Eran Zahavi is preparing for his side’s match against Hapoel Tel Aviv on Matchday 22 of the WINNER League this coming Sunday evening at Bloomfield Stadium, 20:55. The captain discussed the upcoming Derby match, the transfer window and his former teammate Gili Vermouth:

“Gili is a good player and he could have helped us but as the coach said, he wanted to play more minutes and I wish him the best of luck with his new team. I know what he could give to the team but he was disappointed with the amount of minutes he was receiving and he moved on. He worked hard at practice, but at the end of the day the coach chooses who plays and who doesn’t. He made a decision and again I want to wish him the best of luck.”

Availability of Israel players for Maccabi:

“I think that if Maccabi could find Israeli players who could help the team they would have brought them in, but not every Israeli player can help the club. If a certain player is not here then he’s just not good enough to play at Maccabi Tel Aviv.”

On his status at Maccabi:

“I’m happy here and until something comes up, I am happy to play here and stay with Maccabi.”

Hapoel Beer Sheva:

“We aren’t interested in looking at any other team. We are just concentrating on Maccabi Tel Aviv and this is the only thing that we can control, how we play and how we perform. We can’t do anything with the other clubs.”

Improving:

“We need to improve both our defensive and offensive game and I don’t think that there is any specific major issue, we just have to keep getting better.”

The new recruits, Orlando Sa and Haris Medunjanin:

“I’m sure that he (Orlando) can really help us and he did in the Cup match against Rishon Le’Zion. And Haris Medunjanin will also be a big help here at the club. I hope they will do a great job with the team and I wish them the best of luck.”

On attempting to break the single season goal record :

“I’m not looking at any personal records, right now I’m looking about how we can get out of second place. If I break the record, great. But right now most importantly is to win the upcoming Derby match.”

About the Derby:

“Every Derby is an exciting match, but at the end of the day the Derby is just another match for three points.”