Maccabi Haifa Coach Barak Bachar Calls for Patience After Toto Cup Loss to Hapoel Jerusalem

Maccabi Haifa concluded their Toto Cup campaign on Monday with a 1-0 defeat to Hapoel Jerusalem at Sammy Ofer Stadium, finishing tenth in the ranking matches. The Greens lost three of their five Toto Cup games, raising concerns ahead of their Israeli Premier League opener on Saturday against newly promoted Hapoel Ramat Gan. Coach Barak Bachar acknowledged the team's lack of sharpness and effectiveness, especially in the second half, emphasizing the need for further work to integrate many new players. "We are working hard on defense and adding extra training sessions," Bachar said, stressing the importance of improvement in the league where results will ultimately matter.

Bachar admitted feeling pressure and the necessity for both himself and the players to work harder. He noted that while expectations were to perform better and win more, the team must be patient as some new players will take time to adapt. "Lior Rafaelov and I know there is still a lot of work to do," he added.

Hapoel Jerusalem's coach, Lior Zada, described his team's performance as mediocre but expressed confidence in their potential to improve. Regarding the match-winning goal scorer, Israel Dafa, Zada cautioned against premature hype, highlighting the player's physical strengths and potential for growth, hoping for continued progress.