Youth Players Visit Ichilov Hospital

The young players, who are just coming back from their off-season break and returning to training at Kiryat Shalom, visited the Geriatric department following practice

Slowly but surely, the youth department is coming back to life as the players are beginning to come back from the break. Today, following a training session, they went on an important field trip to the Geriatric department at Ichilov Hospital to pay a visit to the patients.

The youngsters entertained the residents and spoke to them at length. Goalkeeping coach and educational consultant, Chen Abdu spoke to the Official Website: “This is just one of the many activities that we do at the youth department. Just as the guys are coming back from their break and returning to practice, there is nothing better to do than to give back to the community.”

Slowly but surely, the youth department is coming back to life as ...

WATCH: Benayoun to the rescue in 1:1 away draw

Maccabi Tel Aviv visited Kazakhstan to face Kairat Almaty in first leg Europa League second round qualifying as Yossi Benayoun’s injury time goal cancelled out Andrey Arshavin’s first half strike

It took 90+ minutes but Maccabi was able to come back to Israel with an away goal by Yossi Benayoun as the veteran midfielder drew his side even after Andrey Arshavin’s first half goal gave Kairat an early lead.

Head Coach Shota Arveladze had Serbian keeper Predrag Rajikovic in goal with Avi Rikan, Eitan Tibi, Tal Ben Haim and Dor Peretz in front of him. Gal Alberman was wearing the captain’s armband and was in his usual defensive midfielder’s position with Nosa Igiebor and Haris Medunjanin also playing in the center of the pitch. Winger Tal Ben Chaim, Dor Micha and striker Orlando Sa provided the attack up front.

First Half

The hosts took to the offense from the get go as the Kazakhstan side are in the middle of their domestic season. Gerard Gohou had a one on one situation with Rajikovic but was ruled to be offside in the 8th minute. However, once the match settled down after a frantic start, it was Igiebor with two header chances in the 18th and 21st minutes who almost scored first, with the second header coming on a terrific Rikan cross.

But it was veteran striker Andrey Arshavin who put Kairat on top, slotting home a perfect pass in the box by Gohou to take a 1:0 lead over Maccabi in the 29th minute. Three minutes later, Sa almost drew the Yellow & Blue even when he went in on the host keeper Vladimir Pokatilov but a Kairat defender just tipped the ball away in the box. A minute later, Igiebor’s chance was robbed again by Pokatilov frustrating the Nigerian midfielder.

In the 35th minute, Isael’s 18 meter blast was saved by Rajikovic and ten minutes later, Arshavin almost doubled his side’s output by streaking down the left wing and beating Peretz, but Tibi just headed the ball away at the last seodnd for a corner kick keeping the Maccabi deficit at only 1:0 going into the break.

Second Half

With driving rain coming down in Almaty, Maccabi came out strong to begin the second half. Ben Chaim led the attack, passed the ball off to Micha who gave it back to number 11 in the box, but his low shot skirted by the left post in the 48th minute. Five minutes later, Rikan’s 18 meter screamer was just tipped over the goal by Pokatilov for a corner as Maccabi continued to search for the equalizer.

Following an Alberman yellow card, Bauyrzhan Islamkhan’s free kick was smartly stopped by Rajikovic in the 56th minute. Ten minutes later, Igiebor took an unbelievable pass in on goal but instead of shooting he tried to pass the keeper who just got a hand on the ball to pull it in to safety.

In order to change it up a bit, Arveladze introduced Yossi Benayoun in favor of Ben Chaim in the 73rd minute. Six minutes later Medunjanin tried his luck from 18 meters but his effort was collected again by the Pokatilov. Barak Itzhaki entered the match for Igiebor in the 86th minute while Eyal Golasa came on for Medunjanin a few ticks later.

And what would you know! For the second straight week it was Yossi Benayoun to the rescue as number 51 took a deep pass from Micha and scored from inside the box drawing Maccabi even and taking an home an all important away goal. Following the Benayoun strike, Kairat captain Bauyrzhan Islamkhan was issued a red card for dissent and won’t be available for next match as the game ended 1:1.

The second leg will take place next Thursday July 21st at the Netanya Stadium while the third round Europa League qualifying draw will take place tomorrow, on Friday July 15th.

It took 90+ minutes but Maccabi was able to come back to ...

