Maccabi have now won five of their first six league matches. Pako: "We are closer to the way we want to play"
Having won three consecutive league games and scored nine goals in the last two, Maccabi Tel Aviv appear ready for next Monday's derby against Hapoel Tel Aviv. After their 5-2 win last night against Ashdod FC, Maccabi have now scored an average of just over three goals per match this season and head coach Pako Ayesteran is also satisfied with the progress his team are making: "Each game I like more and I think we are closer to the way we want to play". Asked if that included the two goals the opposition scored, the Spaniard answered: "No, especially because there was the free kick that if we had waited longer before we started running they probably wouldn't have been onside. I think we ran too early and not everyone at the same time so we conceded from a free kick. And after that the penalty that I think nobody had seen as a penalty, but everybody can make mistakes and I think the referee made one today". After it was pointed out that Maccabi could have scored more, he replied: "Many chances. It was this kind of game and I said that to them at the interval but if we had kept the aggressiveness and the focus on the game we could have finished with a bigger score. But at the end it was just 5-2".
Quite naturally the assembled press wanted to know if the team are ready for next week's derby against Hapoel Tel Aviv. Pako: "I think we are ready to play any game and the derby is one more game that has three points. I don't think they will give us one more for it being a derby. In this case we have to play, compete and be aware because in derbies you know that no matter what our positions are and no matter the question of who is playing better, in the derby anything can happen. This is the motivation that can change games".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMQ0Ez8aMlU&list=UU-oWQqnf8B8a_TsmVi0mTUg
In what seems to be turning into a routine, journalists returned to the story about players who stayed on the bench or only came in as substitutes, including striker Eden Ben Basat, who came on in the second half: "It was not a story for me," said Pako, "The media ask so many things, it's your story not mine. It's difficult, and of course they know I understand that they can be upset. But this is a problem of being at Maccabi Tel Aviv, that you know that there's good quality all throughout the squad and not everybody can play. The question is I have to get the best performances from the players and I know I'm not going to play with the same eleven all season, maybe not even two, three games in a row. Why? Because you have to get the best performances that you see in the training sessions and in the previous games. In this case sometimes it will be Mahran (Radi), sometimes it will be Nosa (Iegbor), I don't know who it will be next week, you know, but I have to get the most from a full squad because if not I will call to (Maccabi Tel Aviv owner) Mitch Goldhar and I'll say, look, with fifteen players I've got enough. He will be very grateful with me, he'll say oh, I want to save so much money. But if you've got players you have to use them".
Eden Ben Basat was himself interviewed and carried on where his coach left off: "I'm very happy to play, the pitch for me is the place to be. The situation's a bit new to me, I'm working and learning from it. Everybody wants to play, there isn't a player who doesn't, and the competition is a good thing for Maccabi Tel Aviv. My only interest is what happens on the pitch. I try to practise well and work hard just to get back on the pitch because that's the best place for me to do my talking".
The striker continued:"I'm very happy to be at Maccabi Tel Aviv and I don't regret coming here for a moment. Did you see how the crowd got behind me? I get it from the players too, we're all really close and I'm very grateful to them for that. You can see how strong the club are, united you know, and I hope it will stay that way. The most important thing is winning, we have to focus on ourselves, on winning, on the good things and really, everything will work out. I'm working hard and that's the only way I'll earn my place in the squad, not by talking".
Eran Zahavi, who extended his amazing run of consecutive goals to eleven league games, was quick to compliment his team-mates: "We played brilliantly as a team, everybody played a part and the support we get from one another is fantastic. It's a pleasure to be with these guys, I'm proud of our performance tonight and now we look ahead. I can feel us improving, we're not quite where we could be or want to be but we're getting better with each match. We're getting better in a lot of areas the coach wants us to and we're headed in the right direction, even though we could be demanding more of ourselves. We conceded from set pieces and that bothers all of us, we'll have to work on that, but compared to how we performed, it was just a glitch".
Zahavi's playing in a more forward position has also been the subject of much speculation in the press of late, and the midfielder took the opportunity to explain: "I like being on the pitch, I especially like it when the lads are on the move and play well, that just makes it easier for me to give my best. We're headed in the right direction and it makes no difference who plays and where. We have to do our jobs and so far it's going spot on".
