So far the season that Maccabi Haifa has envisioned under their new Head Coach Diego Flores is not going exactly as planned as the results have been underwhelming to say the least.

A goalless draw against 10-men Beitar Jerusalem, another draw in the derby and now a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Hapoel Beer Sheva is not the way the new campaign was supposed to unfold. Sure they smashed Maccabi Bnei Reineh and Ashdod which is what they should do, but against the better teams and a Derby the expectations are that Haifa should be doing better. Plus now, Maccabi Tel Aviv is right around the corner at Bloomfield and a loss in that game would see the Greens sinking deeper and deeper on the table.

Flores had his Maccabi Haifa come out like a house on fire to get the game underway as they feverishly looked to get an early goal as they pressed and pushed in the opening minutes like madmen. However, an injury to the Greens keeper Heorhiy Yarmakov put a damper on the attack as Hapoel Beer Sheva moved into complete control in the first half once Sharif Kaiuf entered the game in the 11th minute.

Kaiuf, who was the first choice keeper last season had his ups and downs as he was consistently inconsistent. He hadn’t seen the light of day since the Argentine Flores took over and Yarmakov came in board, but here Kayuf was back in goal for Haifa and while the crowd gave a nice cheer, their insides were saying, oh boy, can he get us through this game and not give up some sort of howler. When I asked Flores if he has confidence in Kaiuf, he avoided answering the questions as his silence on the matter spoke volumes.

The balance of the first half was played to a standstill without many quality chances from either side but when the two sides came onto the pitch for the second half there was fire Haifa’s eyes as they were charged up to find a goal and their chances started to come fast and furious. The greens hunted their prey as Beer Sheva couldn’t seem to get anything to go their way.

Not too worry though because Ron Kozuk’s team does have the league’s leading goal scorer in one Dan Bitton. The attacking midfielder who had been exiled to Beer Sheva for less than a can of Coca Cola by Maccabi Tel Aviv prior to last season finally broke through. Bitton made a beeline towards the goal following Igor Zlatanovic’s attempt from outside of the box as he polished off the rebound after Kaiuf couldn’t hold onto the ball all the while there was not a defender in site to clear it to safety.

Bitton with his 8th goal of the season has been stellar for Beer Sheva since his arrival and has only gotten better with time as he looks like a player possessed to ensure that his side finishes off the job this season and takes home the championship. The southern reds feel that this was rightly there’s due to the point deduction incurred from the Sakhnin game that in essence null and void when fans from both teams ran onto the Turner Stadium pitch and went at it right in front of the viewing audience. Although at the end of the day Maccabi Tel Aviv did a have better goal differential, but don’t tell that to the Beer Sheva supporters.

While Flores made wholesale changes to try and jumpstart his side’s offense with the insertion of Djorde Jovanovic it wasn’t close to being enough to find a way to score the equalizer. Tools are definitely lacking on this Haifa team and the imports that have been brought in are just not making the grade against the bigger teams.

Maccabi Haifa has lost plenty of points this season and they’ve got Maccabi Tel Aviv next week. How many more points can they afford to lose, well not many at this rate.

Flores has been preaching work, work and more work. That is the way to finally break through. That’s all true, but there is also talent that needs to be taken into account and not only talent but also desire, drive and determination.

A player that had all of that was Sun Menchem whose career was celebrated prior to the game on the Sammy Ofer pitch. Menachem was a stalwart of a defensive back and was an integral part of the Greens from 2015-2024 helping the team to three straight league championships, an Israel State Cup along with having made 19 appearances for the Israel National Team.

Menachem was a key cog in Barak Bachar’s squad from 2020-2024 as he captured a 3-Peat with the Greens. No one could ever say that the now 32-year old didn’t leave it all on the pitch and was as passionate as ever, a passion that he showed in full flight as he hoisted a Maccabi Haifa flag and ran to the North Stand to rile up the crowd ahead of kickoff.

The left back should be an example to all of those current Haifa players, both Israeli and import as to what it means to wear the color Green and represent the franchise.

Can Flores and Haifa turn it around and begin to play positive football against the top teams, that is still yet to be determined, but the real question is will he have the time to keeping working as he explained and see the fruits of labor?

Patience is a virtue except in football and Flores may already be on rocky footing just five matchdays into the season.