Maccabi Haifa has lost its mental foundation

After three disappointing years without a title, Maccabi Haifa shouldn't just start a season — it should storm it. It might sound like a small semantic difference, but in my eyes, that's the whole story. Maccabi Haifa lost 3:2 to Hapoel Haifa in the Toto Cup derby, and one can analyze the lineup, talk about the absences, explain that it's the first official game, and remind that there is still time. All true. But after three years in which Maccabi Haifa has accumulated more disappointments than titles, I think it's time to change not just players or formations. You need to change the mental foundation.

I expected to see Maccabi Haifa arrive at the first game of the season with a huge metaphorical sign above Sammy Ofer Stadium: "The owner has gone crazy." In the most positive sense possible. We are in a frenzy, we are hungry, and we want everything! Toto Cup? We'll take it. Derby? We'll storm it. First official game in July? For us, it's a final. Not because the Toto Cup suddenly became the Champions League, but because a team that hasn't won anything for three years and has only disappointed needs, first and foremost, to get used to winning again.

And here I come to the world of mental coaching. One of the most important tools in mental work is creating small wins. When a person is in a less-than-good period, you don't start by telling them: "Forget it, this goal isn't really important." You do exactly the opposite. You define a clear goal, achieve it, build a sense of capability, and then move on to the next goal. Victory generates confidence. Confidence generates belief. Belief generates different behavior. In project management, it works exactly the same way. A project in crisis needs a recovery plan. You look for Quick Wins, successes that restore confidence and momentum to the team. The Maccabi Haifa of this summer is, in my eyes, a recovery project. And the first game was an excellent opportunity to mark the first checkmark.

It is precisely the things Barak Bakhar said after the game that highlight the point for me. Bakhar said: "For us, this is an excellent preparation game to learn from mistakes," and later added: "This is the first official game, there is a lot of work, and there is also something to work with." Professionally, it's hard to argue with that, but the question is what is the mental message that a club like Maccabi Haifa and its coach need to convey right now? Because I actually want a loss in a derby in July to be annoying, I want it to hurt, and I want the players to feel that with us there is no such thing as "just the Toto Cup." Bakhar also said: "In the end, we lost a derby and it's disappointing," and then added a sentence that I actually want to adopt: "We will be more aggressive, sharper, that is the aspiration and that is what will be."

From my perspective, this is where the key lies. Only this aggressiveness needs to start now, not in a month and not when the league becomes "serious." In the world of mental coaching, there is a lot of talk about identity. Not just what you want to achieve, but who you want to be. Maccabi Haifa needs to decide again who it is: is it a team that manages a season and reaches its peak at the important moments, or a team that broadcasts from the first moment: "I want everything on the table"? After the last three years, I choose the second option.

And yes, of course, you need proportions. Bakhar himself said: "We need to take everything in proportion." I agree. You don't fire a coach after a Toto Cup game, you don't conclude that the season is over, and you don't panic, but proportions shouldn't turn into indifference, and there is a big difference between not getting stressed by a loss and accepting it as a natural part of the journey. I want a different Maccabi Haifa this season. One that doesn't get dragged along by events but dictates them, doesn't wait for the team to click but creates a connection through victories, doesn't explain why a certain goal is less important but decides that every goal is an opportunity to restore hunger. Because maybe that's the thing we've been missing most in the last three years... hunger. And after three disappointing years, maybe it's time to go a little crazy and not make the president go crazy.

The author is a green fan from birth, a mental coach and management expert, living by the principles of positive psychology.