First Look: One on One with Patrick Van Leeuwen

In his first interview since arriving at Kiryat Shalom as the club's Performance Director, the Dutchman explains the position's significance, the philosophy that he wants to instill together at Maccabi's youth department and his relationship with Jordi that has been cultivated over many years

It’s been exactly three weeks since Patrick Van Leeuwen (46) was officially announced as Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Performance Director. As he continues to adjust to the new position, the Yellow & Blue were drawn to face one of his former club’s, Kairat Almaty in the second round of Europa League qualifying.

Just prior to the the first leg between the two sides, Van Leeuwen conducted his first interview with the Official Website where he discussed his view on football, the plans he has for Maccabi, his connection with Jordi Cruyff and his initial impressions at Kiryat Shalom.

“We will continue to build on the foundation of everything that had been done before to bring Maccabi to the next level”

In his new offices at the Kiryat Shalom Training Facility, Patrick Van Leeuwen is getting used to life in Israel and his new role at Maccabi as the Performance Director. While it’s a recognized job in Europe the same can not be said in these parts: “Jordi Cruyff and Martin Bain offered me more than just the academy as they wanted me to be more involved in the scouting as well as the analytical and analysis department on the football side of the club. They wanted me to design a proper facility, a professional training facility for the club. It’s not only being the academy director but also the scouting director. So we combined everything into the Performance Director role because we are also trying to improve the performance of scouts, the performance of players and the performance of coaches and hopefully in the end the performance of football at Maccabi and in Israel in general.”

For Israelis, the Performance Director may be something new, however, Van Leeuwen has proven himself in other clubs after having worked at the Feyenoord youth department along with leading the revolution at the academy level and youth departments at both Shakhtar Donetsk and Kairat Almaty.

But it’s not just the youth department where his role ends: “It’s not only that I like to work with youth departments but I also like to assist clubs in developing football. My previous jobs have been with academies but also with first teams. Not only developing the structure of the academy but working with everyone that is involved. That means developing the coaches and developing the players through the coaches. In the beginning of my career, I did a lot of field work and was a coach myself. I assisted other coaches and then as soon as one becomes a manager of an academy or of a club it becomes more organizational work as well. This is the part I like a lot and what I’ll be doing to assist Maccabi now and help bring the club to the next level. We will continue to build on the foundation of everything that had been done before to bring Maccabi to that next level.”

What is your football philosophy and in developing players?

“My philosophy was formed in Holland, where Holland like Israel, is a small country. But in Holland it was clear to everybody that you have to go in the same direction to be successful in any field of work. My business is football and football in Holland is very structured when you talk about clubs and academies as well as the coaches education. Everything has a certain direction coming from 1974, Total Football, which initiated Holland’s football style.”

As Van Leeuwen explains, the education that was gained at the Dutch Football Federation also influenced his work at Feyenoord along with the Ukraine and Kazakstan and helps him to this day, guiding him in his work: “I think that only with a plan that is supported by everybody and by every coach in the same direction will be successful. If I have 18 coaches and everyone has their own ideas and cultures we won’t be able to go anywheres because we will fight with each other instead of working together. This has always been my intention from the beginning for every club with which I have worked and with every coach that I worked with and were under me or with me and I always try to push them in the same direction. So it’s not only my philosophy but also the club’s philosophy. Then I’m 100% sure that Maccabi will be able to make another step in the development of players and coaches. My intention is to bring in a philosophy that is supported and executed by every coach in the Maccabi structure. It’s about the professional side of the academy, the football schools that are working together with Maccabi Tel Aviv and spreading the philosophy to everybody that is connected with us.”

How do you manage to keep true to your path when you have to deal with many cultures between the countries you have worked in?

“In each and every place you have a different culture, atmosphere or approach. In Holland there is saying, that it’s the “sauce on the dish”. It’s the culture in each place that is very important in what you want to achieve and it’s something I look at very carefully when combining that with my football thoughts.”

It seems you enjoy taking on challenging projects. Do you agree?

“It’s an interesting challenge, if I know that I will be successful. If I know the club has no intention of making changes then it will be very difficult. If my ambition and plans are coming together with the plans and intentions of the club then it can only mean success.”

“After many of years of talking about coming together, it finally happened and now we can bring Maccabi further together.”

