To change the habit: the conclusions from the Aden Kartsev and Dynamo Moscow deal

Maccabi Netanya fans fantasized a bit this summer, until reality sent their star abroad for a handsome sum. Who will be the first non-rich team to retain stars and break the concept?

Maor Zakaria

06/08/2022

Saturday, August 6, 2022, 08:03

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Summary of Maccabi Netanya's 1:0 loss to Istanbul in Shakhshire in the Conference League qualifiers (Sport1)

It was a wonderful summer to be a Maccabi Netanya fan.

First appearance in Europe after a generation or so - which was actually a bonus for the great second half of last season, in which Netanya reminded everyone who really tried to remember her beautiful times (minus the tension, achievement and competitiveness) - and of course quite a few hopes for the upcoming season.

You could read it between the lines in talkbacks on the net, hear this hum in conversations with acquaintances and friends who are Netanya fans, get this impression in the vibe around the team - the combination between Bnei Lem, beautiful football and a promising young squad made the guys a little dizzy and put words in their heads Clear as "championship".

And that's fine when it comes to fans (and also people working at the club).

Because fans were born to dream, and there is nothing more legitimate - especially when the summer heat obscures consciousness - than a fan's fantasy about a fairytale season, one that can happen once in 40 years, that rests on the absolute vertigo of stronger teams and includes all the necessary ingredients: Cinderella clichés, Surprising victories, balls that hit the right places and above all - maximum utilization of the timing.

Just like what happened to Kiryat Shmona in the 2011/12 season - although it is quite clear that in the summer no one in the Galilee was dreaming of a championship, including Izzy Shirtzky and Spihiyo.

The point is that these dreams are almost always shattered by a breakwater that reality brings with it, and most of the times this happens already in the summer (although there may be exceptions, and the January transfer deadline is also a time prone to disaster in this context).

It also arrived at the friendly guys from Netanya, and in a big way: less than a week after the embarrassing elimination from Europe (Netanya didn't really fall from the Turkish Bashkir, both games were very balanced) the announcement came about the sale of Aden Kartsev to Dynamo Moscow.

Seemingly, this is a situation in which there is not much to be done: Kartsev is going to upgrade his career and his status at the Bank of Israel to proportions that Tania could never reach.

And so it was, Netanya received a huge amount of money for the transfer, such that even richer clubs than it could not take lightly.

That is, apparently, all the reasons for making the deal are legitimate and understandable, and it seems that there is no group in Israel that would have done otherwise.

Time to change thinking.

Eden Kartsev (Photo: Barney Ardov)

But the sale of Kartsev is not only (probably) a necessity for football teams of the size of Maccabi Netanya, but also a perpetuation of an existing situation.

Here is a not very bold guess about what will happen next (of course - the prophecy was given only to fools, etc.): the big money received by the club from the deal will not be invested in one really good player, but in several mediocre players plus.

This will again be enough for fourth place in the league, which is not bad at all and could lead to Europe again - but that's all it is: not bad at all.

That is, Netanya will remain in the mindset of a "mediocre team" - one that will start playing fun football that will advance it in the table only when there is nothing left to play for, two or three players will stand out in particular during this period of time, and next summer, when the heat of July-August will once again blur Netanya's fans in the afternoon and will make them talk about an accomplished season that will soon begin - once again an offer will come that cannot be refused, and in Netanya they really won't refuse.

And so on.

Netanya fans deserve someone to break this cycle.

Almost every team that is not Maccabi Haifa, Maccabi Tel Aviv or Hapoel BS of recent years reaches this situation every few years, and no one has ever used the card of changing direction and tried, even in a small way, to change the course of history.

The time has come for someone - in Netanya, in Hapoel Tel Aviv, in Hapoel Haifa perhaps - to make the least expected decision in such a situation, and be ready to "invest" money through losses of money - that will not be received from the sale deal and that will go out on a more pampering contract for the player who was not sold. Perhaps rather Such a situation - of behavior that is not according to the book - will lead to a rare season, one that is not according to the book?

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• Maccabi Netanya

• Eden Kartsev