Strike force: the added value of Franzi Piero for Maccabi Haifa

He always looked clumsy and limited, but thanks to a deep understanding of his place and a lot of hard work, the striker from Haiti turned out to be the perfect solution to Barak Bacher's search for a physical gap reducer against superior opponents.

But is the "monster" of the greens able to provide a moment of magic against Paris Saint-Germain?

Inbal Manor

14/09/2022

Wednesday, September 14, 2022, 1:40 p.m

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Summary: Maccabi Haifa - Section Nes Ziona 1:3 (Sport1)

At a very early stage of the summer, Barak Becher made it clear exactly what he wanted in the transfer window.

"Players who are tall and physically strong. Start from there and we'll see who we want," he concluded with sporting director Gal Alberman and the scouting team.

This was the main lesson the coach took from the conference league group stage campaign.

Bacher believed that his team fell short in intensity and physicality.

With the clear aim of reaching a place bigger than the Conference League, Maccabi Haifa set out in the summer - and again after the departure of Bogdan Palanich - to look for foreigners who reduce the physical gap.

With the resources that an Israeli team has, even a rich and ambitious one, it is difficult to bring in a virtuoso or a dribbler who will make a difference, but it is much easier to find players who will fight through power and aggression.

Bacher realized something simple.

In order to reach the Champions League, he needs two things: close the squad early, which will give him an advantage against the unpreparedness for the games in July, and find the people who can stand against those "fourth tier" teams on the continent.

Anchors that will close the gap and be able to provide an advantage against rivals of the caliber of Olympiakos and Red Star Belgrade.

In other words, he was looking to force his way up there, and then try to keep up.

bully a little.

beat.

not to be humiliated.

To steal a goal or points here and there he wanted monsters of physicality.

This is the main reason why he was locked on Franzi Piero.

Bacher found the strength he was looking for.

Franzi Piero (Photo: GettyImages, Srdjan Stevanovic)

Four years earlier, in the summer of 2018, Piero had left the US to pursue the European dream. He was an outstanding college player (and also an outstanding high school basketball player) who was selected in the second round by the Colorado Rapids and also received a contract offer. The problem was that he just didn't want to play in the MLS. "I wanted to play in Europe and see where the talent would take me," he said in the past. He worked on himself, adding more and more personal training: finishing, strength and decision-making. "Coach Carlton", coach Carlton Simond, one of the most influential figures on Pierre , advised him to move to Belgium and also made the connection with the agents.

At the age of 23, Piero landed for tests in Moscaron.

"He came to the tests and immediately showed his physical qualities, but questions arose about his ability to contribute to the team because he has no experience at the highest levels," recalled local reporter Sebastian Hüsler.

"It took him a long time to score. The team said that even in training he doesn't score, I would say he needed something like three months of acclimatization to Belgian football before he became a significant player. During this time, he improved a lot technically."

This story was also repeated in France and Israel.

"Piero is a striker with an atypical profile," his last coach at Gangneung, Stéphane Dumont, defined him in the past.

He sometimes seems clumsy, not always closed in on himself, a formidable player, but limited.

"In the first training sessions, he looked like a player who doesn't control his body," recalled Maccabi Haifa players.

"It was only after a week that we realized it was a monster."

For Domon Lapierre "there is room for improvement at the technical level, the speed of the actions and the quality of the movement. He has not reached the maximum. His finish, especially in the head, is deadly, but he can do more."

Above all, Piero is a player of hard work and connection with coaches.

"He has a tremendous work ethic, a strong character, many qualities as well as shortcomings, but he covers them up with hard work," Dumon said.

"He knows who he is, he didn't invent a new style and he doesn't try to invent football. He knows that he is effective in one place and tries to develop in other places, but his strength lies in the fact that he knows who he is."

Mehmed Bejdrevic, the former coach of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team, recently said that when the Red Star representatives asked him in the past to recommend a striker from the French market, he immediately replied: "Pierro from Gengan", and even called to update the player.

The phone from Belgrade did not arrive.

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Glad Red Star gave up on Pyro.

Barak Bacher (Photo: Maor Alxalsi)

Pierrot did not think about Israel.

This is not Europe.

For him, the next stop on the route was the top French league.

One season in Belgium with eight goals sent Piero to the Ganges, only last season was his first full as a serious cruciate ligament injury caused him to miss almost all of 2020. Last summer, Piero fell ill with Corona and missed the Gold Cup, which did not stop him from exploding with 15 goals .

He arrived in Peak, Israel?

now?

He was not ready to hear.

Maccabi Haifa are talking about a complex and difficult deal.

Gangan conducted a tough negotiation and initially talked about amounts ranging around four million euros. The Greens realized that the player was hesitant and sent him three times the departing defender Mikael Alphonse. At one point, there were those in the club who thought it was time to move on to the next candidate, but Bacher and Alberman stood on the back foot . The coach found in him everything he was looking for. "Use your strength and be the nightmare of your opponents," used to say to Piero his first coach at Gangan Sylvain Dido. This is exactly what Bacher requires. A player narrows a physical gap. A tail for lions on the road can also be a head for foxes.

We tend to give too much importance to the number of goals or the amount of points of an Israeli team in the group stage of the Champions League.

Maybe because we refuse to recognize the real gap.

The Champions League is currently structured in such a way that for the lucky ones who manage to start from the championship track, qualification and money are the main thing.

The rest is a bonus.

experience.

From this experience you can take points in Garbage Time or surprise at one point, but it cannot beautify reality.

we are not there

Not in the tradition.

Not in budgets.

Not the quality of the players.

It's not all our fault by the way.

The Champions League is a closed prestigious club that sees rotating fourth-tier teams like Maccabi Haifa as guests who managed to gamble on a one-time invitation or a maximum of once every few years.

So we can talk about tuition fees or shock and a few other clichés that run around here, but first and foremost you have to keep up and be able to put on a body.

This is the dress code of the Champions.

What is he preparing for Paris Saint-Germain?

Piero and Neymar in a spiky Brazilian illustration (photo: screenshot, from Twitter)

Therefore, the scouting staff of Maccabi Haifa plowed games in the minor leagues of Spain, France, and Italy also to find those there who know how to hit, who are difficult to pass.

Those who stand out in toughness even in tough leagues.

Those in our league will look like giants and in the Champions League they will not look like those who are only chasing (on the field and in history) Leo Messi's shirt.

The main goal - the qualification by force - has been achieved.

Now you have to keep up.

Now you should not be humiliated.

In a way, a self-aware realist like Piero is exactly the profile a team like Maccabi Haifa needs in the Champions League.

"Honestly, we didn't think Piero was a potential sale to bigger leagues and personally I'm surprised to see him in the Champions League," explains the Belgian journalist Hösler.

"He paved the way for himself thanks to perseverance. Here, too, he was criticized at the beginning for his ability, but he did not give up and continued to work on finishing in training and it stuck with him. He showed a lot of character even though it was not easy for him. He remained determined even when everything was going hard for him. He deserves a lot of credit for his path."

Maybe his way will arrange another magical moment for him.

Maybe even some phone.

"I was born in Haiti, I played in the USA, then in Belgium and now in Gangan.

When the coach calls, I answer.

I keep in touch with everyone who helped me, when I conquer, it's my way of thanking them.

They call, I answer." Bachar, where are you, are you here?

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