You missed us? We missed you too! Well here we are as we come back from International matches into a very busy and intense month ahead with 6 games in 20 days. Our goal is to always play in as many competitions as possible including in Europe as well. We’re prepared for packed months just like this one so don’t worry – that won’t be an excuse.
I want to remind you that over the past four years we’ve played in European competitions three times, including the Champions League last season, so we are pretty much used to it and will be able to make the necessary adjustments. It’s true that this month in particular will be a very intense, more than any other month this year but we’ve experienced this before and it’s for the good that we have a busy month.
We’re opening up against Beitar Jerusalem and they are a club who gave us plenty of problems last season and took some very valuable points away from us while we battled for the title but ended up falling short. At the end of the day, we can’t look at what was last year, but rather focus on the campaign in front of us. This is a totally different team than last year’s. They are a strong opponent but one that we know and we will have to make sure that we make the proper adjustments.
We always want to win every match. We may be coming into this contest with a perfect record after two Matchdays but it’s way to early to talk about the league table as it’s just the beginning of the season. Also, on Thursday we have a game against Zenit St. Petersburg on Matchday One of the Europa League and we aren’t looking at this match against Beitar as preparation because we treat every game separately.
The Maccabi of this year has been playing a very offensive style. Some claim that it’s at the expense of our defense and I believe that this could be correct only during the last few minutes of a match where we are looking to attack. But at the end of the day, the players fully understand that we can’t forget the defensive side of our game during these critical minutes. We all know that we can’t give up a goal otherwise we will have a much harder time and when we discuss our defensive game we are talking about the whole team’s defense. We are all working on defense while we are also looking to score.
If you want to know what’s going on with me on a personal level, I can tell you that just like any other season there is always a battle between the players for a spot in the Starting XI. I personally know that I have to give it my all in order for me to prove that I deserve to play. I have to make sure to show the coach all of my abilities and prove to him that I belong in the starting lineup. I’m working hard on this and I hope that I’ll succeed and show that I’m up to the task.
We’ve already played matches in Netanya but not in the Ligat Ha’Al. On Sunday, we will play our first league contest at the Netanya Stadium and I can’t emphasize how important it will be that the stands will be packed with all of your support. When the stands aren’t full, we definitely feel it on the pitch. When the stadium isn’t filled to the brim it impacts us as well. We don’t just say that you’re the 12th player for nothing. Your support is the most important thing for us and I call on all of you to be with us for the length of the season and we will do our utmost to give you some amazing moments of joy and happiness.
I hope that we will already be able to give you those moments this Sunday against Beitar.
I look forward to seeing you there.
YALLA MACCABI!
