Ahead of Sunday night’s (20:30) contest at Hapoel Haifa, Avi Rikan addressed the media at the prematch press conference at the PenguinPickUp Training Facility at Kiryat Shalom:
“I understand that the club is going through a coaching change, but we are just focusing on ourselves. The matches against them are always tough and we have to be ready. Their situation doesn’t interest us much and they will attempt to take points.”
More about the upcoming clash:
“We are dependent on our own play and that’s for every match. If we play the way we should we will take the points against anyone. This is a very tough match but we are confident that we will take the win.”
Looking back at the Hadera match:
“We only relaxed once the referee blew the final whistle and immediately after the game we began preparing for Hapoel Haifa. We feel good about moving into first place; hopefully we can stay there.”
This season’s versus last season’s squad:
“Maccabi has been good in prior seasons and after losing the championship the past three campaigns we want to improve and take the points. The staff has us playing aggressive football and this season like in the past the training sessions are very intensive and we push each other in order to continue to improve.”
Relationship with the professional staff:
“The professional staff gives us instructions and the players are responsible for performing them. We are professionals and we do what they need us to in the matches in order for us to get good results.”
About the squad:
“Maccabi has quality squad which is deep and the players want to prove they have a place on the pitch at every training session. Every match has it’s own specific demands and every player gets a chance and will get a chance in the future as well which allows us to be very well prepared for each and every match. We are professionals and we have a long season ahead of us where we understand that we may be called upon at any moment.”
