With West Ham midfielder and Israel captain Yossi Benayoun expected to join Liverpool this week, Keith Perkins takes a look at the career of a fellow Israeli, Avi Cohen…
Avi Cohen – Brief Encounter
Avraham (Avi) Cohen only made a few appearances for Liverpool over two seasons, but he will be fondly remembered by those who were around the club at the time. He wasn’t one of the great Liverpool players to make it into the top 100 Players Who Shook The Kop, and neither was he included in the spoof ‘10 Players Who Shook The Kop (with laughter)’ featured on The Liverpool Way website.
His transfer to Liverpool came in May of 1979 during Bob Paisley’s time as manager, and was signed for a fee of £200,000 from Israeli Champions Maccabi Tel Aviv. At the time, he was highly rated as the best all-round player of all the Israeli internationals, and was expected to perform well in a variety of positions. He was even described by some as “The Beckenbauer of the Middle East.”
His first appearance was in September 1979 as a midfield replacement for the injured Ray Kennedy in a match against Leeds United. It was far from a dream debut and showed that it was going to take some time for this international player to become familiar with the English game, and particularly with Liverpool’s methods. That resulted in him being put into the reserve side for six months, after which time it was decided that he may be ready to join the senior squad again. That was for the last home match of the season which turned out to be a memorable occasion, but not necessarily for the right reasons. In his total time at Liverpool, which was only for two seasons, Avi Cohen played in twenty games and scored two goals. That’s not a bad ratio for a defender, but one of those was an own goal!
In the last home match of the 1979-80 season, Liverpool could clinch the title with a win against Aston Villa; and Cohen was playing at left back in place of Alan Kennedy. The match was off to a great start when David Johnson opened the scoring after only three minutes. Then, with Aston Villa pushing forward, a shot from Villa’s Linton deflected off Cohen’s outstretched leg that was attempting to block the shot, and looped over Clemence into the net. Avi described his feelings at that moment saying, “I just wanted the ground to swallow me up.” Six minutes into the second half, Cohen ran onto a badly cleared ball and blasted it through a crowd of players into the Kop goal. The moment was immortalized by John Motson’s commentary, “Oh I say! At the same end he’s got one back!” Liverpool went on to win 4-1 and become champions for the twelfth time. Avi Cohen did not receive a medal though as he had not played in enough games that season.
His smooth passing and distribution of the ball, combined with an ability to read the game and anticipate play, as well as strength in the air and hard tackling, should have signalled the birth of a new star at Anfield. But, his lack of pace was enough to mean that he was mostly used to replace players who were out due to injury. At the start of the 1980-81 season, things were looking up as he went on a run of appearances, but as it turned out he only played in fourteen League matches.
One famous story about Avi Cohen concerns his problems with a new language. When he came in for training, he found that his peg was next to Kenny Dalglish’s. Avi repeatedly said to Kenny, “Me, you, same.” Kenny’s curiosity finally broke down his patience until he asked (in broad Glaswegian), “What do you mean by that?” Avi replied, “Kenny, you me same. Both learn English!”
The fact that Avi Cohen was an Israeli, and one of only a few foreign players in the English League, generated considerable interest from the press – especially in Israel. One time when Bob Paisley was in his office, the phone rang and Bob answered it. The caller said that he was a reporter from the Jewish Chronicle and wanted to know if Avi Cohen was orthodox. “Orthodox what?” replies Paisley, “Do you mean orthodox defender or midfielder?” “No” said the reporter, “Orthodox Jewish. If he is, he cannot play on Saturdays.” Paisley then said, “I’ve got half a dozen like that already!”
Avi Cohen’s contract was not renewed in 1981. It may have been the cold English winters or his wife’s homesickness that led to his return to Israel and Macabbi Tel Aviv in November of 1981 for a fee of £100,000. Avi’s total appearances amounted to 24 games, with one goal, and was part of the Charity Shield winning side in both 1979 and 1980. Six years later, he and his wife braved one more winter by going to Glasgow Rangers who at the time were managed by former team-mate Graeme Souness who obviously still thought highly of his abilities. After that single season in Scotland, he returned once again to Israel with Maccabi Netanya.
Avi Cohen’s international career spanned from 1976 to 1988, during which time he earned 52 caps and scored 3 goals (none of which came during his two seasons with Liverpool). The later stages of his playing days took him to Sheffield United, Huddersfield, and Port Elizabeth in South Africa. Since his return to Israel after retiring from playing, he has become the head of the players’ union. He also takes great pride in watching the development of his son Tamir, who first played in Maccabi Tel Aviv’s youth squad and senior squad, and is now a midfielder with Avi’s other Israel club Maccabi Netanya.
Looking back at Avi Cohen’s overall career, he may have only had a brief encounter with Liverpool, but it is one that many of us will remember – and remember with fondness.
Keith Perkins
Written by Keith Perkins
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