Abstract: MS.
Ashdod - Maccabi Haifa 1:3 (Sport1)
Severe disappointment in Maccabi Haifa after the 3:1 loss last night (Saturday) to MS.
Ashdod.
The champions came to the game knowing that a victory would advance them in the championship fight in light of the fact that the two main rivals for the title, Hapoel Beer Sheva and Maccabi Tel Aviv, meet each other on Monday.
But despite the high expectations, the greens again failed to show good football and were punished very quickly.
"We have to tell the truth - we didn't come back from the break. This is not the ability of a championship," admitted a player in the team.
"If we don't wake up, we will lose first place."
Last Saturday, the Greens defeated Kiryat Shmona and hoped to get out of the crisis, but the match in Ashdod showed that Barak Becher and his apprentices are still deep inside him.
The coach sitting in the stands surprised many when he decided to field the same team that started against Kiryat Shmona.
Something just isn't working.
Haifa (Photo: Liron Moldovan)
The big surprise was the bench of Omar Azili.
The midfielder signed a new contract last week and it was expected that he would find himself in the lineup again, but Bacher again decided to leave him on the bench and did not even include him at the start of the second half despite being two goals behind.
Many players were surprised by Becher's decision, which drew criticism mainly from outside the club, but eyebrows were also raised inside.
"Omar is a player who can change a game at any moment," said a player in the team, "of course we thought he would start, but there will be a big competition now for a place in the lineup."
Ali Muhammad's bench was also criticized by Bacher, especially in light of the fact that the connection only entered in the final minutes.
In the last transfer window, Neta Lavi left the team and Haifa added three players to the link center.
Two of them, Ariel Zargari and Bassam Zarora, found themselves out of the squad yesterday and the third, Goni Naor, sat on the bench and did not play a single minute.
"There's no doubt that Nata is missing, but that's really not the reason we look like this, because even in the last month with him we didn't look good," said a club official.
"The substitutes? In the end, the team does what it thinks is right for the team."
By the way, Muhammad was one of the players who received the most criticism in the meeting that was defined as difficult after the game against Hapoel Hadera, but in Haifa they were convinced that after the bench against Kiryat Shmona Bachar would return the midfielder to the team.
Now the coach will have to decide whether he will again make changes ahead of the important game against Beitar Jerusalem on Saturday, when among the players are convinced that Atzili and Muhammad should return to the lineup.
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The players also know: his return to the team is required.
Azili (Photo: Liron Moldovan)
The one who sat on the bench yesterday is Ofri Arad, who did not see any minutes of play.
The defender is in advanced talks with the Kazakh team Kairat Almaty and is now in discussions with Maccabi Haifa about completing a salary.
It is estimated that Arad will soon leave Haifa and go on loan to Kairat.
The loan will be until the end of the league in Kazakhstan in November, then the Kazakhs will have an option to purchase Arad.
If they don't, Arad will return to Haifa in the middle of the season.
Arad is in any case very interested in the move.
sport
Israeli soccer
Super League
Tags
Maccabi Haifa
