Recap: Maccabi Haifa vs Maccabi Tel Aviv 1:3 (Sport1)
At the end of March 2018, Mitch Goldhar held a press conference in which he announced that Jordi Cruyff would leave Maccabi Tel Aviv after six years: "From time to time the organization understands and examines itself," the owner said. "We came to the understanding that there is a need for change on both sides." Later in his remarks, the Canadian complimented the Dutchman, calling him "a man who keeps his word." Gentlemanly compliments of the same kind were repeated in the official announcements announcing the departures of Ben Mansford ("hard and dedicated work"), Sharon Tamam ("selfless service... a loyal and dedicated leader") and Barak Yitzhaki ("reliable and loyal, a man with integrity").
Respectful parting words? Not only. Goldhar values and rewards loyalty and dedication, and at the same time, he is a practical businessman who demands results from his organization and occasionally feels the need to examine how things work and whether it is time for a change. Five years after parting ways with Cruyff, the organization came to the same conclusion. The process that began the day after Cruyff came to an end. Maccabi Tel Aviv is rebuilding a managerial-professional system with a clear understanding: the organization needs a frontman or to put it more simply, it is no longer possible to continue with dependence on one foreign coach or another.
This season was not a bump in the road, but a vivid demonstration of the need for change. It is beyond ability, results or choice of Aitor Karanka. The gap between the expectations created by Vladen Ivich and Eran Zahavi's return to what actually happened created a deep rift. An explosion that also called into question the foundation stones on which every yellow management system in the Goldhar era is based, that holy trinity: the owner above all, a media blackout, a foreign coach. It wasn't just the organization that examined itself. The audience examined his connection to the organization. Stop taking for granted what is blind. Nothing stays the same.
Goldhar's recent actions demonstrate that he is fully aware of everything that has happened – the failure of the system and the audience's reaction to the failure of the system. A response that is strongly and clearly expressed on the various content platforms. Mansford's return to the CEO position came to say something simple: "I heard. I'm a therapist." This is a move that is supposed to create quiet in the short term. Mansford left as a successful professional who helped the club get through the end of the Cruyff era while tackling the challenges of fair play. He'll get more credit than any new CEO who came along, but he'll certainly get into a situation no less complicated than when he took office in 2017.
Identified the problem. Goldhar (Photo: Bernie Ardov)
The challenge of stability
The main task of Mansford's second term will be to undo what began in his first term - the obsessive dependence on the coach. The arrival of a dominant figure like Ivich filled the void left after Geordi. The overwhelming success on the grass did the rest. Since then, Maccabi Tel Aviv has been looking for Ivich of 2018 in every professional who arrived, including Ivich of 2022. In the past 11 years, Maccabi Tel Aviv has made 15 coaching changes, but only three of them were fired during the season. The frequent substitutions are an integral part of the policy of signing foreign coaches, but there is much more to it than that.
Everywhere coaches come and go. The shelf life of a coach is lower than that of a player. A stable system is one that knows how to prepare for the day after, to fill itself with the right professionals from within the system. Some of the foreign coaches who worked at Maccabi Tel Aviv during the Cruyff era said the Dutchman sat on them for months or even more. Just recently, Jordi claimed to have tried to sign Erik ten Hag. When we talk about stability, we mean a system that knows how to be prepared for any scenario and resistant to shocks. In practice, Maccabi Tel Aviv has moved over the past three years from developing expectations when a new coach arrives to turning on him when he didn't succeed and repeating.
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On him, too, expectations were reversed. Karanka (Photo: Maor Elkeslassy)
Independence Challenge
Sharon Tamam and Barak Yitzhaki were perceived, apparently not entirely rightly, as figures who did not receive all the authority. Maccabi Tel Aviv understood one thing quite clearly this year: you can't manage behind the scenes, you can't manage remotely and you can't hide behind strict media policies. Tamam and Yitzhaki went through a process. They grew out of the system, grew from it and were promoted to CEO and director of football. This transition should have put them at the front, but it didn't happen. Their voices were heard too little. It sent out a feeling that the business wasn't being run, that they weren't trusted enough. They became scapegoats. An address for any fan who wants to, but can't shout Goldhar.
When his boss in Canada and his other lucrative businesses (rightfully so) rob him of most attention, the small business (in Goldhar's terms) in Israel needs a full-time father. The absence of one of them led for the first time this season after several disappointments to a situation in which Goldhar himself became a little less immune to criticism and began to come under fire. Mansford will come to manage and he will also have to talk about his actions. There are many aspects in which Maccabi Tel Aviv will in some sense return to the days of Cruyff, and there is a significant one whose time has passed: the media shushu. The days of jute cloth are gone. Maccabi Tel Aviv fans want to feel that there is someone at home running the business.
