Maccabi Tel Aviv ‘Shachar’ will face Hapoel Ramat Gan this Saturday (12am,Sport5) with only two games left in the U-19s league.Arie: "we need to be cautious"
The 29th fixture of the U-19st league will kick-off this Saturday. With only two games left, Maccabi Tel Aviv “Shacher” is in a terrific position to win the league, having a three points lead and a better goal difference over second in the table, Maccabi Haifa. While the young Yellows are preparing for the match, Coach Ziv Arie took some time to provide us with his insights towards the matchup with Hapoel Ramat Gan this Saturday at noon.
“We need to be cautious. We were complacent against Petah Tikva and it nearly cost us the game. Hapoel Ramat Gan needs the points as much as we do. In addition they’ll have something to prove after the heavy loss we inflicted on them in the previous round. It won’t be a simple game. The game against Hapoel Petah Tikva was an easy game on paper but we made it difficult on ourselves. It is hard to read the kids in these situations but we remain calm towards the game. We made a great tactical preparation. We know we are the better team, but sometimes its not enough in football”.
Arie runs a very intensive training session. He takes the time to comment and to correct his players, and mostly makes sure to keep them their tensions high ahead of Saturday: “We have to cope with the pressure physically and mentally. The data showed us that our offense wasn’t running as much against Petah Tikva. Why did it happen? It could be a mental issue; complacency, pressure or over motivation. We might have heard some of the external voices saying we are already champions. It could easily transmit from your head to your feet. We want to think that we have a European approach in this area, but we were probably affected anyway. The best thing that happened against Petah Tikva is that we won. Young players find it sometimes difficult to peak as they did against Haifa”.
Arie mentions the game against Maccabi Haifa for a good reason. The coach who was promoted from the U-17s holds a perfect record against Haifa in the last two seasons. The 4-2 victory against Haifa in ‘Ketzef’ gave Maccabi Tel Aviv a great push towards winning the U-19s league. If they do clinch the title, Maccabi would become the record holder with eight championships: “We are not at a point to discuss football philosophy. After losing to Be’er Sheva (1-0), we decided that we have to win every game in order to achieve our goals. We had a good tactical performance against Haifa and we knew how to take our risks".
A short while before the game against Haifa, Maccabi’s staff struggled with the team’s finishing in front of goal. Arie’s team would create many chances but would miss many of them, a fact that caused them to lose points against Maccabi Netanya and Hapoel Be’er Sheva: “In the first round we cruised through games against teams like Nes Ziona and Beiter Jerusalem. In the second round however, we found it more difficult to score, although we managed to pull through. Against Haifa we knew that they are planning to attack, which meant that we had more space to play our game. The players were calm in front of goal and it was reflected by the final score”.
Arie is about to finish his second season in the U-19s. He promoted no less than 12 players from his former U-17s, which might explain the good season the young Yellows are going through. The U-19s had already broken the record for goals per season and now are looking towards their next goal, to become champions.
