Head coach Pako Ayestaran on playing at Ashdod: "It's going to be really difficult. It's a really dynamic team"
This morning Maccabi Tel Aviv held their pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday night's away encounter at Ashdod FC, where Maccabi haven't won in their last four league outings. Head coach Pako Ayestaran was first asked if perhaps Ashdod's "Hayud Alef" Stadium was one of Maccabi's more difficult venues: "Not only Maccabi. Even this year it is a difficult pitch to play on. I think from eight games they lost just two games. In this case it's going to be really difficult. It's a really dynamic team. They have a 4-3-3, they try to start off the game at the opposition, they try to play from the back as well and it's going to be tough, really tough". Reminded that Maccabi had easy going when they won 5-2 in the parallel home fixture in October, the coach responded: "It was not that easy. They were quite a good team in Bloomfield but it's true as well we were fantastic that game. I think for me from the first part of the season, Acre and Ashkelon were our best performances, and if we are able to be at this level we'll have a chance. If we play at the level of the last minute of the last game at Bloomfield we'll have problems".
The Spaniard continued: "After every game we try to analyse the game, the positives, the negatives, what we have to take from the game for the future and what we shouldn't allow ourselves to repeat. The lack of intensity, especially in the second half of that game, is something that shouldn't be. It's not the standard of Maccabi Tel Aviv and it's not the standard that is going to allow us to win the championship. But this is something that they know as well. It's something that big teams that want to become bigger shouldn't allow to themselves, to drop your standards".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0YSiYiYtLQ&feature=youtu.be
Not unexpectedly, the journalists present were curious if Maccabi intended to become more active in the January transfer window. Pako: "It's not easy. The market is the one we've got, especially the Israeli market, and it's not easy to improve the squad. But still the club is looking. If any opportunity that is good for the club and is good to improve the level we have at the moment, we'll have a look. Mainly it's the part of (owner) Mitch (Goldhar), (CEO) Martin (Bain) and (sports director) Jordi (Cruyff) because they are the ones involved in the stability. For now I am just a coach and I am a coach from this year and this is what I have to worry about. About this season to be sure that we get all the targets we are capable of getting, down to our potential, and that's all for now. I've got my own vision but of course they are experienced people, the three of them, Mitch, Jordi and Martin in different roles in football, and they've got their knowledge as well. They've got their sources to get information and I think Maccabi has to be pleased with the level they have achieved under these people. But you see for yourselves if Kiryat Shmona and Beer Sheva and ourselves for now haven't moved for any player, it's a sign that it's not easy in this transfer window. But I really believe that if they (the present squad) are able to replicate that performance (against Ashdod), for sure we are going to be contenders. But if we perform at the level of the last game and especially the last thirty, forty minutes of the last game, we will have problems, and they know. "
Also present was Omri Ben Harush, and he too had a word to say about Saturday's upcoming match: "We're still not entirely satisfied and not in the place where we want to be. As for Ashdod, coach is getting us ready as best as is possible and we'll be going down there to win. Ashdod are very good at home, it's been like that for years. You can see that there isn't a team in the league that has any easy time of it there. Maybe it's the size of the pitch, maybe it's the atmosphere, but for certain it won't be easy".
The young defender was also asked about his reaction to other clubs' moves on the transfer market: "It's not our business what other clubs do, in the transfer market or elsewhere. We have depth in our squad and every player can be replaced by someone else if it's necessary. Of course we talk about it among ourselves and anyone who joins will be welcome and if they don't, they don't. We don't have any special wishes. Competition is always a good thing at the club and any player joining will have to prove himself and if he's not good enough, he won't be missed".
After shipping somewhat regularly in the first part of the season, the team seem to have turned a corner since the start of the second round of the Israeli Premier League season and have now gone five matches without conceding a goal. Ben Harush: "First of all we've been concentrating more on the mistakes we made and improving on them. Secondly, it's something we're always talking about – defenders, attackers, the whole squad. I've always had an excellent understanding with (keeper) Juan Pablo. Maybe the short rest he got (through injury) did him good and I'm happy he's in such good form. As for me, I just want to win every game and I'll do whatever the coach thinks is best. I have a bit more license to join the attack and I'm happy that most of the time it helps, but like I said, the coach decides".
