“I don’t understand what’s going on here! Their legs are shaking, what’s going on? We are 0:3, a home game, why don’t they play football properly?”, that’s what it sounds like Vladan Ivic Last night (Thursday) at the Bloomfield Stadium during the first half when his players had difficulty performing simple actions in a game that ultimately also ended in a 0:0 against Zira in the Conference League qualifiers, despite the halftime speech in which he scolded his players and the substitutions he made. Ivić was very angry with the ability of the players, with their attitude, and was very clear with them and with the media afterwards.
“Those who are afraid cannot play football. What were we afraid of? I really don’t know”
These were the things Ivić said: “I knew before I arrived that I had a lot of work here. When a team like Maccabi finishes third and without any titles, it means they didn’t just change a coach. I didn’t get here because everything was wonderful and they brought me here as the coach of a champion team that won the double. There is now a process that needs to be done. If everything was good here, then the coach before me would have stayed. I am realistic, we need to do more. It is impossible to come to this game and be satisfied because we scored 0:3 in the first game. In Azerbaijan we came with a good attitude and we won just because of that. Today it seemed that we were afraid to play. Those who are afraid cannot play football. What were we afraid of? I do not know. We worked all week, I don’t understand why this happened.
“I don’t like players to feel comfortable. No matter who they are and they will understand it well. It doesn’t matter to me how long you’ve been here (any player), two, three, four years, you have to show me every day that you came to fight and that you deserve it. We will try to change the situation. We will work a lot with the players to fix the performance we presented in front of the arena. I won’t name names and I won’t talk about certain players. We are a team and we have to work as a team. There should be a lot of mental work no less than professional work. It can’t be that the team takes to the grass in a home game and the only good thing I can say is that we finished a third game in a row without conceding, and that’s it.
“Each coach wants to go to his training camp with a squad that is 90% ready, if it is possible for the remaining 10% to be completed during the preseason, that is the best situation for a coach, this is my answer regarding the procurement issue,” added Ivitch. Last night in the game the coach let Nir Bitton play for the first time since he joined, Dan Glazer came back from injury and Oskar Gloch was also the first substitute in the game together with Ayalon Almog. All of these can be noted on the more positive side, but the biggest problem from the coach’s point of view, beyond the issues of attitude and shaky legs, was the ability of Andre Geraldes, Enrique Savorit, Brendley Quas, and Matan Hozaz, when there were also no solutions from the bench for the fact that Maccabi Tel’s wings were not working Neither in defense nor in attack.
“It is clear to me that we will try to fix our ability on the grass, and if necessary, then we will fix it through the market, if there is no choice,” Ivić repeated and spoke about the issues of ability and the open transfer window. “Players should live the reality and not think they are living in their world from two or three years ago. They are here because the club needs them to play and if they are good they will stay, and if they are not good, we will replace them. It doesn’t matter if they have a one year, two or three year contract. They need to show that they want to be here and acclimate as quickly as possible to our style. I don’t want to talk about names, but we have all seen the things that are not good and we have to be realistic. Each of us needs to push ourselves and work better, not just players, everyone.”
The next match will be against Aris Thessaloniki on Thursday, in Bloomfield, when the stadium is expected to be full according to the estimates of the club officials. “I know Aris because I live in Thessaloniki. Last year I didn’t work and I saw a lot of football in Greece. This was the best team in the top playoffs. There were six teams and Aris was the best of the top six teams in the league. They changed a lot of players, there are 7-8 or 9 new players, this is a new and different team, very high quality, but of course we have a chance to pass and we want to pass, but we also need to improve our ability and be ready for this game. Against us will be a team that will come here with a full squad to show that they are better than us. We will have to change our attitude, mentality, give a different performance and show that we deserve the next level. It won’t be easy,” Ivitch concluded.
“You need to give the group time to connect”
Nir Biton Coming off the bench, he summed up his feelings about returning to the field as a player for an Israeli team when he told ONE: “It’s fun to return to Israel, it’s fun to return to a new team, new beginnings and there are many expectations ahead. I felt good, I was a little hot, no air, but it will pass. We have many things to fix and improve and I believe it will come with time. All in all, there is a fairly new team here with a new coach, new players and I don’t know any teams that connected straight away and everything worked like clockwork. We have work to do but I believe it will be good. I know most of the players, there is great material here. The expectations are to win every game and we play in the biggest club in Israel, we have to fight for all the titles.”
On the considerations he faced before signing, he said: “The club knew from the beginning that the desire was to stay abroad and exhaust the options there. From the moment we started talking, Maccabi gave me the feeling that they really, really want me to go all the way and this is something that was very important to me in making my decisions about where to be. I wanted to be in a club where I would be the first violin, a club that wants me and believes in me, for me I knew all along that I was coming to a big club, a huge club and that’s it. Now the onus of proof is on me, to give everything to the club and the audience that gave me the trust and support from the beginning.”
Regarding the high expectations Maccabi had this summer in relation to its ability so far, Bitton said: “As I said, this is a new team. The fact that Ivitch was here two years ago means nothing. It’s other players and it takes time until he instills his way, his desires, until you understand what a coach requires takes time. At Celtic last year we started with three losses out of six and everyone killed us and broke us, there were those who said we wouldn’t finish in the top 6 and in the end we won the championship against a team that reached the Europa League finals, so you have to relax with the criticisms and give the team time to connect. It is true that people want results here and now, but a little patience is needed.”
Beaton played in several positions on the field at Celtic, last season he mainly played in the midfield, last night he came up as the left brakeman, about his favorite function he said: “Throughout my career I did what the coach demanded of me. If he wants me to be a goalkeeper then I will be a goalkeeper. If he wants me as a brakeman then that’s what I’ll do and I’ll give everything to please him and the audience. I came from a big club fighting for titles to a big club fighting for titles and with God’s help it will be a good season and we hope to be happy at the end.”