Doron Ben Dor
Omar Atzili (Omari Stein)
Maccabi Haifa is trying to recover from the elimination from the state cup, and today the players got a rest and will only resume the activity tomorrow in preparation for the Haifa derby this coming Monday. The Greens admit in retrospect that Barak Becher’s strategy of only combining his stars in the second half, such as Dolev Haziza, Omar Atzili and Chiron Sherry, in order to decide the game, was not successful.
However, it seems that the criticism is mainly directed at the defense, which on two occasions conceded goals from Netanya’s passing attacks, which revealed quite a few problems at the back: “If we want to win the championship, we must not concede goals at these levels. It is not clear why, in our situation of advantage, we looked for the second goal at all costs And we were exposed at the back, something that was exploited to the fullest. We played into Netanya’s hands, who wanted us to play in such a way that they would express their ability to transition to dangerous attacks,” said the club.
The Greens added: “That’s it, the trophy is behind us and now the main goal remains – to retain the title.” Before the derby, it seems that coach Barak Becher will have to form the strongest lineup at his disposal in order not to be surprised. A victory for the team in the derby will guarantee them first place at the end of the regular league and hosting the first two games in the playoffs, including the game against whoever finishes second in the table, most likely Hapoel Beer Sheva.
Players such as Atzili, Haziza, Pierre Cornot, and Sherry will return to the lineup. Regarding the derby, Maccabi Haifa intends to allow Hapoel to open the entire guest stand for sale after only the upper stand has been opened so far.
