If we conduct an experiment and talk to an average fan of Maccabi Tel Aviv about the youth department of the club, it is likely that we will hear mainly criticisms. This is a natural thing – the club’s youth team, the flagship of the youth department, is going through a nightmare season and is placed eighth, in areas of the table that have not been seen in Kiryat Shalom for many years, but it is important to remember that the youth department is made up of many groups of various ages, with the first boys and second boys groups Of Maccabi Tel Aviv, the other competitive teams of the department, the picture is much rosier (or yellow).
Both teams, which are made up of 2006 and 2007 yearlings, lead the Premier League table in their respective ages and look to be on their way to a championship title, winning all league games against their direct rivals. We spent a full day of training in Kiryat Shalom to get to know the next talents up close, hear the coaches and understand what is being done in the department to produce high-achieving teams and players who will be able to integrate into the graduate staff in the future, and maybe even nurture the ‘next Oscar Gloch’.
First, we were present at the practice of a sophomore boys’ team named after Eli Fox, who starred in the ranks of the club in the 40s and 50s. The coach, Idan Harari, is located in the center of the field in the middle of a game and lives what is happening on the grass. He urges his players to increase the pace more and more, pushing them to the edge. Harari enjoys training with a full squad, a relatively rare sight since eight of his players belong to Nitzan Demari’s national team squad, and are invited to tournaments and training during the regular season as well.
“Of course this is a great pride for us, the amount of representatives we send to the national team is the highest among the youth departments,” he said mountainous. “Certainly this does not mean that we will deprive those who train with us, but on the contrary – the players receive training in small groups with a lot of attention to each one, we hold joint training with a group of first-year boys and even with the adults, in order to produce a high tempo and creative training.”
The one overseeing matters from above is the Portuguese Claudio Braga, appointed in August 2021 and these days also called to the position of coach in the youth team. Harari talks about working with Braga: “The entire youth department trains according to a clear plan, when we know in advance what exercises will be performed in each training session. The plans are written by the professional manager together with the physiological team of the department, so that we constantly manage the loads on the players.” .
Things seem to be working well for the young boys, when after 19 rounds they are leading the league table with a record of 17 wins and two losses, seven points ahead of Maccabi Haifa in second place, while they have the most productive attack and the defense unit that conceded the fewest goals in the league. However, the road to the club’s senior team is very long.
We asked the coach what things he wants to see in his young players in order to believe in their ability to wear the uniform of Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Premier League: “Certainly natural talent is an important thing, but the players who play for Maccabi Tel Aviv are very talented, otherwise they would not be They play here. To become a mature player, talent is only part of the package. The players have to believe in themselves, be ready to sacrifice a lot and be committed to their career.”
He is the one who accompanies Braga and manages the affairs from above Guy Zuckermandirector of the youth department of Maccabi Tel Aviv. We tried to extract from the veteran and respected professional some of the secrets of the complex in Kiryat Shalom: “Boy players in Maccabi Tel Aviv receive an envelope identical to that which exists in adult teams in the Premier League, we meet the standards of leading academies in Europe. Six people A team surrounds each team – coach and assistant, fitness coach, goalkeeper coach, analyst and physiotherapist.
“From the age of sophomore boys, every practice and game of the players is monitored using an advanced GPS system. Our youth department provides an answer within the club for every issue, from psychologists, a physical therapy system and doctors who are within the club and allow us to treat injuries and rehabilitation procedures of players within the club, with professionals specializing in the rehabilitation of sports injuries in young athletes.
“For players who come from distant communities, we know how to help with travel,” Zuckerman continued, “and in addition, we have a collaboration with ‘Mikva Israel’, a youth village and school located within walking distance of the department’s training ground. At school he receives a pedagogical coordinator on behalf of the club who makes sure that he completes what he lacks in terms of studies.”
Regarding the state of the youth team, the professional manager said: “We don’t look at each team separately, but at the department as a whole and try to constantly improve the situation in all teams. One of our goals is championships and achievements, and really the youth team is in this division in a less good time, but at the same time We want to create a headache for the club’s senior coaches and provide as much talent as possible at a level suitable for seniors. The 15 players from the first and second boys who belong to the national team squad are a step on the way there.”
From there we continue to train the first boys’ group. Zion Cohen, who has been coaching the boys for the second year, and his assistant Carlos Chacana, one of the most memorable soccer players in the Premier League of the early 2000s, are already working on the grass. The 2006 yearbook is marked by the club as a very strong team, from which many players will be able to grow who will serve the senior team.
One of them, already mentioned in the club as the next hope after Oscar Gloch, is Seyed Abu Farhi. Abu Farhi recorded his first training sessions with the senior team already in second grade boys, while he was only 16 years old, under Mladan Karstaich. He can play in all attacking positions, but stands out especially in the striker position and serves as the team’s goalscorer with 14 goals. This season he trains quite a bit with the senior team, whose players sometimes come to Kiryat Shalom on Saturdays to watch him and his friends play.
Similar to the 2nd boys team, Cohen and Chakana’s trainees are also in first place in the table, winning 16 of their 20 games and recording a single loss. They are three points ahead of Maccabi Petah Tikva and six ahead of city rival Hapoel Tel Aviv, with six consecutive victories. The team presents a fine and balanced attacking part, with six different players scoring more than five goals each.
In addition, the young boys also demonstrate winning streaks, when they beat Maccabi Pat 0:4 in the season’s game about two weeks ago. Before that, they also showed character in a 0:1 victory in the derby and a victory with the same result against Maccabi Haifa in the quarterfinals of the State Cup.
also Cohen and Chakana Mental strength is noted as a key attribute for a young player who wants to succeed: “We want to see seriousness and perseverance on the part of all our players. I expect the players to want to learn all the time and to be attentive and believe in the training team.”
Cohen talks about his professional teaching: “We play 4-3-3 which includes rotations in the center of the field, with two wing players with opposite feet (right wing with left foot). The coach of Narim A also encountered “bad troubles” during the training weeks, when seven Its players belong to the squad of the national team up to the age of 17, which will play at the end of the month in the elite stage of the European Championship qualifiers and are a great pride for the club.
After a long day in Kiryat Shalom, one can understand that the team in yellow and blue is not resting, and that although the position of the youth team in the table is not promising, in the ranks of the club there are many players who are going to man the staff of the senior team and the Israeli national team.
