After a string of league victories and a milestone accomplishment in Europe, Maccabi Tel Aviv are poised for their next historic achievement – 3,000 league goals
This morning Maccabi Tel Aviv held an additional practice ahead of their Israeli Premier ("Winner") League matchweek 14 home tie against Hapoel Acre. Before the training, head coach Paulo Sousa and midfielder Mahran Radi attended a press conference. "I've already expressed to you, as a coach and as a person, how happy I am to have the kind of fans that Maccabi Tel Aviv have.", said Sousa in reference to the support he and the team have had in the past week. "It goes without saying that the (Tel Aviv) derby is not just any match, it's important to the fans and the way they stood behind us helped us immensely in achieving one of our objectives this season, for me personally and also for the players and the club. We've already spoken about how important it was to win because we set for ourselves a number of objectives at the start of the season. One of them was the derby, another Thursday night's victory against Bordeaux (in the Europa League), another still was a difficult one, winning in Haifa. We have more objectives, but one of them we'll already be facing this Saturday because we'll have the opportunity to make more club history with Maccabi's 3,000th league goal".
"I believe that as professionals the players have to be prepared for a match like on Saturday, because the demands are completely different because they have different players and they play differently. That's why they raise different problems that require advanced preparation. We have to prepare ourselves to keep up the pressure all the time, remembering our game principle of always controlling the match, whether we're in possession or not. Like in every match we'll try to create chances to get the result in the end that we're looking for in every match, all three points. It's not a question of what I'll say to the players before the match, it's a question of work and if the players don't demonstrate a commitment to the match throughout the week it will make things more difficult for us at the match itself".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsNDQCgF7t8&list=UU-oWQqnf8B8a_TsmVi0mTUg
"The players aren't there just to play in important matches, but to play in every match, whatever its nature. Our mentality is a winning mentality and of course after such an important week like the last one the demands in that respect are very high, so the players are mentally drained so to speak. The physical demands also make things difficult but we've had a day off, yesterday, to get back on our feet and starting today we begin our preparations, not at the pace we'd like because time is short, but Saturday is right around the corner".
Sousa also addressed himself to some of the incidents that occurred at Monday's Tel Aviv derby, among others midfielder Eran Zahavi's celebration of his goal in front of the fans of his former club and the aggressive tackle that sidelined striker Munas Dabbur: "To me it's not a question of protecting my players but of protecting football as a whole, which means in fact the players themselves. You always have to think twice because after all we see things differently than the referees, but when players gets tackled from behind let's not forget that we have an obligation to protect them. They are the flesh and blood of this game and if we want to see good football played by the best footballers, we have to protect them. Not just my players but all the players. As for Eran, you're talking about a guy who loves to play football, invests a great deal of emotion in his game, every minute of every match and every practice. For somebody who loves to play and score goals there's a tremendous need to get all that emotion out afterwards and I think all the negative reaction to his celebration was completely unjustified".
Sousa also talked about the physical fitness of his players and the preparations before and during the match: "One of the players who has had a knock or two in his time and coped with injuries throughout his career came to me and said he's never recovered from injuries so quickly as he has during his time at Maccabi. This is something we value and wish to provide the players with the best there is to help them recover quickly and be as fit as they can for the next match. Preparations for a match are made before the match and not just during the match and it's all a question of reading the game and making the right decisions. I love to make decisions, I never hurry and I don't use my instincts, I respond to things and if I have any doubts I consult my staff and in the end make my decision".
Midfielder Mahran Radi spoke about the pressure of the last week from the point of view of the players: "I didn't play the full 90 minutes in all three matches, but I have to say the pressure was really on us. We feel good about the results we got, even physically, and that's what I'm feeling right now. It may be that playing three matches in a week makes it difficult to give it your all in every match, physically I mean, but I do think we've stood up very well to the challenge so far, maybe we didn't play our best but we got the points and that's what's important. After (Hapoel) Acre we'll have just one match a week and I'm sure the professional staff will work with us on other elements of our game that we have to improve".
Radi, who has played for Hapoel Acre, knows as well as anyone how difficult a match that looks "easy" on paper can be: "Every match is a landmine, especially against a side that on paper are at the bottom, but I've played for small clubs and I know what it's like to come up against a big club, especially one at the top of the table and especially Maccabi, the champions, every player will be super motivated. For every match we prepare ourselves in the best possible way, and that's the way a professional has to behave. I don't understand why the press ignore Hapoel Beer Sheva, who are right behind us in the table, but so far we're concerned, we're just focused on ourselves and how to best prepare ourselves for matches. We're always working on ways to get all three points and that's what's important to us".
Radi also talked about the influence of the head coach, who like himself played in central midfield: "The coach demonstrates things and tells us things, sometimes little things that are so important and me personally, I've learned a lot of new things he taught me. Having a coach who was also a midfielder is a bonus. The coach always gives us the feeling that we must demonstrate our superiority at every match, he's always saying "Be Maccabi" and he understands what that means. We have to have a presence and make that presence felt, both emotionally and in terms of our motivation, and demonstrate our superiority and that's something he returns to time and again".
