I miss it. Those are the words that immediately come to mind anytime I begin talking about Maccabi. The last time I met up with the team was two weeks ago in Holland and it was a lot of fun and also very important for me personally.
My former teammates have a tough game this evening. The contest in Holland was really exciting and it was a pleasure to see the team, as an away victory at Alkmaar is not that simple. Maccabi played against a very strong side in a difficult stadium and the Yellow & Blue’s organized game plan led to the victory.
If you look back to the days when I played with the club in Europe, which wasn’t that long ago, you can see a big gap, a positive one in Maccabi’s abilities on the pitch. This is mainly due to the squad’s experience in European competitions over the past number of seasons. The way the club is managed and not just how the team is managed has a terrific influence on the players. It gives them peace of mind which they then reflect on the field of play.
The loss to Zenit was painful and unbelievable, but even in that match one could see that Maccabi doesn’t come into any contest with an inferiority complex. The team’s goal is to control the pace and flow of the game, to play in the right positions and then go back to the correct place. This was particularly noticeable in Alkmaar. Everyone has been asking how Maccabi can win the match as after all the club needs to win in order to have an opportunity to advance to the next round. I believe that Maccabi needs to play a similar game to how they played at AFAS Stadium. Organized. Not just being careful but being smart on defense. Alkmaar is a very strong club with many dangerous players and Maccabi needs to be super careful not to give up a goal. At the same time, the club needs to know how to control the ball, go on counter attacks and take advantage of the situations. Those are the most important things, but not the easiest.
It’s true that Maccabi is entering this clash after recording two straight league losses but also where they had the ability to control the game. Do these two matches have any influence on the players? No. Simply, no. There are teams that play in their domestic leagues and aren’t that successful but when they play in Europe they are a totally different side. This is a golden opportunity to prove that they are professionals and know how to separate between the two competitions.
I believe that if Maccabi will continue to control the pace of the match just like in the last few games they have played and that they will know how to take advantage of the opportunities that are presented to them, then they will record another win. I’ll be crossing my finger for them from here in Germany.
Yours, Roberto Colautti
