Taking stock of each team as season starts

The 2023/24 Israel soccer season is upon us as 14 teams will take to the pitches this weekend across the country in Premier League – Ligat Ha’al – action as they will all vie for league supremacy.

Here is a look at each club, from Maccabi Haifa and Maccabi Tel Aviv to newly promoted Maccabi and Hapoel Petah Tikva:

Maccabi Haifa

There have been plenty of significant changes for the Greens as the new season is about to begin, but so far in Champions League qualification the results have been the same. Messay Dego is now the head coach, replacing Barak Bachar, who headed to Red Star Belgrade. Lior Refaelov returns to his former stomping grounds after more than a decade in Belgium, while Erik Shuranov, who is a naturalized Israeli, arrives from Germany and Sabra Suf Podgoreanu makes his loan move from Italy permanent.

Omer Atzily, Muhamed Abu Fani and ’keeper Josh Cohen departed, leaving a pair of big holes, while Haifa still needs to shore up its defense, but the results thus far have been almost identical to last season. That’s because captain Tjaron Chery is still as solid as ever while Dolev Haziza, Daniel Sundgren (who just obtained Israeli citizenship) Frantzdy Pierrot and Dia Saba make the three-peat champs the favorites once again to take the title.

The club advanced to the group stages of the Champions League in 2022 and is close to doing the same in 2023 as it is in the Playoff Round against Young Boys in the prestigious competition. At worst, Haifa which now has Israeli Itamar Nitzan in goal, will feature in the Europa League group stages, which would also be considered a big win for the Carmel Mountain side to be back in Europe for a second straight season and competing in one of the best tournaments.

Maccabi Tel Aviv

The yellow-and-blue also made wholesale changes over the summer as owner Mitch Goldhar appointed Robbie Keane as the new head coach to replace Aitor Karanka. The former Irish superstar is in his first season on the bench and expectations are high after two subpar campaigns. While the coaching staff may be new, the club also brought in a pair of new players in winger Felício Milson and right-back Yvann Maçon, while Djorde Jovanovic headed the other direction and was sold to Basel. Superstar striker Eran Zahavi is back and better than ever, while Yonatan Cohen, Dan Bitton and Gaby Kanichowsky have all impressed the new bench boss.

There is no doubt that Keane wants to make his mark as a manager in Israel just as many others have before moving on to a bigger and better league, but a few more moves will need to be made in order to reach success and take back the Israeli league title that the yellow-and-blue has not won since 2020. However, ’keeper Daniel Peretz is on his way to super-club Bayern Munich which will complicate the team’s desire to punch its ticket to the group stages of the UEFA Conference League as it faces NK Celje from Slovenia in a two-legged tie.

Hapoel Beersheba

The Southern Reds begin their second season with head coach Elyaniv Barda at the helm, but so far the preseason and European campaign has been nothing close to what the team was able to do last season.

One of the main reasons is that ’keeper Omri Glazer left the club and headed to Red Star Belgrade with Barak Bachar and his replacement, Ofir Marciano, returned from Europe after not having played much over the past couple of seasons. In addition, Dor Micha, Eugene Ansah, Magomed-Shapi Suleymanov and Itay Shechter, all offensive players, bid adieu while only Alon Turgeman and Guy Badash came in, leaving a major firepower problem and a lack of scoring ability up front. Captain Miguel Vitor continues at the club while Ramzi Safouri, Sagiv Yehezkel and Mariano Bareira are all returnees.

Beitar Jerusalem

The yellow-and-black made many changes to the roster and there will probably be more to come as the season begins, but the big name coming in is no doubt Dor Micha. On the way out are attackers Ion Nicolaescu and Danilo Asprilla as head coach Yossi Abukasis has plenty of hard work to do ahead. Fred Friday, Grigori Morozov and ’keeper Miguel Silva all return to the capital.