The first encounter between Jordi Cruyff and Van Leeuwen surprisingly took place in the Ukraine when the Yellow & Blue’s Sports Director was playing with Metalurh Donetsk. “He played in the same town as Shakhtar Donetsk as there was a second club in the same city. As two Dutch people we connected and formed a friendship and always looking at trying to combine our football thoughts in one club. He started asking me if I was interested in Tel Aviv and at that time I made a difference choice to continue my career in Eastern Europe. But we were always in touch about the football development in Tel Aviv, what he was doing and what I was doing. We also asked each other advice on players as he was building the first team in Israel and I was building the same in Kazakhstan along with the academy, so there was always a certain amount of interest from Jordi to obtain knowledge and expertise. After many of years of talking about coming together, it finally happened and now we can bring Maccabi further together.”

How will the roles be divided between the two of you?

“Jordi and I agree on a lot things football wise, but there are also things that I approach differently than he does. This is what is interesting for us; he gets some comments about his ideas and I get comments about my ideas. This will also be part of the role in cooperating with Jordi. To share my opinion and thoughts with him and in the end to make sure that we make the best decisions for Maccabi Tel Aviv.

We want the success that Jordi has had with the first team to be in all areas of the club; the youth department and also facility wise. That’s one of the reasons that I agreed to come here.”

“For a club that is undergoing football development, it’s important to connect with clubs in Spain, Holland or England to share and obtain knowledge.”

One of Van Leeuwen’s biggest projects was establishing the training facilities for the Kazakhstan club. After three years with Kairat Almaty, the Dutchman managed to build a youth academy up until the Under-19 level that included a proper training facility, a hall of residence as well as building facilities for the first team: “You don’t expect these facilities in Kazakhstan and for a team that is still in the development. It can match all of the facilities of English Premier League Clubs and Western Europe. These facilities will give all of the children and professional players a head start in their development.”

While working for other clubs you always placed a certain amount of importance on international relationships with other clubs. Why is this so significant?

“When you look at Feyenoord there was an interest to expand their contacts as there were cooperations in Poland and Hungary as well as Ghana and South Africa. There was also connections with Japan as there was a Japanese player in the first team. In Kairat is was about obtaining knowledge and it was part of the coach’s development to make connections with some top clubs, first teams and at the academy levels. To be able to give that as an experience to the coaches.

How do you see this in reference to Maccabi Tel Aviv?

“In the case of Maccabi, Jewish people are all over the world and I think that it’s the perfect community to make those connections both within Israel and also outside of the country. There are certain clubs in Europe where there is already a connection, but you can make it even stronger with clear agreements and you can assist each other in player and coach development by sending players to tournaments and so forth. It’s important for a club that is still undergoing football development, its important to connect with clubs in Spain, Holland or England to share and obtain knowledge.”

What have been your first steps in your new role with the youth department?

“Since I arrived I’ve obtained information from doing interviews with coaches, scouts and people within the organization to help me see how things were organized, what was in place and from where I can start. I think that I have a good overview of what is possible and in which direction I want to go in. At my first coaches meeting, I explained the football philosophy and how I want the matches to be organized and how I would like them to be coached by the coaches. In general, I want one philosophy for all the teams, and it doesn’t mean that we can’t have the same philosophy for the commercial schools and their coaches as well.

What have been your first impressions?

“My impression is that in every place there are people who are eager to suck up all of the information, people who want to see where things are heading and then there are people who are against it because they think they know it all. This combination of opinions will be everywhere and my job is to convince them that this is the direction where Maccabi wants to be. I’m not here to tell them what I like, but what the club wants it to be.”

It’s been exactly three weeks since Patrick Van Leeuwen (46) was officially ...

WATCH: Maccabi wins 1:0, Benayoun scores in debut

Shota Arveladze's side advanced to the second round of Europa League qualifying. Check out the match Hilites & of course Yossi Benayoun's first goal in Yellow & Blue

Maccabi blank Gorica 3:0 in Europa League Action

Maccabi Tel Aviv began their 2016/17 campaign on the right foot against Gorica of Slovenia in Europa League action at the Netanya Stadium

A brace by Nosa Igiebor and a goal by Portuguese striker Orlando Sa was enough to give the Yellow & Blue a 3:0 win in the first leg of the first round of the Europa League qualifying tournament.

