A trio of Macccabi Tel Aviv players, Itay Shechter, Dan Glezer and Ruslan Barsky all spoke about the league title and the remaining goals ahead:
Itay Shechter, the Maccabi Tel Aviv striker spoke about the championship following the 1:0 win over Maccabi Haifa:
“There’s no question that this was the most dominant championship in Israeli football and this was due to the strength of the club. We are all satisfied and this was the second championship of my career. This was a super important title, but we still have another important goal ahead of ourselves with the State Cup. We are happy right now, but we have to save the big celebrations for later as we are now on a mission to win the State Cup. We have a great staff from the coaches to the kitmen who have all made it possible and also deserve the championship.”
The moment when he knew that the team could take the championship:
“There were a few moments when we felt that we could win the title and one of them was when we were eliminated from Europe. We were sitting in the dressing room and I looked at everyone in the eyes that we had a mission to go on. We then played Hapoel Beer Sheva at Turner Stadium and we went down 1:0 in the 20’ and I saw players who were hungry and didn’t want to let up. At that moment I saw a super strong team and I knew that we could go and win the title.”
Winning at home:
“It’s great satisfaction to celebrate the win in front of our home crowd at a packed stadium and be able to share the joy with everyone.”
Dan Glezer also commented on winning the title:
“This was my first title and two years ago when I was at Beitar Tel Aviv/Ramle we spoke about our dream to return to Maccabi and win the Championship. I am so happy and it’s just true satisfaction.”
Fighting for minutes:
“Everyone gave us a great feeling when we returned from loan, from the staff to the players. We came together and they all gave us confidence from the coach to Ben Mansford that we will battle for minutes just like any other player and the competition would be fair. I’m happy we proved that we deserved to play and that this will be the case for years to come.”
Battling for a place in the squad:
“All of the players know that if they don’t play well they will be out of the squad and the rotation. Every players fights for himself and the club. No one can take their foot off of the gas.”
Is the season over with 8 matches left?
“There won’t be a feeling that the season is over just because we won the league championship.”
Ruslan Barsky also spoke about the Championship:
“It’s a great feeling. Last season I won the State Cup with Hapoel Haifa and now it continued with the Toto Cup and the Championship, but we still want to continue this amazing season. We still have a huge goal in front of us which is the State Cup.”
Coach Ivic showing confidence in the players:
“I felt that feeling from the coach when we were at training camp. If you train well you really feel that you will have a chance to play. He gives us all confidence that we will play and he did that from day one.”
Never taking your foot off of the gas:
“He gives you the feeling that you want to give it all every single training session; to give 100% every match. He never gives you the chance to take your foot off the gas.”
Goals ahead:
“I think that it’s very realistic to think about the Champions League especially after this season. But it’s very early as we still have to finish the season and there is still the State Cup in front of us. Only after that will we begin thinking about next season.”
