After the important victory over Alkmaar, Maccabi Tel Aviv gets back to league play following a three week break as they take on Maccabi Haifa at the Netanya Stadium tomorrow night at 21:00. The Yellow & Blue find themselves at the top of the table after six Matchdays and want to continue where they left off after the Derby victory.
The Maccabi Tel Aviv Head Coach Shota Arveladze spoke at the prematch press conference prior to his club’s contest against the Greens:
“I think every game has been important up until now and every game coming up will be important as well. Anything we lose we won’t be able to get back again. We have had a good run and games like tomorrow will make us stronger. All the guys want to play and I have a tough decision to make but this is great problem for a coach when all the players come back from international break and are in shape. We have a excellent medical staff and I have to thank them for the great work that they do.”
About Haifa:
“I think that they play good football and they are good in counterattacks as well. Their coach’s knowledge is good and he will want to play football so it should be a good game as both teams will come and play which will be good for the supporters. They also have quick players and I know who has scored in the past. They can hurt us if we aren’t alert.”
On being the favorite:
“We want to have that feeling of being the favorite every game we play. In Europe we also want to have that feeling, but also don’t want to be arrogant. We want to have the belief so that we can be number one in the league here. We want to believe that we are strong and will do well.”
Player selection:
“It’s a pity that we can only have 18 players in the squad. When everyone is fit then you have to make a choice and leave some players outside of the squad. It’s not a good feeling but those are the rules. The size should be 22 players and provides good competition for everyone as we play in 4 competitions and for some players a fifth with their National Teams.”
Improving:
“We have played more than 22 games and there were only two games that we played really well one of which was the Derby. I was definitely looking for a good game in Ireland, but this is football. That’s why Man City can lose 4:0 as well. I have to give credit to the Irish team as they played well. But I mentioned to the captain that we can continue and go and show how good we are. There is a process that we are going through here at Maccabi and it’s not about just showing up, but we want to make each and every training session better and better.”
On who will play against Haifa:
“I haven’t made the choices yet as we have one day to go, but we are lucky that we have a team that every player can play in every game. Some of the younger guys didn’t have a chance to play and everyone wants to play. We know that this game is special for some guys and we have to have a good session later today and then we will see.”
About Eyal Golasa:
“We signed Golasa because we believed in him and that we would be stronger than what we have been. We knew from the first day he was here that he could give us more power from the midfield. He’s always in a good mood and loves football. He went to the National Team and had a chance to play and he had the same chance with us and did a good job.”
