The morning after the impressive Conference League 1-0 victory over Nice at Bloomfield, Maccabi Tel Aviv is already preparing for their next task. On Sunday, Maccabi hosts newly promoted side Maccabi Bnei Reineh at Bloomfield (20:15) for a match which will kick-off the 2022/23 league season. Today (Friday) Maccabi held a special press conference ahead of the new season which was attended by the owner Mitch Goldhar, Head of the Football Department, Barak Itzahki and coach Vladimir Ivic.
On the summer transfer window, Itzhaki said: “Up until now I think that we have some good moves, we began working earlier than we did in previous seasons and I am delighted with the signings we have made. I think we took a good path, especially with the return of several senior Israeli players to Maccabi Tel Aviv. They are very good players who could help us a lot but also players with a lot of character. This is something significant that we witnessed in our recent matches especially yesterday when we played against a team with so much quality. We showed character and determination but also quality that helped us deal with complex situations. Up until now I am happy, but haven’t completed the building of the team just yet as will be more changes”.
On the race for the league title Itzhaki added: “I am not looking at other clubs, but we must focus on ourselves, on what we do and if we continue in this way, with a few minor tweaks this season will be much better than the previous two years”.
With regards to the three senior strikers Maccabi has in Eran Zahavi, Stipe Perica and Djordje Jovanovic, Itzhaki said: “I agree that this is not a normal situation that you have three strikers of such caliber but every coach is happy to have so much quality at his disposal, especially in attack. I am happy they are bringing results and hope they continue to score more goals in the future”.
On the current situation regarding the foreign players registered at the club: “It is true that the domestic rule allows us to register only 6 foreign players, so in the event we sign another foreigner we will have to release one from our squad, but for the moment we are focusing on Sunday’s match. I don’t want took too far ahead, and if there will be changes I am sure you will be updated. Bringing players to Israel is not a simple matter. we are aiming at good quality players and sometimes there are issues that develop along the way. This season we negotiated with several players, but sadly it didn’t work out. The most important matter for us was to first sign the best Israeli players and continue completing the jigsaw at a later stage – if and when we chose to do so”.
