Tal Ben Haim, the Maccabi Tel Aviv central defender addressed the media in preparation for the side’s Ligat Ha’Al Matchday 11 contest against Bnei Yehuda at Haberfeld Stadium in Rishon Le’Zion. The Yellow & Blue want to put aside the loss at Zenit and continue with another league win following their victory at Kiryat Shemona:
“As Maccabi Tel Aviv players we have an obligation to play well in every single match, we didn’t win in three straight league games even though we played well and controlled the tempo but we lost. I’ve heard of problems on offense and problems on defense. Out of boredom I decided to take a look at the statistics. We are playing better than last season and we have more chances as well. The defense has given up two less goals than last campaign and we’ve scored the same amount of goals as last season. We also had the exact same amount of points. We are playing good football, it may not have been our best performance at Kiryat Shemona but at least we took all of the points on a tough pitch. The coach may be sitting here and smiling, but he certainly knows how to give it to us. We know where we need to improve.
About what Jordi Cruyff said:
“Jordi can say anything that he wants and we’re aware as to the situation and we are doing our best to improve. If we were doing everything perfectly then we would be at the top of the table. We have some new players and we are getting better from match to match and I believe that very soon you’ll see Maccabi Tel Aviv turn the tables.”
Responsibility:
“I’m not one to run away from responsibility. I’m hungrier now than when I was an 18-year old. I play every match like it’s my last. If we don’t get a good result it sits with me all week long, at home, with my family and with everyone around me. We played well in the matches that we didn’t win and I’m convinced you don’t rewatch the games. We do and we also look at all of the statistics. Of course the coach can’t come onto the pitch and score a goal for us. We will begin to score more frequently again and we are playing quality football, we just have to improve our results.”
Message to the fans:
“I want to guarantee the fans that we are doing our maximum in every training session and every match. Very soon we will return to our rightful place.”
