After the elimination from Europe: disappointment and accusations at Beitar Jerusalem — "A huge miss against a weak team"
The club is struggling to digest the penalty shootout loss to Austria Wien: "There is excessive insistence on ball circulation, we should have already been thinking about Braga." Criticism of Almog Cohen: "There is a gap between a sporting director and a coach." Also: the change in recruitment plans and the coach's conversation with the players.
"Beitar Jerusalem does not have a rich tradition in Europe, we have never reached a group stage, but the elimination against a team worse than us like Austria Wien is one of the most frustrating moments we have experienced." This was said at Beitar Jerusalem after the elimination in the third qualifying round of the Conference League following a penalty shootout against the Austrians. The club understands that they missed a golden opportunity to reach the playoffs, even if the opponent in the next stage was supposed to be the strong Braga.
In the shadow of the injury to Yarden Cohen (who was replaced by Nevo Shedo) and the rust shown by Luka Gadrani, Beitar found itself for long minutes — including during extra time — with an improvised defense that included Liel Deri, Roi Elimelech, and Nana Antwi as a left-back. At the same time, the main criticism in the club was directed at Boris Ino and goalkeeper Miguel Silva.
"The ball was already in Silva's hands. Instead of clearing it forward, he gives another short pass to Karabelli, who passes to Ino — in his weakest game since arriving at Beitar. Ino loses it, and it leads to the Austrians' goal after we were already leading 0:2," they fumed at Beitar. "There is excessive insistence on ball circulation from the back, without it we would already be thinking about Braga."
Beitar did win 1:2 after 90 minutes, but a lack of concentration and bad luck — including a shot by Omer Atzili against the post from a sure position and a miss in front of an empty goal by captain Yarden Shua (who again showed a weak game) — prevented them from closing the story even before the penalties. In the 11-meter shootout, the substitutes missed: Eugene Ansah, who got his feet tangled in front of the goalkeeper earlier in extra time, and Timothy Muzie, who showed a messy game.
"Austria Wien is a team significantly weaker than us," they said at the club. "We have an excellent squad that will run for the championship, but we also have a rookie coach on the sidelines. There is a gap between the decision-making of a sporting director and a coach. It will take him time to get into the role, these are two completely different professions."
The plans in the transfer market are changing for a reason: at Beitar, they decided to go now for an 8-10 profile midfielder, this after they initially intended to land a defender as the team's eighth foreign player. Yesterday it was proven why Beitar needs intensive and technical reinforcement in the center of the field: the entire midfield unit — Daniel Vorku, Noa Mucha, and Ino — showed a weak game, and even the entry of Tomer Yosefi did not upgrade the game. Now the club is waiting for the release of Tavares, who is not interested in playing in Israel, and as soon as a team is found for him overseas, an attacking midfielder will be signed in his place.
Beitar Jerusalem coach, Almog Cohen, said at the end:
"We controlled both meetings against the Austrians, I am proud of my players. In extra time there was only one team on the pitch and we created a lot of opportunities. Controlling like this against Larnaca and against Austria Wien shows how mature my players are. We raised the pace of the game by 20 percent. We win and lose as a team, we don't give up until the end and don't stop believing — no matter against whom. From the game against Hapoel Tel Aviv in the Toto Cup until today we always believed, and we will arrive ready for the opening round against Maccabi Netanya in the league."
