The following phrase was repeated over and over again at Hapoel Tel Aviv's training complex throughout the summer break: "The team will rise and fall against the foreigners this season." Well, already at this early stage of the season, the Reds realize that they may have made a mistake with some of the foreign players and began to recalculate their course.
It's just that the story of the failure with some of the foreign players represents a much broader picture for the Reds.
He highlights the policy of reductions and compromises of the team, which may dream of returning to the forefront of Israeli football but is still looking from the sidelines at the majors, and even at a team like Maccabi Netanya.
Let's start from the end.
Antoine Conte, who is expected to start today for the first time in the lineup against Maccabi Netanya, and of course there are no professional criticisms of him, did not really play last year, suffered two disturbing injuries, and his troubled past is known from his time in Beitar.
The Hapoel Tel Aviv fans' sea ball show, a week ago in Bloomfield,
So why did Hapoel sign him?
There were several brakes that Kobe Medicine tried to bring, but the negotiations always fell through because of high wage demands or because of one or another purchase conditions.
When the owner and Omer Buxenbaum landed the Montenegrin defender Marco Tucci a few weeks ago, the coach strongly objected, what else the club was supposed to pay for his purchase, and thus the path of Conte, who was offered to the team in the meantime, was paved.
A kind of compromise, not that the Frenchman was marked as a target of the professional team.
Hapoel Tel Aviv players.
Carrying two losses on their backs,
A similar situation happened this summer with goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic.
The professional team wanted Ariel Harosh or Robbie Lebkovic, but the negotiations with the two goalkeepers did not help against Hapoel BS Vahadra. It continued in the exploration with Ernst Shtakos, and when it didn't work out they closed with Marinovic. Again, not because he was the first choice or the second, but because it worked out budget-wise and because there weren't many other options available.
Marinovic, the goalkeeper of the New Zealand national team, is on the focus, and a poor performance tonight could mean that very soon he will find himself on the sidelines.
"There is antipathy towards him from the crowd and the media in a way that we don't remember," says a Hapoel source, "he may be a better goalkeeper than we saw, but we marked him. If there is no choice, we might replace him."
Behind the scenes, the Reds have already begun to check options for other goalkeepers, but they will not make a move in relation to Marinovic before they are closed with another goalkeeper.
Kobi Medicine.
He does not hide his opinion, photo: Oren Aharoni
Last week, the goalkeeper talked to Boxenbaum about his face in front of the crowd, but made it clear that he is not afraid.
Two victories and some penalty stop - and he will be lifted on his shoulders," said those around the goalkeeper, "even Eddie Gottlieb had problems with the crowd and now the situation is fine."
So Marinovic is swinging, Godfried Romarto has already been notified that he will be looking for another team, and the rest of the foreigners have yet to be announced.
What is certain is that any parting with a foreign player now means financial compensation, which the operator could perhaps have saved if it had paid a little more this summer to the players it wanted to bring and had not compromised.
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