Maccabi “Oded” Tel Aviv is having a wonderful start to the season with seven victories in a row to begin the year. The young Yellow-and-Blue can set a club record for their age group with a win next game against Hapoel Beer Sheva away on Matchday Eight of the Under-17 League.
Ori Uzan is guiding the Yellow-and-Blue and discussed the terrific start to the 2015/16 campaign and the changes he personally made in becoming the head coach of a youth team: “I’m really happy about the beginning of the season for the kids. I am very demanding about improving their technical ability along with their understanding of the game. We are a good and strong team especially our defense as we’ve given up very few goals but we’re still far off from the level that I expect.”
The special things he sees with the team:
“Wins are fantastic, but what really makes me happy is to see how the players are winners and how they conduct themselves. Even in the matches against Julis and Tubruk where it took time for us to get going, we were able to show our character and win the games. The boys are competitive and that’s one of my goals for them. I also told the guys that an additional goal of mine is to play as many players as possible this season with the youth team so that they will be good enough when they move up to the next level. There’s two players already who are training with the Under-19 side and that’s an amazing feat.”
On his first experience as a head coach and a youth coach:
“I really enjoy being with Maccabi. I have been with big teams like Maccabi Haifa and Beitar Jerusalem, but with Maccabi it’s a totally different world. The interaction with the whole department is terrific especially my relationship with Nir Levin.”
After his extensive playing career, Uzan worked as Arik Benado’s assistant coach who helped him become the professional he is today:
“”The two years that I was an assistant coach prepared me for my current role in a certain way. I came with training programs for adults because that is what I knew. But with time I changed the programs for the kids and from what I’ve actually seen on the pitch. That’s one of the things I learnt as an assistant coach, to adapt to the different challenges. I saw certain things that I was not prepared for and together with my staff, Leon Asraf, Yossi Haleva and Antonio Dello Iacono we made the necessary changes and we saw an immediate improvement. Overall, I am really enjoying being a coach.”
Maccabi Tel Aviv sends the most players to the various National Teams in Israel. Although there is great pride with this situation it also creates challenges for the coaches:
“The National Team is a good problem. It’s a great honor to have the most players on the youth National Teams. We’re very proud that our players have scored a good number of goals and assists and have also helped the teams advance to the next round of play, but it’s challenging when we don’t have some players for two days a week. It hurts the makeup of the team and it’s not easy, but we know how to handle these situations.”
Uzan has also found additional ways to keep the National Team players in the loop:
“I go to the National Team practices and of course to the matches. I’m in close contact with Ofer Fabian. The key is to train the players a certain way and the practice sessions are no less important than the actual games themselves. There’s no question that the matches they play help them know how to compete but the big improvements and learning are done in the training sessions.”
What is Maccabi “Oded” Tel Aviv doing during the break?
“Over the next two weeks we will be doing physical tests, group meetings and analysis, practice games and work on our techniques. We have a tough match against Hapoel Beer Sheva when we come back from the break but I hope to continue their improvement, understanding of the game and how to make decisions. I expect to win but I also really hope that we’ll play good football and continue to raise the level of our play.”
