The game this coming Wednesday between Hapoel Beer Sheva and Maccabi Tel Aviv may mark which of the two at this stage is the favorite candidate to win the championship. Beer Sheva’s only loss this season was in the previous round against Maccabi, precisely in a game where the Reds were better and even scored two disallowed goals.
Be’er Sheva has been marked in recent weeks, especially after the victories over Maccabi Haifa and Beitar Jerusalem as the leading candidate for the championship, but Maccabi is still close to Be’er Sheva in the table even though it played at the same time in the group stage of a European enterprise and according to many the fact that the load did not overwhelm it still leaves it behind the wheel in the top race.
The rivalry between Beer Sheva and Maccabi Tel Aviv has provided quite a few memorable games in the last decade, but for one player the upcoming game will be much more than just another season game.
From a professional point of view, Dan Beaton is a player that Maccabi wanted to keep this season as well, but not for a central player slot. Bitton of Beersheba spent his peak years in his career precisely at Maccabi Tel Aviv, but for him, a championship with his youth team would be a much greater achievement than those he reached during his time at Maccabi.
“Last summer, Beitar Jerusalem really wanted Dan,” a source close to the player reveals this week, “and also made him a high financial offer, but from Dan’s point of view, it was quite clear that if he left Maccabi, Beer Sheva was the direction. He grew up here, all his friends live here and he wanted more than anything to come full circle. He received a lot of phone calls and messages from fans asking him to return to Be’er Sheva. He doesn’t even think about what could have happened if he had stayed at Maccabi. His head is only in Beer Sheva and he dreams of winning titles with her.”
Beaton concluded a two-year contract in Beer Sheva, saying after the signing: “This is a very happy day for me, I am returning to the club where I grew up, developed and was educated. In recent days, my family and I have been flooded with heart-warming messages from the fans who are waiting for me to wear the red uniform again. It moved me Very much, and on behalf of myself and my family, I thank you for that. Now that I’m back in the club shirt, I’ll concentrate solely on the plate the group and meeting the goals that were set before us.”
His return to Hapoel Be’er Sheva came after a difficult summer for him. Maccabi Tel Aviv did say after the release that it was a professional decision by the coach, Jarko Laztic, to give him up, but the decision itself has provoked great criticism in recent weeks among Maccabi fans, especially against the background of Bitton’s ability, who is in an excellent period.
Many of them remembered the release of Mehran Radi to Beer Sheva for free about a decade ago and wondered how it was possible that Maccabi would give up such a talented player in favor of a team that faces them at the top.
But what Bitton did at Maccabi is not exactly what a player of his level can contribute to the team where he will take the reins, just as Hapoel Be’er Sheva had hoped with his signing.
In the Ether One podcast, Avi Rikan, the former Maccabi player who collaborated with Beaton, commented on the player’s move to Beer Sheva. “Dan Beaton arrived at a place where he knows he will play and they wrap him up there. In Maccabi Tel Aviv it is different. You constantly have a war over the lineup and he has experienced it in recent years and it is less suited to his character and personality. Maccabi really wanted Dan Beaton, but at the moment Dan wanted to choose a different path, they let him go. They don’t hold anyone by force. If he had stayed in Maccabi Tel Aviv, it is not certain that he would have been able to get out what he has today.”
In terms of numbers, the signing of Dan Bitton in Hapoel Beer-Sheva proved itself in a big way. Beyond the added value of another home player in the team’s lineup, Beaton also provides receipts on the field. He scored four goals so far this season (second in the team after Kings Kanagawa and Alon Turgeman) and scored three times. His left foot has become a household name in Israeli football in recent seasons: from the beginning of the season, in 12 league appearances, he had 42 threats on the opponent’s goal, of which 18 were on target. More than half of Beaton’s scoring attempts come from outside the box.
Coach Sharon Avitan, who today works at the football association, is sure that Biton made a smart move for him when he decided to return to Hapoel Beer Sheva.
“I know that Maccabi wanted him, but Dan was not determined to extend there contract. He realized that he was constantly going to swing between the bench and the team,” says Avitan. “His decision to come to Be’er Sheva is first and foremost good for the club. With the ability he demonstrates, it is good for him as well. He manages to bring his talent and qualities to the fore. He is a game-breaking player. Both he and Kanagawa are involved in most of the team’s goals.”
“Dan’s advantage is reflected even when he is not in a big game,” Avitan adds. “In the game against Bnei Sakhnin, he created several situations and gave an excellent kick to the connection that the goalkeeper took with his fingertips. Dan is the type of player that even if you don’t feel him for a few minutes during the game, he still knows how to express himself. He is a very sound and smart player who understands the game I think this is a tremendous deal from Hapoel Beer Sheva’s point of view and an excellent deal from Dan’s point of view as well.”
Avitan does not accept the theory that Beaton is a central player, but not a leading player. “Dan is a kind of quiet leader,” says Avitan. “He is not one of those who talk with his hands and make noise. He first and foremost does not run away from the ball. At any given moment he is an option for a pass, and is not afraid to receive the ball many times under pressure. His peace of mind also radiates to the other players and that is what makes him a positive leader.” .
Does he have something to prove to Maccabi?
“A player has to go up and prove in every game why he is where he is and not prove to someone else why they gave him up and if it was justified. Dan is a professional who earns very well in Hapoel Be’er Sheva, he has to go up to every game with the highest level of motivation and preparedness possible. I don’t I believe in proving yourself in one game. If he is good against Maccabi and then not good in ten other games, will that be okay for him?”
The result of the draw against Bnei Sakhnin outside interrupted the momentum of Hapoel Beer-Sheva from the last rounds. If we exclude the hours after the final whistle, when the team members expressed great frustration with the way the game unfolded, in the following days the team was freed up to prepare for the cup game against MS Dimona (held after the closing of the paper) and did not dwell too much on the points that were lost on the field in Acre.
“Sakhnin came mainly to disrupt and stop the flow of our game,” they said in Beer-Sheva, “but we still got enough scoring chances to decide the game and it wasn’t long before we came back with a victory.”
The team did not bother with the upcoming league game against Maccabi Tel Aviv this week, but focused on the cup game. “We will pass Dimona and only then will we be free to prepare for the game against Maccabi,” added the club.
In preparation for the opening of the January transfer window, Beer Sheva will try to strengthen the defender and striker. It is no secret that Guy Melamed, who is having an excellent season in Hapoel Haifa, is on the team’s lists.
Melamed played in Barak Bacher’s third championship season in Hapoel Be’er Sheva and scored five goals in 17 appearances, including a hat trick in the final round against Maccabi Netanya. The following season he also started for the team, but moved to Maccabi Netanya as part of a deal Dia Saba signed with Hapoel Be’er Sheva.
In Hapoel Haifa, we are aware of the great interest of Melamed, who scored 14 goals this season. The team clarified this week that there is no intention of releasing Melamed in the transfer window, and the team’s coach, Roni Levy, even defined Melamed’s possible departure as a “death blow”. On the other hand, Melamed ends his contract with Hapoel Haifa at the end of the season and the January transfer window may be Haifa’s last chance to receive financial compensation for the player. Beer Sheva, by the way, is not alone in the picture, Maccabi Tel Aviv is also showing interest in him.
In Beer Sheva, there is great respect for the team’s pioneers, Paul Arnold Grita and Alon Turgeman, but the feeling in the team is that with the help of a bigger scorer, the team will be able to compete at the top for a long time in a better way.
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