Lior Timor and Shirly Bar Dayan bring you this week’s edition of the Maccabi-Cast as Tal Banin and Dor Micha join the show to talk all about the Yellow & Blue.
Tal Banin, one of the former Maccabi superstars and legendary players spoke about the team and how the Yellow & Blue fans know how to back the team through thick or thin:
“The Maccabi fans understand that the players and team have won so many titles and games over the past few years. Even though they may have lost a pair of matches they wanted to show how much they support them and how they are still behind them.”
Support during the good and not so good times:
“There’s no question that the fans can help the team when they are down. When the times are good it’s normal to cheer but when the times are rough it’s especially warming to have the fans really support the club.”
Stepping up:
“This is the time when the leaders have to show why they are leaders. When everything goes well it’s easy, but now is when the veterans have to step up. They all know the importance of the name Maccabi Tel Aviv and they will show why the club itself has been the leader in Israeli football. If you look at Hapoel Beer Sheva and Maccabi Haifa, Maccabi has been their role model over the past few seasons. With Mitch Goldhar and Jordi Cruyff, Maccabi has been able to change up the whole system and everyone now knows that this is the correct way to run a sports franchise in Israel.”
Preparing for the other teams:
“Maccabi has been just working on themselves over the past few years, but now may be the time when they have to take a step back and look at how Beer Sheva and Haifa have been playing and focus a bit on their game plan as well. When you have a player that can control the ball then perhaps you have to keep an eye on them. The other issue is that Maccabi also needs to play their best players and I’m not so sure that they have been doing that the past two matches.”
Rotation or no rotation:
“Some players can handle the amount of games and some players can come in to help out when those players need rest. Rotation or no rotation the whole squad needs to be playing, be it the new striker Vidar Kjartansson or Dor Micha.”
Favorites against Alkmaar?:
“Maccabi has advanced to the Champions League or Europa League group stages over the past few of years which no other Israeli team has done so they know how to handle pressure and also European opponents. As they were able to win in Holland they certainly have a chance in Israel with the fans supporting them. The players have to be able to know how to compete in two different competitions and a win in Europe can help out their morale in the league as well. So this is a very important contest for Maccabi Tel Aviv.”
Final thoughts on Thursday’s match:
“I hope that Maccabi can win and I wish them the best of luck on Thursday. They have been the team that has been changing the face of Israeli football.”
Dor Micha joined the program and looked back at the match that was and looked ahead to Thursday’s match against Alkmaar and Sunday’s contest versus Petach Tikva:
“It was very important for us to go over to the fans after the game and recognize the support that they gave us all match long, even when we were down. When you lose 2:0 in such an important game it really is so meaningful to have the fans behind you. It was very emotional and we wanted to give back to them and we will do the same in the future.”
Importance of the support:
“It definitely strengthens us to know that the fans are with us when we win and when we lose. Their support is unconditional.”
Consistency:
“The last month we haven’t been as consistent as we would have liked especially when we won in Holland and then dropped two league matches. But you know everything can change in a moment. We played well in the first half and from a professional side we’ve been fine.”
Going into the Alkmaar match:
“We have to take the losses in proportion and we can’t start saying that we are in trouble or that we are struggling. It’s never fun to lose especially in matches against Haifa and Beer Sheva but we can only go up from here. It makes the match on Thursday even that more critical for us both in Europe and in general. Hopefully we’ll be able to begin again anew with a good result.”
Getting the chance to play:
“In this type of team whenever you can get a chance to play and be in the Starting XI you have to take advantage of it because you know with one bad game you may be back on the bench once again. Anyone that gets an opportunity to play must grasp it with both hands and I hope I can continue to play well and that the coach keeps giving me credit.”
Opportunity to play:
“I’ve gone through this a number of times where I’ve been stuck on the bench. But I know how to handle it and what to do when I get my chance as everything can change in a split second. Everyone in the squad can get a chance at any moment and we all have to be ready.”
Importance of Thursday’s match:
“No question that this is the key game. If we win then the chances that we can move onto the next round increase. Any result other than a win will be an issue. We must win this game.”
Confidence:
“We go into every match full of confidence as we did when we played Zenit at home where we performed well for 70 minutes. When you defeat a team away and then play them at home it also gives you a boost of confidence.”
Lockerroom talk:
“We haven’t heard anything about problems or issues and whoever is saying these things has to know that it’s a bunch of nonsense. Anyone that knows us understands how strong a lockerroom we have and that has been so crucial for us these past few years. Nothing is changing that anytime soon.”
Maccabi Petach Tikva match:
“The match is very important as we want to go into the break with a good taste in our mouths with two wins, get back onto the winning track and it means that these matches are critical for us.”
