Team coach Oscar Garcia is already looking forward to the encounter against Maccabi Netanya on Saturday: "There are no easy games this season".
This morning, Maccabi Tel Aviv continued to prepare for the home game against Maccabi Netanya (Saturday, 7:30 P.M.) in the 15th round of the Israel Premier ("Winner") League. As practice ended, team coach Oscar Garcia and defender Eitan Tibi attended the weekly press conference. "I've watched the players over the last few days. They're anxious to get on with the match against Netanya, that's the most important thing", said the coach when opening the press conference. "The game against Maccabi Haifa was very balanced and we knew that whoever scored the first goal would win the game. That was exactly what happened".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWIjSs5o_2Q
The coach went on to talk about the recent criticism of the team's approach: "In the early matches of the season no-one was talking about the team's tactics. Those tactics will change now and then, but I believe that is the best approach to winning games. If you look at the opening games of the season, we were poorer in possession than in recent matches, where we were getting up to 65%. Our problem is not in possession, but in front of goal. In the last few games we simply haven't been converting our chances".
The coach concluded by looking forward to the game against Maccabi Netanya: "None of the matches this season are easy, until now we haven’t won any match easily and we know that this one will be difficult. We also know that in time we'll come out on top".
Defender Eitan Tibi, who started his senior career at Maccabi Netanya, said: "Our momentum has slowed coming into this game, but it is important for the rest of the campaign for us to win this match and we'll do everything we can to do so. There is no crisis at Maccabi Tel Aviv. The team and the players are working hard to practise and play as best they can. We have been a bit unlucky lately and we have lacked concentration, but I believe that it will come back to us."
The defender also talked about the fact that in the last two matches the team conceded from set pieces: "We are all working very hard on set pieces. Sometimes you lose concentration for a second and the other team scores. We have been conceding from set pieces of late but we'll do everything we can to prevent it from happening in future games".
