Maccabi Tel Aviv is currently continuing preparations for the important game against Lasek in the Conference League next Thursday (25.11) in Bloomfield, when so far about 13,000 fans have secured their place in the stadium. A win over the Austrians will send the Yellows to the quarter-finals of the factory, in what will be a particularly big achievement for the club in the European arena and also bring them closer to a monetary income of eight million euros, not to mention very significant ranking points. The various UEFA.
In preparation for the important game, the club has renewed itself in official representative suits of the brand “BOSS”, the prestigious international fashion house has been the official dresser of the club’s representative clothing for four seasons. The person who attended the event at the Ramat Aviv mall is also the one who brought the brand to Israel, businessman Yossi Irani, when Eyal Berkovich and Avi Nemani were his guests of honor. The person who was not present at the event is the sports director who serves as interim coach, Barak Yitzhaki, who went to watch Ido Shachar in the uniform of the young team in the victory over Hungary, where the connection excelled.
During the event, the group’s brake went out to the media, Shahar Phiben, Who gave an extensive interview about the situation these days at the club and also referred to the fact that he was called up to the Israel national team against the Faroe Islands: “I was on vacation and when I returned I was called up to the national team. Even if it was an unimportant game for Aliyah, I was always happy to represent the country, even if I sat on the bench. To be a part of it is a dream come true and the ambition is to join the national team. “
On the fact that he has been in a good period lately and returned to play in the Maccabi team, the brakeman said: We need to start winning games and producing a sequence. We are entering a very important month for us and for the audience we want to make happy. This is a critical month for the rest of the season and you can only get out of here. ”
Phiben was asked if during his vacation in Dubai he was waiting to see “pushes” on the appointment of a permanent coach for the team and replied: “Of course we are waiting for that, we want to have a permanent coach as soon as possible but are currently happy with Barak Yitzhaki. He is doing a good job and fans can see the change. The group came back to itself. We have a lot more work to do and we will not forget it, but there is an improvement trend. We have to win games and that’s the most important thing. ”
On the game against Lusk and the possibility of securing an eighth-final, Phiben said: “We are concentrating solely on that. We know that the rise from first or second place is significant. Second place will lead us to an encounter with relegation from the Europa League, but if we move up from first place it is straight to the eighth stage and that is what we are concentrating on. We make preparations, take some rust off the freedom, we have undergone some changes with the coaches and most importantly we have to return to sharpness. ”
Regarding the current contempt in the media and among the fans in Israel towards the Conference League, the player said: “We should not apologize for our ranking. We have a lot of experience in Europe, the Champions League and in Europe and we have earned it honestly and rightly so. We got a more comfortable lottery than the others, I agree but we did our part and moved on. The one who is underestimated for the first time I hear. It’s a lot of money for the club, a lot of prestige for the club, it’s a new enterprise but we want to be the first to rise to the eighth and produce a historic streak. Maccabi Haifa received difficult draws and played great games. So ours a little easier, but it’s just on paper. We work very hard against teams that are strong or champions in their leagues, it can never be easy. ”
On the change under Barak Yitzhaki in comparison to Patrick Van Leven, Phiben replied: “I think this is not the place to refer to the previous coach. Patrick has his honor. He did five very good seasons in the youth. He deserved to get the graduates and he did a good job last season. The season went less well for him and that happens with coaches. Of course changes had to be made and it is not possible to replace all the players then in the beginning and that’s how it is in football the coach pays the price, I think there was no other choice, I really appreciate him as a person and he was a professional who gave it his all.
Right now with Barak, like any other coach who comes in, there are changes and there is a different passion, understand that the next change will be with us and therefore the burden of proof is on us. I hope we crystallize together and get back to the ability we had next season. I do not know why Patrick did not come to say goodbye to us, did not get into it. “I deal with the fact that we have to give back to the fans already, they deserve it.”
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