The gun from the first act: Maccabi Haifa's defeat was in the air

Maccabi Haifa did not read the writing on the wall, and the gun that was seen in the game against Maccabi Tel Aviv fired this time in Netanya.

David Rosenthal wonders when Neta Lavi will emerge from the crisis and see how John Ugo becomes the prospect of the Galilee landscape

David Rosenthal

24/04/2022

Sunday, April 24, 2022, 10:30 p.m.

• Share on Facebook

• Share on WhatsApp

• Share on Twitter

• Share on Email

• Share on general

• Comments

  Comments

Tikatnu - Summary of Sports Events, April 23 (Sports 1)

Many, even those who are not big fans of theater, are familiar with the iron law coined in the 19th century by playwright Anton Chekhov: a gun seen in the first act will be fired in the third act.

This is a rule that is difficult to apply to other areas of life, but can sometimes be found, even in football.

Take, for example, Maccabi Haifa.

Less than two weeks ago, Charon Shari praised the kick that saved the champion a point in Bloomfield against Maccabi Tel Aviv.

This goal masked the weak ability displayed by the Greens in most stages of the game and the horrific misses of the Tel Avivians.

Then came the close victory over Bnei Sakhnin and the unequivocal 0: 2 over Hapoel Haifa in the cup.

For Maccabi Haifa, everything was fine.

But that gun was still there.

Then, in Netanya, he fired three bullets.

More on Walla!

Bnei Lem: "A huge game."

Bachar: "Shameful display."

Maccabi Haifa is angry with Kartzev

To the full article

This time there were no answers.

Maccabi Haifa players yesterday in Netanya (Photo: Berni Ardov)

Let's say it out loud: Maccabi Haifa's 2021/22 looks much less good than we expected.

At this point we were already supposed to deal with calculations in which week the league manager would choose to hold the award ceremony, and instead keep an eye open for Hapoel Beer Sheva's game in Sakhnin, which could reduce the gap to four points.

And no, I do not think Be'er Sheva has a real chance to win, but the fact that it is in the fight is a must for Maccabi Haifa no less than it is a point for its deputy.

Do not believe the imaginary struggle, Maccabi Haifa will be a champion, but it will not be a convincing champion.

In fact, it will be one of the lowest quality champions since the current playoff system was introduced about a decade ago.

During this period only two champions did not reach 80 points: last year's Maccabi Haifa (which was better than this season and reached 79 points) and Maccabi Tel Aviv of 2014/15, the worst champion, both in terms of quality and points. .

With just 70 points, Paco Eastern's team finished.

She did not win outside for an entire round, displayed depressing football and took the title mostly because no one else wanted to take.

One game shaped the consciousness about that season: the famous 2: 6 that Yoav Ziv signed in Turner's notebook last week.

In this game she completed a treble that categorized her season as memorable.

The defeat in Netanya, which was a direct continuation of Maccabi Haifa's mediocre ability in recent months, created a prominence similar to that of Paco's Maccabi Tel Aviv.

She may not finish with 70 points, but neither will she with 79 last season.

Should the memory of an entire season rise and fall on one game, even if it is a cup final?

By no means, but Maccabi Haifa of 2021/22, or at least of the last two months, leaves no choice.

Unless she finishes the legends, her second championship will be trivial.

Treble will already be a historic achievement.

It's just not that.

Lavie behind Gyagon, and not for the first time in the game (Photo: Berni Ardov)

The hearts of many people, especially in the Kiryat Shalom area, widened in the third goal of Maccabi Netanya.

What Parfa Gagon did there is exactly what was expected of him at Maccabi Tel Aviv when he played for Betar Tel Aviv Bat Yam

. Ate to

the

card with Gyagon's spin, happens to be the best, but here came another string of failures.

On long injuries in football. Sometimes it takes time to come back, sometimes you do not return the same player. Lavi was injured against Kirat and then injured again against Betar Jerusalem.

He spent most of the current season in rehabilitation and recovery.

Confidence did not return, nor did the ability.

There is no trace left of the player who was nominated for signing at CSKA Moscow, at least for now.

Barak Bachar understands the difficulties.

He knows that with a player like Lavie, who is so significant to the club and his identity, one needs patience and must be given the full credit.

The problem is that Lavie has already taken out a significant amount of this credit.

The question is just what the framework will be and whether he will be able to repay the debt before it reaches the ceiling.

Waving a white flag?

The look in Omar Golan's eyes said it all.

"I feel humiliated," he admitted in a weak voice to reporters after the defeat to the Galilee landscape.

I reminded him of the relegation season from three years ago.

Even then, Maccabi Petah Tikva had quite a few opportunities to get out of the bottom.

She kicked the bucket again and again and finally, in a home game against Hapoel Tel Aviv, she lost and went down.

"I do not see the similarity," he replied, "for a month now we have been saying that this is the most important game but we can not connect the victory. All the clichés work here - we will fight to win and to stay."

Will have to find a way to lift the group.

Golan (Photo: Udi Citation)

Golan's look was bleak.

He had a hard time digesting the embarrassment, even in his worst dreams he did not think he would open his coaching career with a home quartet from the Galilee landscape.

Tears welled up in the eyes of Ido Shachar, who spoke after him.

Every other player who came out of the locker room quickly disappeared.

Even the fans who read in condemnation of Avi Luzon during the game did not wait outside, they knew the patron left early this time.

Maccabi Petah Tikva seemed, as of yesterday, to have come to terms with the relegation from the Premier League, and all this with three rounds left and it is only one point away from crossing the red line.

Golan is right, things can change, but what we saw yesterday from Maccabi Petah Tikva was not a warning sign, it was almost a white flag.

After missing Shahar's second penalty she was completely broken.

This was a point of no return in the game.

As far as Maccabi Petah Tikva is concerned, it should be hoped that not for the entire season.

Dear John

John Ugo's arrival in the Galilee landscape seemed like a curiosity.

The sequel has already shouted a bad joke.

Ugo did not take an active part in the team games, his overweight shouted to heaven and even at the club there were those who admitted that "it was a mistake to bring him".

In the pre-match warm-up he looked completely like a past player.

Although he lost 9 kilograms (according to Shai Barda), his dimensions are still large compared to the player we knew at Hapoel Beer Sheva.

It was hard to expect anything positive from him.

Then the game started, and suddenly we saw something reminiscent of Ugo of yesteryear.

Maybe it's not the same sharpness, maybe a little heavier, but being a homeowner in the middle of the field - he did not forget.

Exactly what the Galilee landscape needed.

Ugo (Photo: Udi Citation)

It was the first game in the playoffs where Ugo opened.

In the previous four, Nof Hagalil did not score a single goal.

"You have to understand, he went through 750 days without playing football," Barda said, "it's a long process, in football there is no magic."

There is no magic, but there is timing, and it could be that the Galilee landscape got Ugo at just the right moment.

• sport

• Israeli soccer

• Super League

Tags

• Maccabi Haifa

• John Ugo