The Derby’s back in town. It’s become a ritual that there is a Toto Cup Derby but truthfully the feelings and emotions surrounding it feels like it’s a promo. The league derby is the real thing. The tension rises and the preparations become even more real. These are the types of matches you wait for all season long your whole career.
The squad is somewhat going through a renewal of sorts due to the new players that have been added. Myself, along with the other veterans are taking them under our wings and preparing them for this type of match and what to expect. I’m sure that everyone has taken part in a derby of some sort or another, but the Tel Aviv Derby is something extraordinary. Even though it’s not taking place at Bloomfield, there will still be plenty of emotions for this match and we will have to make sure we keep them in check. At the end of the day, we need to continue with our good start to the season and keep collecting points that will help us down the line.
I won’t deny that the match against Zenit was traumatic for all of us and lasted a day or two but from there we moved on and took the good things from the game as there were plenty of minutes where we played quality football against a very tough opponent. When the final whistle sounded, we had to put the frustration and disappointment aside because we knew we had another game to get ready for in just three days and immediately following that, we had more and more games so there was no time for us to let it sink in. In my opinion, we have made it past this match in good shape. Now all of our energies are directed towards the Big Derby on Sunday.
There’s one more thing that’s very important for me to say. The Club is going through some changes. We all have to be united in order to succeed and most importantly we all must put the Club above everything else. Maccabi Tel Aviv’s goal is to bring the championship back home and play hard in Europe and the State Cup. In order to do that, we need all of you, the fans to stand behind us and support us all the way.”
