This is exactly what Maccabi Tel Aviv feared. The Yellows surrendered last night (Sunday) 1-0 to Hapoel Beer Sheva and the fall in the playoffs officially became a crisis, after a fourth consecutive game from the beginning of the playoffs in which the team failed to win, this time it was a particularly weak game.
In fact, this is also the reason why Maccabi were in no hurry to announce the continuation of the coach, Mladen Krastić, to next season, when now the apparent assessment is that he will not continue. The favorite to get into his shoes was and remains Vladimir Ivitch, who has been without a team for about a year and seems to be interested in returning to the team as well. Ivica is the preferred option over the Yellows, and his name always stays on the table, even when Patrick Van Leven is fired.
In the case of Krestajic, if until now the criticism was mainly about the management of the game, now there are also voices against the lineup with which the coach chose to come up. The wingers were unable to express themselves, the midfield was weak and was not an opponent for Be’er Sheva, Eyal Golsa was not a partner, Eden Shamir came in only as a substitute along with Avi Rikan and all this when the yellowed Dan Glazer and the injured Gabi Kanikovsky were not on the roster.
At the same time, Maccabi Tel Aviv complained about curses and spitting from the host fans who were behind the players. Dan Bitton was spit on, and along with the rest of his friends he also received curses and insults. “This is not the first time and we and not the only team that suffers from it,” said sources at Maccabi Tel Aviv, “This is a known problem and it is ugly. It’s time to dump her and move on. “
Now anyway, the team faces towards the Cup semi-final on Wednesday. Kanikowski may return straight to the lineup, as well as Glazer, when further changes are possible. By the way, Stepa Fritza and Georgia Juvanovic have not scored since the start of the playoffs, something the Yellows will have to pay attention to.
