Vladimir Ivic, the Maccabi Tel Aviv Head Coach addressed the assembled media ahead of his squad’s Matchday 14 clash at Sammy Ofer Stadium against Maccabi Haifa on Monday at 21:00:
“We play against the second most successful club in Israel. They deserve respect, they are a big team with a lot of fans; it’s like a Derby. The position they are in is not a realistic position for them. We have prepared for the game and normally our target is to take three points.”
Winning and playing good football:
“For all of us the result is important. For each coach and each team, if you play jive football and don’t get a result, then it’s not good. The key is to win the game and to play good football. It’s not easy, it’s difficult for all of us. At the start of the season we took three points but we didn’t play good football. We all want to play fantastic football and take three points that’s what we all dream about. But our goal is to win and take the three points. We have prepared for a bit more than a week and I’m sure the players understand what to do and what I’m expecting.”
About the new recruit Uros Nikolic:
“He played in Belarus with Dinamo Minsk. He’s an offensive midfield player and we need this position. It’s not that we aren’t satisfied with the players we have but we wanted to have good competition.”
The upcoming transfer window and keeper Predrag Rajkovic:
“What will happen in the future? You’ll have to follow. I don’t want to speak about that as he’s our player. It’s normal to have offers for our players who also play for National team but we will have to see and discuss and see what the best solution for the club will be.”
Eli Dasa’s injury status:
“He has some small problem. We aren’t sure if he will play, maybe yes and maybe no. All the other players can play and Eyal Golasa is fine. Ophir Davdizada is still out but I hope he will be with us soon.”
Concentrating on ourselves:
“We are thinking about ourselves and not about another club. This is what we have done from the beginning and this is what we will do until the end.l
Finishing the season undefeated?
“There are a lot of games in front of us and we all want to win and no one wants to lose. Who knows what will happen by the end of the season.”