New Head Coach Shota Arveladze named his first starting XI in his first official match as the Yellow & Blue boss which included Serbian keeper Predrag Rajikovic in goal with a defensive quartet of Omri Ben Harush, Carlos Garcia, Eitan Tibi and Dor Peretz playing in front of him. Gal Alberman sported the captain’s armband while Nosa Igiebor and Haris Medunjanin manned the midfield as winger Tal Ben Chaim, Dor Micha and Orlando Sa provided the attack up front.

First Half

After almost an opening quarter hour of tentative play from both sides, Nosa Igiebor broke the ice with a gorgeous 13th minute goal from the top of the box. The Nigerian midfielder came in from the left side and lifted the ball into the top of the goal cleanly beating Gorica keeper Grega Sorcan good for a 1:0 Maccabi lead.

Orlando Sa tried to double the score but his header from a Medunjanin free kick missed the target in the 30th minute. Dor Peretz’s 27 minute effort was blocked by the Gorica defense and was sent out for a corner while Ben Harush’s wild shot went way over the goal in minute 31.

Medunjanin looked to team up with Sa once again in the 34th minute but his fantastic cross was just a little bit too long for the Portuguese striker. Micha tried his luck with a terrific run down the right side of the pitch but his low shot just went wide of the goal 5 minutes later.

Finally the pair of Sa and Medunjanin hit the jackpot as number 70 found the back of the goal giving Maccabi a 2:0 advantage right before the break.

Second Half

Sa had the first chance of the second half as he stole the ball in the 58th minute, but Gorica made sure his effort wouldn’t find the back of the goal while his opportunity 3 minutes later was also stymied by the visitors stingy defense.

However, it was Nosa Igiebor who found the back of the Gorica goal for the second time in the match as the Nigerian picked up a loose ball in the box and slammed it home for a 3:0 lead in the 69th minute.

Coach Arveladze made a number of substitutions as the match continued on as Barak Itzhaki, Eden Ben Basat and Avi Rikan all came in over the course of the last 20 minutes of the contest.

With a 3:0 advantage, Maccabi will look to advance to the second round of the Europa League next week when they visit Gorica in Slovenia on Thursday night for the 2nd leg of the two legged tie.

A brace by Nosa Igiebor and a goal by Portuguese striker Orlando ...

Watch: Maccabi wins 1:0 over Paksi FC

Orlando Sa's first half goal stood up in the Yellow & Blue's 1:0 victory over the Hungarian league outfit

Maccabi Tel Aviv hosted Hungarian side Paksi FC at their Austria training camp for their second and final preseason exhibition match prior to beginning the 2016/17 campaign next Thursday against Gorica in Europa League first round qualifying.

Do you want a FREE TICKET to the Europa League match against Gorica? CLICK HERE to find out how!

The Yellow & Blue’s Georgian Head Coach Shota Arveladze started Serbian keeper Predrag Rajikovic in goal with Omri Ben Harush, Carlos Garcia, Eitan Tibi and Dor Peretz in front of him. Eliel Peretz, Nosa Igiebor and acting captain Gal Alberman played in the midfield while Dor Micha, Tal Ben Chaim and Orlando Sa were up front.

First Half

After a quiet opening quarter hour an Orlando Sa right footed blast from the top of the box found its way into the Paksi goal beating the keeper to the left side good for a 1:0 Maccabi lead. Youngster Eliel Peretz picked off the ball in the midfield and fed Sa with the nice pass allowing the Portuguese striker a chance to continue his fine preseason form.

Paksi looked to even up the match with a 23rd minute free kick that was blocked by the Yellow & Blue good for a corner kick which in turn resulted for a quality chance by Zalei Andras but his effort defected off of the bar and out to keep the slim Maccabi lead intact.

Ben Harush lofted a 43rd minute free kick from the right side into the penalty area where Sa’s header was easily grabbed by Peter Molnar the Paksi keeper as the sides headed into the break with Maccabi maintaining a 1:0 advantage.

Second Half

Coach Arveladze made a pair of substitutions to open the second half as central defender Tal Ben Haim replaced Garcia and Barak Itzhaki came on for Eliel Peretz as Maccabi looked to open up the offense a bit. However, it was Paksi with the half’s first chance when Zsolt Balazs opportunity went off the post in the 51st minute.

With Maccabi in search of an insurance marker, Itzhaki’s 60th minute free kick curled over the goal to keep the score as is, while at the other end of the pitch Haviv Ohayon was introduced for Rajikovic. A couple of minutes later, Arveladze emptied his bench with Yossi Benayoun, Eden Ben Basat, Shlomi Azulay, Haris Medunjanin and Avi Rikan all coming into the match.