Hapoel Jerusalem

Ziv Arie’s squad had a surprising season last year and finished well above anyone’s expectations. Tthat certainly didn’t stop the Capital Reds from adding more quality players for the new campaign. Matan Hozez arrives from Maccabi Tel Aviv while Ben Azubel, Or Roziman and Max Grechkin all join the team as it looks to take yet another step towards Israeli soccer glory as Yao Eloge Koffi, Ofek Bitton and ’keeper Adebayo Adeleye all return.

Maccabi Netanya

Ran Kozuk will begin his first full season as the head coach and his squad looks to have weakened a bit from last year’s side. Starlet Omri Gandelman departed to Gent in Belgium while ’keeper Itamar Nitzan, scoring machine Patrick Twumasi and as well as Shay Konstantin left the diamond city. Maxim Plakuschenko comes back from a season abroad in Hungary, Bar Cohen, Itay Ben Shabbat and former national team defender Joel Abu Hana all come on board for the new season as well, while Boris Enow and captain Aviv Avraham remain for yet another campaign.

Hapoel Tel Aviv

With newly minted head coach Michael Valkanis on the sidelines as well as a new ownership group in charge, Reds fans are hoping that good times will be coming their way in the near future. However, if the preseason was any indication Hapoel Tel Aviv is still a work in progress though it does have some solid newcomers in Omri Altman, Mavis Tchibota and Or Blorian. Captain Dan Einbinder will be back as will Hisham Layous and El Yam Kencepolski as the team will be a mix of youngsters and veterans.

Ashdod SC

The port city side also lost some significant personnel, with the most notable departure being head coach Ran Ben Shimon, who steered the ship over the past three seasons, as inexperienced Eli Levi has taken over on the bench. Abdul Zakaria Mugees, Elton Acolatse and ’keeper Yoav Gerafi left while Shlomi Azulay and Ariel Harush came in. Key returnees include Israel Under-21 captain Gil Cohen, Mohamed Knaan and Timothy Awany.

Hapoel Haifa

Head coach Roni Levy and owner Yoav Katz made wholesale changes to the Carmel Reds roster as 18 players departed and 13 arrived for the new season. The notable newcomers include ’keeper Gerafi and striker Guy Melamed while Tomer Yosefi and Felipe Santos also arrive to join captain Dor Malul in the quest to become the top team in Haifa.

Bnei Sakhnin

Another team that also turned over most of its squad is Slododan Drapic’s Sakhnin. The one notable addition is Mohamed Shaker, who joins the Galilee squad from Kiryat Shmona, which was relegated to the Leumit League. Captain Beram Kayal returns as does Dor Hugi for some veteran presence in the midfield and up front.

Hapoel Hadera

Another club that made changes aplenty is Asaf Nimni’s Hadera, with plenty of new faces joining the fray for the upcoming season. The goalkeeper position was shored up with veteran shot-stopper Ohad Levita taking over between the pipes and forward Orel Baye coming over on loan from Maccabi Tel Aviv. Midfielder Samy Bourard will be a trusted player for Hadera along with captain Menashe Zalka.

Maccabi Bnei Reineh

Head coach Sharon Mimer did an admirable job when he was appointed in the middle of last season and with the trust of ownership, the club added some solid pieces to the lineup for the 2023/24 season. Dor Elo, Marwan Kabha, Roie Shukrani and Kayes Ganem all arrive and join scoring sensation Márk Koszta and Henry Vaca.

Maccabi Petah Tikva

Benny Lam may have begun last season with Maccabi Netanya, but he ended up helping guide Maccabi Petah Tikva back to the promised land of the first division, earning promotion from the Leumit League after taking over the reins midway through the campaign. There will be plenty of veterans for the club as Ben Sahar moves from Maccabi Haifa and will join winger Tal Ben Chaim. Robi Levkovitch will man the goal as Maor Levi and Moti Barshazki will feature in the midfield.

Hapoel Petah Tikva

Ofer Tesselpepe’s squad looks very similar to Benny Lam’s with a collection of veteran players including Idan Vered and Itay Shechter along with Richard Boateng and Raz Stain. Hap PT will have to use their guile and tenacity to make the best of the upcoming campaign.