Despite the 0:3 victory over Hapoel Jerusalem, Maccabi Tel Aviv is still in second place, being four points away from the leader, after Maccabi Haifa won yesterday (Wednesday), 0:1 in the Haifa derby. Just before the match against Hapoel Haifa, the team’s coach Vladan Ivić spoke at a press conference which was transmitted live on the ONE website.
The one who will not be at the disposal of the Serbian coach is the right defender Andre Geraldes after he flew to Portugal to be next to his wife who is kneeling to give birth to their second child.
Before the match against Hapoel Haifa he said Ivitz‘: “This is a team that signed a new coach, a good coach, they are organized and know how to defend and attack, they have fast and strong players, it will be a difficult game on Saturday and it is the last game of the first round, we want to play a good game like against Hapoel Jerusalem, we have to give The maximum and to be in focus, to play football in order to win the game”.
The coach also added about the lack of taking advantage of the situations: “Our strikers are scoring, even in the last game we reached five or six situations before we scored, we can lose but who reach many situations, there is not much to say to the players, even the best players in the world miss, this is football, it is not a machine , obviously they want to score and they are working hard to be good if you got into a lot of situations and lost 1:0 it can happen. We do create situations, if we scored five goals against Ness Ziona you would say it was a big game, everyone has their opinion and I respect that, I’m in favor of criticism from those who understand football, everyone makes mistakes, that’s the job, I make mistakes too.”
On the parts that still need to be improved in the team, he said: “We need to improve all parts, how we attack and how we defend, we never do things perfectly, in any team in the world, there are ups and downs and that’s normal and it’s always hard to be on top, that’s something normal.”
About a possible reinforcement in January, Ivić said and Goyagon’s performance: “This is not the time to talk about it, I’m not thinking about it right now, I’m thinking about how to improve my team for the upcoming game. Goyagon can play in many positions, he does many things, he can do things in a small area, his classic position is midfielder but he can also play on the wing in some cases, I am happy that I can use a player who plays in several positions, he played next to Eran Zahavi because he is a player who can To do that, we’ll see what each game will require of us.”
Also the Dutch brake, Derrick Lucassenwho has shown good results in recent games, spoke before the game about his feelings since he arrived at Maccabi Tel Aviv: “I feel good, I’m happy to help the team, I know what I can do and how I can play, I’m in a new team, I have to get used to the situation and it can take time”.
On the decision to come and play in Israel and the difference in football, he said: “I talked with the club, with Eran Zahavi and Joris van Overeem and I came to a decision, I am happy that I came here, life here is good and I enjoy my time here. Football is football, the league is different, but when you’re on the field you’re just playing football, there’s no difference really, it’s a good and strong league.”