New keeper Ohayon was called into action in the 65th minute as the 17-year old shot stopper did exactly that on a short angle chance to keep Maccabi in the lead. Ten minutes later Ben Basat had a chance from 15 meters but his shot went wide left of the goal.

Dan Glazer came on for Eitan Tibi in the 81st minute as coach Arveladze continued to see some of his squad in match conditions as the match ended 1:0 in favor of Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Maccabi Tel Aviv hosted Hungarian side Paksi FC at their Austria training ...

VAN LEEUWEN APPOINTED AS PERFORMANCE DIRECTOR

Patrick Van Leeuwen appointed as Performance Director and will run the Youth Academy and will work closely with Jordi Cruyff

Maccabi Tel Aviv FC would like to announce the appointment of Patrick Van Leeuwen (46) as Performance Director. His main role at Maccabi will be to run the Youth Academy and continue its’ development in all aspects but he will also  work closely with the Sports Director Jordi Cruyff to assist with managing  the performance of the departments that support the first team such as scouting, sports science and medical.

The Dutchman, spent seven years as Shaktar Donetsk Head of Youth Department before being appointed in March 2013 as Sports Director at Kairat Almaty of Kazakhstan. After retiring in 1996 from a playing a career at Sparta Rotterdam and Helmond, Van Leeuwen began working at Feyenoord’s Youth Department as a coach of the Academy teams for 10 years during which he was also the Head Coach of the Feyenoord China projects as well as Head of Youth Scouting for the Feyenoord Academy.

Under Van Leeuwen’s guidance, Almaty finished in 3rd place twice, qualified to the Europa League once, finished in the runners-up spot last season and won the Kazakhstan Cup in the last two years.

Maccabi’s CEO Martin Bain told the club’s official website: “After careful planning and an extensive search to find a suitable candidate we are delighted to welcome Patrick Van Leeuwen to the club. The investment in our youth department is substantial and we are keen to make further progress in terms of the development of young players. The introduction of Patrick as a Performance Director where he will manage many aspects of the growth  and transition of players from youth to first team and then further their development within the club is essential and Patrick skills and attributes having worked in clubs in Europe will bring a great deal of experience to the club”.

Maccabi Tel Aviv FC would like to announce the appointment ...

Maccabi Youth Department & Taibe Youth

Following the first encounter between the Yellow & Blue Under-12s and the children from Taibe at Kiryat Shalom, the two sides faced each other again in the Israeli-Arab town in a match that brimmed with multiculturalism

Last month, the Maccabi Tel Aviv Youth Department met their Taibe counterparts at the Kiryat Shalom Training Facility for a contest that showed the importance of multiculturalism in our society. Following the match there were refreshments and a chance for the parents and children to mingle as relationships began to form and return leg would be a necessity.

At the start of this month, Maccabi’s Under 12s visited Taibe as part of the joint programming. Maccabi Tel Aviv’s educational consultant Hen Abdu commented on the importance of these activities: “Just like we welcomed Taibe they wanted to return the favor and host us. This just strengthens our commitment to multiculturalism. The format was similar to what we had at Kiryat Shalom. The program began with the youngsters showing off their ball skills and then they played a match as the Mayor of Taibe and his deputy honored us with their presence.”

Following the program the Organization against Racism and Violence in Sport awarded the Maccabi Tel Aviv Youth Department with a prize for their work in the area of multiculturalism. The award was given to Maccabi and Taibe representatives at the State Cup Final that was held at the end of May.

Last month, the Maccabi Tel Aviv Youth Department met their Taibe counterparts ...

Levin: “I am finishing a lifetime of work”

In a farewell interview, the Youth Department Director reflects back on 8 years working at Kiryat Shalom including two stints with the First Team, thousands of young players who trained under his direction and the drastic changes that the Club has undergone over the last few years

Between meetings, handing over material and preparing for his new position with the Youth National Teams, Nir Levin spoke to the Official Website as he looked back on his eight years with Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Youth Department. Just before beginning the interview, Levin continues to sign off and approve registration forms of children who will be part of the Yellow & Blue Youth Department this coming season.

