Maccabi Tel Aviv head coach Paulo Sousa knows that everyone is targeting his team, and in particular Sunday evening's rival, Hapoel Beer Sheva: "At the moment we are the champions and also first in the league".
We're slightly past the halfway mark of the 2013/14 season and this Sunday, Maccabi Tel Aviv's Bloomfield Stadium will be the stage for one of the more important moments so far. At 8.50pm the league's number one (Maccabi Tel Aviv) will go head to head with the league's number two (Hapoel Beer Sheva) in what is already being billed as the "match of the season". At a press conference that was held today (Thursday) ahead of this intriguing tie, Maccabi head coach Paulo Sousa talked about the challenges facing his squad: "I think it's difficult when you are champions. Since 2000 I think it's been Maccabi Haifa who have dominated the league. They are used to winning and to repeating the feat. And now we are in this process, but it's difficult to repeat, we've known that from the beginning. Everyone is looking for Maccabi to fail, because we are the champions. Unfortunately for Beer Sheva, at the moment we are the champions and they want to beat us, and at the moment we are also first in the league.
Sousa spoke in complimentary fashion about Sunday's rivals, who until now have had a very good season: "Compared to last season at this stage, Beer Sheva have six more points than Maccabi did. And last year's second placed club had eleven points less than Beer Sheva at this moment so it's different. Beer Sheva have the numbers of champions at this moment and they deserve all the credit because they are doing really well". But Sousa also took the opportunity to focus the attending journalists' attention on his own club's achievements so far: "We also have important numbers on our side, it's something we can be proud of and we must focus on that. Fifty points from twenty games, there are not that many teams in Europe who achieve things like that. And we have a new element for this team, the Europa League, where for the first time we have qualified in the group phase with eleven points. Also winning away games is another thing we are integrating into the club psychology, including our fans, to create a culture, which is not winning one game, you need to keep repeating it. We're very proud of everything we're doing and it should give us confidence in the whole process ahead of us".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m21iKqQT3eM
Ahead of the match Sousa also spoke about professional aspects, analysing his rivals and what his players were up against: "Beer Sheva are a team that don't take too many risks, and every time you take risks with us you concede goals. And I'm sure, also from analysing their games, that they will continue to avoid risks. They're a team that have scored around 53% of their goals from set pieces, which they are really very strong at, with the rest of the goals coming from direct football, where there's no risk involved. So it's up to us to take the risks because we're a team that likes to assume control, create emotions during the game, creating opportunities, scoring goals and winning games. And on Sunday I hope it will be one of those games".
"First of all we need to be really dominant and not concede set pieces. If we are dominant and stay out of our box we won't concede. So yes, we are working on that. I think the team are doing well, in offence and in defence, and also progressing in defending in set pieces".
Sousa is aware of the importance of the match but he's confident that even afterwards there will be plenty to play for: "Yes, it's a game of take six points but you don't resolve the league with six points. Win or lose, for us or Beer Sheva or the others, you don't settle the league that way, we still have many points in front of us. To win the league you must be consistent, winning game by game, and Beer Sheva are doing just that. The key to Sunday's game is that we're playing at home and hopefully our fans will support us from the beginning to the end. This will make a big difference. And support not just some of the Maccabi players, but all of them throughout the whole match".
Sousa also spoke about striker Munas Dabbur who left the club for Swiss first division side Grasshopper: "Whether it's a mistake or not, I cannot decide for him. But since the beginning, when I arrived here, Munas was injured for three or four months. We started to work with him, we saw a lot of progress. He's a good professional, working, developing, and from the beginning I said to the club that this is a player for the present and a player who should be part of the future of this club. We're looking to build the club up, create important things for the future, and I rate him as one of the key players who left. But he left at this moment and it's like I always say – the players who stay are always better than the players who left. I wish him all the best in making a fantastic career. I'm sure he will achieve great things. He has talent, he has the quality to achieve this. I think he has a good mentality as well. I wish him all the best. But at this moment I'm focused on my players, the players I have and they are the best. And so far they've shown me, the ones who are here, that I can count on them because they deliver everything they have and so far I'm happy".
Team captain Sheran Yeini had this to add ahead of the match: "We understand that it's "sexy" to talk against us and for Beer Sheva because they're the little engine that could, you know, have a chance to win the league. That only makes us all the more focused and more prepared ahead of the match and it's good for us. It's not a match that will decide the championship and like coach said, there are still a lot of points to be won. Everybody seems in a hurry to declare a winner or point to struggle at the top, but the bottom line is that those sorts of issues are only decided in April or May".
Just like his coach, the team skipper is aware of Beer Sheva's abilities from set pieces: "As for neutralising that ability, you can start by committing less fouls. We're a very good team from set pieces ourselves and we're getting better all the time. Beer Sheva should also be worried about our set pieces, in particular with one of their key defenders (the Serbian Tomislav Pajovic) not playing".
Yeini, who came up through the club's youth system, was asked about players who have left in the January transfer window and also played in the youth ranks (Reef Peretz, Moshe Lugassi, Yagil Biton and Munas Dabbur): "We're fond of all the players who have moved on to other clubs, it will have an effect in both the social and professional sense. We want to keep a lot of our own youth players at the club, and I believe we'll see more and more of them in the coming years".
