Maccabi Tel Aviv head coach Paulo Sousa is preparing his side for Saturday's clash with Hapoel Haifa at their Kiryat Eliezer Stadium. "We're looking at a very difficult match but we want to get the job done"
This morning Maccabi Tel Aviv held the pre-match press conference ahead of their Saturday evening tie against Hapoel Haifa in matchweek 10 of the Israeli Premier League. After 17 league and European matches and a handsome representation on the Israel national team, it would seem that the break the Maccabi squad enjoyed last week-end came at the perfect time. "The timing of this break was very good for us, it was important for us to rest, mentally, especially in that regard", head coach Paulo Sousa said. "Some of the players went abroad, spent time with their families, and I'm so pleased they came back with their spirits high. Just as I anticipated. They've certainly worked excellently up till now and I hope we'll return to the league at the same performance level we've been accustomed to displaying".
"Hapoel Haifa have been having an excellent season so far, they're one of the better organised sides and they know very well how to get points, how to win and how to deal with different kinds of teams. So we're looking at a difficult match but we know how to be Maccabi, we want to do our work in the best way possible and I'm certain that if we play the way we know how to play we'll have enough chances to win the match".
Sousa also talked about the injury situation ahead of the match: "(Midfielder) Dor Micha is back in regular training with the rest of the squad. As for (midfielder) Eran (Zahavi), as you were all able to see he got quite a rough knock and is still recovering. We still have another 48 hours till the match and we'll wait and see how he feels on Saturday. The decision to have him play or not is in no way connected with our (Europa League) match against APOEL Nicosia, if a player feels comfortable and is 100% fit to do his job, he is always one of my candidates to be included in the squad".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zL2XUPb0jQ
With Fifa extending till November 29th voting for the Ballon d'Or, it seemed only natural that in the end the Maccabi head coach would also be asked his opinion as to the world's best football player at the moment. His answer came without hesitation: "Being from Portugal I would always have to say Christiano Ronaldo. (Lionel) Messi and Ronaldo are different, they're both fantastic players from the same generation but as things stand now, with Messi injured and the way Ronaldo is playing right now, Christiano definitely deserves the Ballon d'Or".
Striker Tal Ben Haim is one of those players competing in all three arenas – league, Europe and international – and for him too this break came at an opportune moment: "This break was really good for all of us and came at an excellect time because we've had a lot of matches and the team's been under a lot of pressure. We have a lot of players on the (Israeli) national team and while other teams were resting a lot of our lads were playing internationals and that kept the pressure up, so this was a great time for a break, we rested, spent time with our families and came back hungry for that first league match".
He was asked about the frequent changes in the starting line-ups, particularly up front, popularly known as "rotation": "Everybody's trying to make it out as something bad and I think exactly the opposite, because it keeps all of us on our toes, we all know we have to train better and fight every week and at every training for our place in the starting eleven. Up till now I've always played for clubs where as long as I was healthy I'd play and I'm not sure that in the long run it was always good for me. It's only natural for a player who is sure of his place in the team to relax his effort and with us that never happens, not even with the players who have played more than others because at Maccabi all the players have to be on such a high level just to be part of the squad. There are lots of great players here and the bottom line is it's done me a lot of good".
As for Eran Zahavi's expected absence and the influence it might have on the team's performance, Haim added: "On the one hand, to say that Maccabi Tel Aviv is Eran Zahavi is a great compliment to Israel's greatest player at the moment, on the other hand it's a slight against the team as a whole, at the end of the day we are a team and this is football not tennis. Not to take anything away from Eran, who's been doing fantastic things this season, and is definitely the most in form player in the league, I'm still absolutely certain we can beat Hapoel Haifa without him".
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