As the conversation begins, we go right to the 2007/08 campaign when Levin began his second spell with the Club: “In September of 2007, I replaced Eli Cohen in the middle of the season and at the end of the year I was offered to take over the Club’s Youth Department. At that point in time I had to recalculate my own direction just like WAZE. It was a career changing decision as I had to decide if I wanted to work with youngsters which is very different than regular training sessions and also combines various management aspects or to continue my career with professionals and Senior Teams.

My thoughts wandered in all directions but right from the get go I leaned towards accepting the challenge. I saw where Maccabi Tel Aviv was headed with ownership, management, professionalism and I wanted to be a part of it. Something about teaching and training was always ingrained in me when I was working with the pros. I always enjoyed going into further explanations and details and younger players always seemed to take a lot out of this aspect. In many of the clubs that I worked in, I knew that investing in the youngsters was the way to go and I really believe in the process. So I made the choice to change gears and work with youth and to this day, I don’t regret this decision. I have received many offers from quality teams in Ligat Ha’Al to join them but it never interested me. This role suits me. I was given the independence, influence and the tools to succeed. I have enjoyed every single day that I have been here.”

The last Israeli coach:

During the time that he was the Youth Department Director, Levin was called upon by owner Mitch Goldhar to take over the Senior side in the middle of the season to replace Motti Ivanir. In fact, Levin was the last Israeli coach to stand on the sidelines for the Yellow & Blue: “I met Jordi when he first arrived and I explained to him what had been happening at the Club over the last few years. He had to digest what was going on very quickly and it was a very stressful time for me. I trained the First Team in the morning and when I finished with them, I worked with the youth in the afternoon. It was a very intense period and I was at Maccabi 24/7. It was a challenging and very interesting and I also was able to make an impact with the Senior squad that really was able to bear fruits for the team. One of the most important things I did was to sit down and speak with Gal Alberman who hadn’t been in the squad and get him back to playing on a regular basis.”

Jordi’s arrival also raised the level of professional and Club demands increased which affected the Youth Department immediately. The connection between the two was natural explained Levin: “The minute you raise the bar for the First Team you also raise the bar for the Youth. The goal of the department is to create a simulation that is as close as possible to that of the professionals. That’s why we sent the Under-19 Club to play against teams like Real Madrid and Dinamo Zagreb. These tournaments are equivalent to a half a year in the Youth League. The style we teach in the Youth Department at all ages is similar to that of the First Team which is to be a dominating and quality side that plays possession football while attacking be it in a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 formation.”

From adolescence to adulthood:

One often hears complaints about the difficulties of integrating the youth players with the Senior squad. Levin has seen hundreds of players make the move from the youth sides to the First Teams over the past eight years and each one is a totally different story: “Having a youth player move up to the Seniors depends on several factors. The first factor is how much is needed in terms of the role. We’re trying to develop players and prepare them to be able to train with the pros. Eliel Peretz is a perfect example. He was a player who caught the coach’s eye and there were injuries on the Senior side. As soon as he arrived he played right away and he also played during crucial points of the season. This is just one player who was able to handle the training and some luck (he came back from an injury with Beitar Tel Aviv/Ramle and trained with the Youth team) so when he had his chance to play with the First Team he took the opportunity with two hands and today he is also part of the Youth National Team.”

The issue of many so called “experts” who intervene in the career of a young player like parents who want their children to play more which may lead them leaving the Youth Department, Levin has a few words for them as well: “You don’t always have to give an answer to the parents, as they sometimes are the trouble makers. You have to understand that with children and youth, the player has to be in a place that they can advance in a professional manner and are not looking three steps ahead at the professionals. There’s always a lot of background noise either from parents or agents. But the minute you do your work in a professional manner, there are results. When you walked in to do this interview, did you see that I was signing off players paper’s? There are plenty of players here that were ours and then they left because they received a great offer from somewhere else. But now they are coming back to us as they know that the training we provide is at the highest level and they are returning for lower offers than what they had originally left on the table.”

Looking at Eliel and Dor Peretz as well as Dor Micha, Levin knows that there is an issue of players jumping from the youth levels upwards due to the methodology: “The methodology here is incorrect. I along wth Ariel Avraham who recently departed from Maccabi, worked for two years on trying to find a solution to better aid the youngsters who were moving up to the ranks of the Senior Team. We discussed extending the age limit of the Under-19 side for two more years and adding a couple of years to the Under-17’s. We also talked about a reserve league and an Under-21 competition just like they have around Europe. We received some support for these ideas but at the end of the day nothing happened. Why? Because of politics with some of the owners and others. This is a very big problem that we have yet to find a solution for. Another option is to have a second team but this is not a possibility due to the Israel Football Association’s regulations. However, we did create a relationship with Beitar Tel Aviv/Ramle which is a great option for the players, but we really need to find an answer to this issue. At the moment we’ve done nothing to fix this problem.”

