Maccabi Tel Aviv has had a difficult two years. The team with the highest budget in the league, which introduced new standards of professional and sports management and won five championships in the last decade, has slowly lost its way. 'Vardi Cruyff to coach, and later with the arrival of Vladan Ivic, who was very focused, for better or worse, which was reflected in the vacuum he left when he left.
In the last two years it reached its peak, when four different coaches stood on the lines (two of them did not coach seniors at all), which led to a (last) messy season, which ended without a degree, with a staff full of holes - and for the first time in a decade Maccabi did not finish between the top two.
Owner Mitch Goldhaar responded in the meantime: he already brought in Serbia national team striker Georgia Juvanovic for 1.9 million euros, a really non-trivial amount for an Israeli team, and it was clear to everyone that this was just the swallow.
In the summer, Maccabi Tel Aviv raised the bar and will try their best to return the championship to Kiryat Shalom. To that end, Goldhar returned two who were big in the Premier League in their years in the yellow, Eran Zehavi and Ivitch. We will focus on the latter, the most dominant coach here.
Ivica celebrates championship with Maccabi Tel Aviv, Photo: Ami Shumen
Dismantled the league
After leaving Maccabi Tel Aviv, Ivica was appointed coach of Watford, who was a sure candidate to be promoted to the Premier League. Although the results were reasonable, the appointment lasted barely four months, and Ivica was fired due to bad relations with his stars. He did not coach. Ivica's time at Maccabi was exceptional at the league level. He won two light championships: the first with a gap of 31 points from the runner-up and with a goal difference of 60 plus, and the second with non-absorption records and a single loss in the last round of the season. Nothing.
On the other hand, in the major knockout factories, in Europe and in Israel, the Serb has failed time and time again.
The highlight came in the second season with a relegation against Romanian Cluj in the Champions League qualifiers, then a very embarrassing double loss to Lithuanian Sudova in the Europa League qualifiers and finally a relegation in the first round of the cup against Hapoel Umm al-Fahm from the National League.
When Ivitch came to Maccabi Tel Aviv the team was under the restrictions of fair play, so he brought home the talented generation of the 1996 native, upgraded players and created a team that works defensively (the wingers, Omar Atzili and Yonatan Cohen, would make the defenders unhappy) with an aggressive link , Ruthless and unrivaled, who dismantled every team that stood in front of him.This time, Ivica comes to the team in the opposite position, with a boss determined to regain the title, and an unbalanced roster that combines old and proven players alongside young players who need to be promoted.
Ivica in training.
Work on staff completion continues, Photo: Alan Shiber
Formulate the way
Ivica is stuck with three 9-pointers and a lot of link players with similar qualities, but he has no leading brake.
The first thing he wants to do is arrange the staff.
The Serbian coach is looking for a leading brake, but also a right-back (wants Eli Desa) and another winger.
Ivica may be tactically diverse, but he mostly plays 4: 3: 3, and the fact that his roster includes those three 9-pointers, who have a hard time playing in other positions, could create a problem for him, especially considering that in order to bring in a foreign stopper and wing you have to release signed foreigners.
Ivica's first significant test will be tonight in the Conference League against the Azeri arena.
This will be the first step in incorporating European homes, one of the repairs that the Serb needs to make.
For that to happen, he will have to formulate an lineup that will suit the current squad, combine Oscar Gluch and Guyagon Parfa, get Dan Glazer and Gabi Knikowski back on track to provide aggression to the link, and decide who will play in the center of defense (perhaps Enrique Seboret) until the foreign brake arrives.
Against an arena that will probably be enough, but in the next round against Aris Thessaloniki the Yellows will have to come much more prepared in terms of staff.
Bottom line, not reaching the home stage will be considered a failure and could undermine Maccabi Tel Aviv in the league as well, because unlike Ivica's first term, the competition this time is much more significant and the championship title is really not obvious.
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