Maccabi Petah Tikva opened their season with a defeat, going down 1-0 to city rivals Hapoel Petah Tikva in the first round of the Toto Cup, but the club insists the result says nothing about its readiness for the Ligat Ha'al campaign proper.
The derby was settled by a stunning late strike from Noam Cohen, who found the top corner from roughly 20 metres out in the 89th minute to hand Hapoel bragging rights in the city's first derby of the new season.
For Maccabi, it was a chastening backdrop to Ziv Aria's first match in the dugout. Aria, who spent seven years on Hapoel Jerusalem's staff before agreeing a one-year deal to take over at Maccabi this summer, watched his new side toil for long spells before Cohen's late winner.
He replaces Noam Soham, who steered Maccabi back to the top flight at the first attempt last season only to be moved on rather than kept for the club's return to Ligat Ha'al - a decision that still colours how this rebuilt squad is being read from the outside.
Speaking to ONE after the loss, club officials were candid about the gap between the group that started the Toto Cup opener and the one they intend to field once the league begins. "We knew we weren't fully ready and that we still need to add players," the club said, according to ONE. "Once we add [Ariel] Logasi, who is injured, we're still missing three players for the front line. We will be ready by the time the league starts."
Logasi's return alone will not close that gap. ONE reports Maccabi are working to bring in Yoav Koren, a Hapoel Beersheba player who spent last season on loan at Hapoel Kfar Saba and scored seven goals there - form that has put him in demand this summer. Beersheba, per the report, are in no rush to sanction another loan move.
The club is also said to be chasing a right-back solution through Maccabi Tel Aviv's Noam Schwartz, though ONE cautions that any loan agreement there remains unresolved for now.
Squad turnover is not only about incomings. ONE reports Omer Shirazi is expected to leave and link up with Soham at his new club, while captain Mohammad Hindi - a long-serving figure at Maccabi - did not feature in the derby loss, with the report suggesting his standing in the squad is under review despite his years of service.
None of it, Maccabi maintain, threatens their readiness for kick-off. The message from Petah Tikva this week is that a subdued Toto Cup curtain-raiser is being treated as exactly that - an exhibition, not a verdict - while the rebuilding work continues in the transfer market before the league campaign begins.
