Shota Arveladze, the Yellow & Blue coach spoke to the press following his side’s 0:0 draw as Maccabi spoilt the points with Alkmaar. The boss talked about the decisions he made, pressure as well as passion and reviewed the match that was and what he may expect in Russia on Matchday Five:
“If the game in St. Petersburg was in three or four days it would be a different case than when it will really will be at the end of the month. Some of the players will go on international duty but we have one game before and one game after. Right now the points are even as we have four points and Dundalk has four points as well. We played offensive football with a number of chances but there were parts when we weren’t as good. I asked Rajikovic to slow things down to cool off the team and he did exactly that. We have to give credit to the boys and the pitch wasn’t as good but they were all there. I saw how much we wanted to score but we couldn’t. The most difficult thing in football is to score.”
Scoring issues:
“All of the goal scorers were on the field except for Eden Ben Basat. The rest were on the field. Omri had to come out due to injury and we then we had to adjust. It’s not that easy to decide who comes in. We had 25 chances to score over the last four games across a number of competitions but the ball has to go in at some point. I always expect the goal scorers to score and eventually they will.”
Playing with passion:
“For 90 minutes we went on counter attacks, they all played their positions and there were no cramps. The set pieces were all organized as well. The guys gave it their all.”
Pressure:
“There is never a week where Maccabi has no pressure. Everyone from the club starting with the doorman and ending with the bus driver, we all have a love for the club. We have to give credit to the guys as they play every second day and we also have to give credit to the opponents, Beer Sheva, AZ and also Zenit, one of the best in Europe. This is why we love football. Our opponents have also played well and done a good job as they also have keepers. But I feel good because we have been creating and we have a number of players who can score.”
Decisions:
“Before the game all of the decisions were right as the game goes on you see what was right. Nosa had a problem with his knee and we gave him a break this week. Scarione was also not in the position he usually likes. But we will come into Sunday ready as we are already recovering. Sometimes the ball looks like an ugly ball but it will eventually go in.”