Saying goodbye to Kiryat Shalom:

Levin officially will leave his position as Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Youth Department Director on July 1st to begin his new role at the Israel FA. It’s not easy to pick out the best moments over his many years with the Club, but Levin spoke about what he enjoyed most: “Titles aren’t the most important part of the Youth Department, however it is enjoyable to look back at Amir Turgeman’s Double, last year’s club coached by Ziv Arie and of course participating in the Champions League this year. The Class of 1992 which featured the likes of Monas Dabbur, Dor Micha, Roie Kehat, Moshiko Lugassi, Barak Levy and others were part of this amazing group of players who reached some of the highest levels. To see Dor Micha turn into a regular day in day out player, Eliel and Dor Peretz who have become part of the Senior Team and Haviv Ohayon who at just 17 years of age took part on a Toto Cup match along with Mavis Tchibota getting significant minutes is outstanding. Watching this players who grew up at Maccabi play in the top league gives me a ton of satisfaction.”

Despite the achievements and titles, Levin acknowledges that there is still a long way to go in the department: “There’s still plenty of work to do and improvements have to be made in many aspects. It begins with the facility, equipment, academy, identifying players and bringing them into the system, there’s a lot to do. We did a tremendous amount but there is still much progress to be done. The minute you don’t stay with the times, you will move backwards because everyone else is trying to move forward.”

How would you sum up this amazing period in your life?

“I am finishing up a lifetime of work and I am leaving behind a terrific staff that I brought to Maccabi. I see the people I work with here more than I see my own wife. In my next role I will still see many of the coaches and players that I worked with but this is still a significant moment. I have to recognize all of the people that I have worked with from management to the coaches. especially to the professional staff and the coaches, Ariel Avram, with whom I worked with for many years, Guy Zuckerman who came on board this year, Ziv Arie who besides being a coach was also the assistant director and the rest off the staff.

I’m now preparing for my new job and I can’t wait to start. Most likely I’ll be back here as part of this new position and I hope that Dubi Talit will let me in and not block the entrance when I arrive.”

Between meetings, handing over material and preparing for his new position with ...

Altman: “Our goal is to win titles”

Tomer Altman, the new captain of the Under-19 club summed up the Croatia Tournament that marked the end of the 2015/16 season: "Playing at these levels will only help us improve"

After four intensive days that included four matches, Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv is heading back to Israel from the Ramljak Tournament. The young Yellow & Blue finished the competition in 5th place as they defeated the host Dinamo Zagreb, drew with Maribor and came up short against Real Madrid. However, the squad took home 5th place after disposing of Sarajevo 5:2 in their last game.

Right before the players and new Head Coach Ori Uzan begin their break, the brand new Maccabi “Shachar” Captain Tomer Altman spoke to the Official Website about the four days he experienced at the competition: “This was a tournament that was played at the highest level of football with some of the biggest clubs in Europe. This was our second year participating in the tourney and it definitely gave us some terrific experience. The matches were very different than a typical game we would play in Israel in many aspects and I’m sure that it will help us in the future.”

About how they stacked up against the competition:

“We were able to handle ourselves very well and we made progress as each match went by. There’s always a lot of discussion about the physical differences between the Israeli and European players, but I don’t think we saw such a huge gap. We kept up with them technically and we played quality football throughout the tournament, it was really an amazing experience.”

On Ori Uzan taking over the coaching reins:

“We have a new coach. I haven’t worked with him before but some of the guys who are part of the 1999 class have. I’ve only heard good things about him and from what I saw here in Croatia is that he is a professional in every sense of the word and knows how to approach the players. I believe we will have a good season under his direction.”

Being named the captain:

“It’s a huge honor to be named the captain of the Maccabi Tel Aviv Youth Team and I’m very humbled. I hope that I can lead the club to a more successful campaign than last season. Our goal is to win titles and I hope that I can live up to the job and do it as best as possible by giving everything I have.”

After four intensive days that included four matches, Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv ...