On the eve of the season's league opener, new head coach Pako Ayestaran gave the official Maccabi website his first interview. Watch the video
Maccabi Tel Aviv, Israeli Premier League champions of the past two years, will begin this season's title defence tonight in an away tie against Maccabi Petach Tikva, attempting to accomplish what only a few teams have succeeded in doing before them: Capture three successive league championships. Overseeing this intricate mission is Spanish coach Pako Ayestaran, who has been at the club for less than a month and who only saw the inside of Bloomfield Stadium for the second time last week. “Honestly, I wasn’t surprised by what I found at Maccabi Tel Aviv”, the coach told the official website. “I heard from Juan Torrijo that they are a well organised club that improve from day to day, a club with objectives and a way of doing things. Not only to achieve results, but also to implement proper procedures”.
Ayestaran already reached the peaks of European football when he won the UEFA Cup with Valencia, as well as local titles in Spain and England and, most notably, the Champions League with Liverpool – but the passion remains the same. “I cannot see myself doing anything else”, he said. “What motivates me is that my dreams of the past are the same as my dreams of the present. If you keep on believing that you are living the dream, you will continue trying to succeed”.
What about our league? “Right now, I choose to focus on improving my team more than analysing our rivals. If we manage to improve, we will be able to face any rival. Winning a championship once is hard, but possible. The true challenge is continuing to win and I think it’s an excellent objective. What’s important to me is why you are doing it, and when I see the passion that the fans bring with them, I understand the reason”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sur-NUm-bBg&list=UU-oWQqnf8B8a_TsmVi0mTUg
