What happened to Maccabi Haifa’s youth revolution?

The youth revolution, headlines shouted toward the end of last season regarding Maccabi Haifa. The fact that head coach Barak Bakhar showed confidence in and granted playing time to numerous players from the youth team, such as Navot Ratner, Yinon Faingezicht, Noam Steifman, Elad Amir, Adam Grinberg, Niv Gabay, and others, gave the Greens a single bright spot in an especially bleak season.

Headlines praised the young players, and the fans in particular, who found players they could identify with, developed expectations that the upcoming season for the Greens would be defined by those same young figures, and that the next generation of the team would become the generation of the present.

The roster construction for the current squad initially reinforced that feeling, as players like Grinberg received credit ahead of senior strikers such as Guy Melamed, Noam Steifman secured a regular spot in the lineup, and it was clear to everyone that Ratner would be a major factor. During the training camp, Itay Ehud and Amit Arazi, who returned from loans, also played alongside Gabay and others. It seemed the Greens were truly headed into a season where home-grown youth would play first violin.

About a month and a half after the training camp, and just before the start of the league season, it appears the picture has flipped. Anyone who expected to see an unprecedented number of home-grown young players in the Greens' lineup, or at least in the short rotation, now understands that things look different. So what happened along the way? Who is still expected to be a significant factor, and what will happen to those returning from loans? All the answers follow.

Even before the mass promotion of players from the youth team last season, Maccabi Haifa had marked several young players sent out on loan at the start of the 2025/26 season. Among others, these included Arazi, Ehud, and Tomer Lannes, who were loaned to Hapoel Kfar Saba in the National League; Yarin Levi, who was on loan at Beitar Jerusalem; Iyad Khalaili; and Liam Hermesh, who went out for a season to gain experience at Moldovan side Sheriff Tiraspol.

While Hermesh has already been released from the team, Haifa decided to build on Yarin Levi in the center of the midfield, with the professional staff believing that despite the tension with the crowd, Levi will be one of the team's most significant players this season. Recently, Levi signed an extended contract and is expected to remain in green for the entire upcoming season.

If one wants to understand how much Maccabi Haifa plans to rely on Levi, it could be seen as both technical director Lior Refaelov and coach Barak Bakhar spoke personally with the national team midfielder to instill confidence in him.

Khalaili, despite numerous loan offers, is also expected to be a significant factor in Bakhar and Refaelov's rotation. The staff in Haifa feels that despite a mediocre season at Reineh, the player strengthened himself across several parameters and will receive credit during the season.

Regarding the other three, it appears that Lannes, who until two seasons ago was slated to be the Greens' "next center-back," has seen his standing drop significantly. Ehud is expected to leave on loan to Hapoel Petah Tikva, while Arazi impressed the staff in training camp and was supposed to be a very significant player in the rotation. He was even set to receive opportunities in the lineup during preparation matches to test options for the rest of the season, but he suffered an injury and will return to full activity in a few weeks, after which he is expected to enter the rotation gradually.

Unlike those who went on loan and followed the familiar path, last season saw quite a few players make the direct jump from the youth team to the senior squad. Daniel Darzi was the first player marked to move up to the seniors and signed a new contract to receive credit, but it was quickly decided that Darzi was not yet ready, and he was loaned this season to Hapoel Kfar Saba.

The second player, Faingezicht, was supposed to be the most significant young player this season, serving as the senior left-back, certainly until December when Pierre Cornud is scheduled to return to action. However, in the final fixture of last season, Faingezicht was injured and is expected to miss most of the current season. The same applies to Elad Amir, who is highly valued by the professional staff, but his injury will also keep him out for most of the season, and the Greens are already planning the season without him.

While Niv Gabay has already gone out on loan to Ironi Kiryat Shmona - with Haifa convinced that Shay Barda will guide a process that brings him back next season in a much better position and capability - Liam Lusky will play for the youth team.

Two players who are expected to be significant this season are Steifman, who was designated as a starting center-back, though fluctuations since the start of the season have led the club to not rule out keeping Pedrao, which would immediately impact Steifman and Adam Grinberg. The striker viewed himself as the top forward during the first two Toto Cup matches, but Haifa took a step back, and Grinberg will not serve as the primary striker, though he is expected to receive plenty of minutes this season.

"Adam is a wonderful striker, and Lior Refaelov did not say at the press conference for no reason that he will be the leading striker in Israeli soccer in the coming years," a source at the club stated. "But you cannot place all the responsibility on his shoulders. It will be right to integrate him this season, give him substantial credit, but build him properly."

The third player marked last season was Navot Ratner, and the situation surrounding him appears to be the most significant. Ratner, who heard Bakhar refer to him as the "boss," has seen a drastic drop in status.

In the opening four matches of the season, Ratner played in only one game, and recently, rumors even began to surface regarding his dissatisfaction with his new status. Recently, Bakhar took the player aside for a conversation and reassured him, but Ratner himself will have to adjust to the fact that, at least at the start of the season, players like Eitan Azulay, Levi, Ali Mohamed, and Cedric Don take priority over him, and he will have to fight his way into the lineup.

"Ultimately, when you have so many young players, you have to build them," a club source continued. "Young players experience plenty of fluctuations, and those are things that must be taken into account."

"In the end, the fans, the club, and everyone want a championship, and you cannot win a championship with nine youth players in the lineup," another source at the team determined. "There is no doubt that players like Adam Grinberg, Steifman, Ratner, and others will be a factor and will get minutes, but no one can guarantee they will be starters throughout the entire season. That is part of the process. We have an excellent future generation, and there is no need to make noise about everything. There are quite a few players here who will take their first steps this year toward leading Maccabi Haifa in the coming years."