Stadium: Teddy (34,000)
Coach: Ran Ben Shimon
The coach, who won the league title with Kiryat Shemona in 2011/12 joined Beitar Jerusalem this summer after managing Maccabi Petach Tikva last season but didn’t finish off the campaign with the Luzon family owned Club.
Beitar owner Eli Tabib hired the coach who in the past had trouble reaching expectations set with some of the bigger clubs. Will Beitar Jerusalem be the first top club that Ben Shimon will succeed with? Opening the season in the Europa League qualification rounds and making it all the way to the playoffs was impressive, but losing their key player Omer Atzili will definitely make the start of the year a bit tough, especially when the club has only recorded two points after a pair of matches.
Former players: Other than the coach (Ben Shimon coached Maccabi for a short period during the 2008/09 season) you can also find Dan Einbinder who had the opportunity to win two championships including the historic Treble with the Yellow & Blue and also advanced to the Round of 32 in the Europa League.
Another player who will go down in Maccabi’s history books is also Oz Raly who was included in the Yellow & Blue’s deep squad during the Champions League campaign last season, however, moved on to Kiryat Shmona in the middle of the season.
Preseason: Ben Shimon’s preseason began in the qualification rounds of the Europa League just like Maccabi did when they started play at the end of June, but Beitar was ousted in the playoff round after a two legged tie with French outfit St. Etienne. In Toto Cup play, Ben Shimon had to deal with plenty of personnel issues with his squad and has only recorded three draws, one in the Toto Cup and two in the league.
Omer Atzili, who was a mainstay for Beitar last season along with Nikita Rukavytsya won’t be available for Ben Shimon. On the other hand, Ben Shimon added a number of quality players including German defender Marcel Heister and Erik Sabo who are considered to be strong additions along with Israeli Idan Vered.
Under the magnifying glass: Beitar’s attack
The signing of Sabo and Heister will certainly help Beitar’s defensive game, however it’s difficult to see its effects to date. On the other side of the coin you can’t ignore Beitar’s attack which includes Idan Vered, Itay Shechter, Shimon Abuheitzera and Ya’akov Berihon, the club’s surprising acquisition. This offensive power was able to surprise many defenses during the Europa League qualification matches and will attempt to cause problems for the Maccabi defense as well.
