Jordi Cruyff, the Maccabi Tel Aviv Head Coach summed up his squad’s 5:2 win over Hapoel Acre which featured a Hattrick by Eliran Atar and a brace by Avi Rikan:
“I’m happy with the five and to push the team I’ll take the two. As long as we are fresh and press forward we were fine, but when we lost control and possession they created chances too easily. When we were tired we lost the ball and they had chances. All in all I’m satisfied with the effort, we played faster and we pressed when we lost the ball.”
About Or Dasa:
“He played a good game last week and gave us things that we were missing, he was fresh and played like this was a chance of a lifetime and he was good today. His runs forward are good and doesn’t lose the ball. I was very happy with his performance.”
Winning back the fan’s confidence:
“We have to do a lot more than just a few games. We need to improve over a period of time and I feel that we are on the right track. We have done two matches so far in good style and we have a must win Thursday, then a league game and then a must needed break. The team will rest and we will get back some players.”
Overplaying some of the players:
“We have played many games almost 35 plus some with the National Team. Due to the injuries we had to play some more than we would have wanted.”
Chances against Astana:
“If we score our chances probably yes. But if we are soft they will punish us. We want to show Astana that we can play good football.”
Vidar’s recent lack of scoring:
“The players who gave him the most assists have been hurt and he was a massive part to get us to the group stage and he has scored a bunch of goals. When he doesn’t score, he works hard for the team.”
