored a goal - and that Manor Solomon plays on the left line and not in the middle, and that we actually do not have a middle, but really do not.And this Rotensteiner saw from the 20th minute until the 80th minute still left with two line players who do not produce speed on the wings (with Solomon, the central midfielder, anyway there), and without a link. We could play another half hour and get another quartet, and there was no coach there to stop the flood.

Charming or not, the result is Spitz

In recent months there has been some unofficial, quite implicit, campaign for Rotensteiner's stay as national team coach.

The main motto in this campaign is the love that the Austrian coach receives from the players.

He made them feel a sense of belonging to the team again, he made it more professional, he makes decisions on a human basis.

And we also enjoy more: there are moments of football in the team, which was not the case in previous boring campaigns.

It reminded me that in the midst of the Richard Nielsen Enthusiasm Festival at the beginning of the millennium, Eli Ohana - then a columnist for Maariv - wrote the following sentence: "At the end the national coach will only be tested on the result test."

Nielsen taught the players to return quickly to positions, not to flirt with the ball close to our goal, to move forward with less dedication, not to use hands to prevent offenses - and he was also a lovely man - and in the last two minutes, in the decisive game against Austria at home, this whole concept collapsed.

Nielsen was tested at the end of the test result and received a spike.

We barely felt its existence.

Gandelman (Photo: Reuters)

Whether we finish in third place, or God forbid we finish fourth because Austria will be stuck in Moldova on Monday with more goals than we are stuck in the Faroe Islands, the question will be asked whether the team has improved.

Is 4 points out of 18 against the big ones against 3 out of 18 for Elisha and 4 out of 18 for Guttman, an improvement?

Is the absorption of 12 foreign goals against the big 3, against 5 for Elisha and 6 for Guttman, a progress?

Is 0 away points against the big ones compared to 3 for Elisha and 1 for Guttman this progress?

Is scoring goals, most of them off the field, an indication of improvement?

The answer is clear: the team no longer leaks from the players' WhatsApp group - and that's an improvement!

Yesterday in the 82nd minute there was a revelation. Willie moved to an array of four defensive players. And seeing this is a miracle, we stopped absorbing. The five defensive line-ups were so redundant when our line-ups did not pass the half, and the three brakes were confident they could play 5 on 2 against an Austrian team at home, that they tried dribbles, tried to play with short dedication, and mostly allowed the Austrians - a team that lets play football and hit defense - Renew attacks very quickly and find the loopholes. What they did not achieve on their own, our defense and link helped them. The fact that Rotensteiner made a lineup change while playing indicates that there is no risk here, and he simply reacts late, or fixed, or all together.

There are moments when the team looks like a team, and not just at the level of coordination, and there are moments when you feel everyone is giving their ass for the others, but while Northern Macedonia rises from the fourth tier of the Nations League to Euros and the subsequent campaign wins in Germany. For the World Cup, you look at the cosmetic improvements in the team with a more realistic eye: we have not progressed in recent years - while northern Macedonia, Finland, Luxembourg, Georgia and Hungary have - we are in the same place.

Capable of more.

Team players after the goal (Photo: Reuters)

We will have to wait a long time and generate patience.

Both to the blessed work of Yila Hus in the youth teams and also to a series of revivals that are required in Israeli football.

It will not stop the smaller policies of us from moving forward, but at least let's not say we have not tried.

At least one thing can be said from all this eating of the head: with this substance the Israeli team is capable of more.

For much more.

It's time for the team to have a coach.

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