When Maccabi Haifa was looking for a replacement for CEO Assaf Ben Dov, a controversy arose among the club's strongmen. There were some, including Or Shahar, who thought that the right thing was to bring in a "high-tech CEO." That is, the profile of a proven managerial professional, who successfully led processes in a large organization with high budgets, but not necessarily with an affinity for football. One of these, on paper, has great advantages and a definite disadvantage. President Yaakov Shachar vetoed and argued that the CEO must be from the field of football, and so the die fell on Itzik Ovadia. Mansford comes from a similar insight. In its situation, Maccabi Tel Aviv needs a CEO from football.
The days of jute cloth are gone. Barak Yitzhaki (Photo: Bernie Ardov)
The Professional Challenge
Mansford came to Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2017 to help them deal with the financial fire-play problem. This time, he will also need to bring his skills in locating players and probably coaches as well. Tamam and Yitzhaki's Maccabi Tel Aviv moved very slowly and hardly displayed impressive capabilities in the world market. In the past, this was reflected in late procurement, a slow process of locating coaches and candidates for reinforcement, negotiations, tactical actions in the transfer window with rivals, and more. It's part of that toothless boss problem that will need to be solved. Maccabi Tel Aviv must move fast, react quickly and also plan for the long term.
It needs to show abilities whether attracting attractive names, responding quickly to events or maneuvering in the transfer market. Jordi thought quickly and never stopped moving and preparing. In his time, he had no competitors in Israel for the things he was able to do thanks to his connections and skills. Maccabi Haifa and Be'er Sheva long ago caught up with this gap, while Maccabi Tel Aviv was left behind. Sooner or later, Mansford might add someone like that at the beginning of his career. In this context, Harris' name from Dunianin, which is repeated around Maccabi Tel Aviv, fits the profile. Mdonianin, still an active player to remind you, could be exactly what Jordi was when he first arrived in Israel.
By the way, the professional gap in terms of squad isn't necessarily that big. It is impossible to say that players such as Daniel Peretz, Jonathan Cohen, Dan Glazer, Dor Peretz, Gabi Kanikovsky, Farfa Giagon, Dan Biton, Nir Biton, George Jovanovitch, Enric Savorit and of course Zahavi do not constitute a good basis. Even if someone from the list is sold, Maccabi Tel Aviv is not in a situation where it needs to revolutionize its squad and reinvent itself. It will need quality outsiders and adapt the coach to the character of the existing players, which clearly did not happen during the current season. That's exactly why Karanka can't continue. The connection does not work and may not work. It is hard to envision a situation in which there would be such a blatant disregard for public opinion outside and the opinion of players in the dressing room inside.
Maccabi Tel Aviv needs to reinvent itself. Mansford (Photo: Shlomi Gabay)
Degrees
TWO YEARS AGO, GOLDHAR PARTICIPATED IN A PODCAST OF THE ORGANIZATION PEO LEADERSHIP. In the video, which can be found on YouTube, he talked for over an hour mainly about real estate, entrepreneurship and business decisions he made. "We could have done fireside chat for all the money I lost. If you put together all the deals where I lost money, you'll get a big business or you'll be a rich man," he laughed. When asked about choosing business partners, he replied: "My criterion is very simple. I ask myself, will I benefit from the partnership? Do they think long term like I do? I think about the long term in every business, even though I'm getting older, I'm always doing things for the long term."
Goldhar did not enjoy what he saw this year from Maccabi Tel Aviv, professionally and organizationally. It is possible, in a certain sense, to simulate the replacement of the managerial-professional system with the selection of business partners. Goldhar needs people to hold on alone. He needs people to represent him, and he will enjoy their merit and success. This is not the first time Goldhar has spoken about pleasure and long-term in the same sentence. He also said this on the same farewell trip to Cruyff: "I think long term. I have patience in business in general. So as long as I'm having fun, I plan to keep going." What will make Goldhar enjoy? First of all, see that the changes are putting the organization back on the right track.
Maccabi Tel Aviv cannot live with a season that is not as competitive as this season. On the other hand, this is not the situation Geordie enters and not the one Mansford enters. There is a team that needs to be adjusted and there are rivals that also have to deal with upheaval - Maccabi Haifa with the departure of Barak Bachar and Hapoel Be'er Sheva with the need to replace a larger number of players. No less important than long-term processes and building a stable system with capabilities, Maccabi Tel Aviv simply needs to put everything on the title next season. At the very least, it will make the boss smile.
- sport
- Israeli football
- League
Tags
- Maccabi Tel Aviv Football
- Ben Mansford
- Mitch Goldhar
