Maccabi are completing their preparations for tomorrow night's home encounter with Hapoel Beer Sheva at 8.55pm at Bloomfield Stadium. Ben Chaim: "You have to take advantage of every minute at the club"
Maccabi Tel Aviv will go into tomorrow night's encounter with Hapoel Beer Sheva leading them by two points in the Israeli Premier League table. Today the squad held a final practice ahead of the match, but beforehand head coach Pako Ayestaran and winger Tal Ben Chaim held a pre-match press conference at the Kiryat Shalom studio. The coach was first asked if the team would do anything differently than in the first Beer Sheva outing last September: "First of all not to make the same mistake of conceding three goals there, that I think were more our mistakes than the way they played. In this case not to concede these silly goals will probably be one of the first targets for us. I think that game until that fixture was the best game we played. We created many options but they had a player in front who shot three times on goal and there were three goals, that was (Elyaniv) Barda. In this case, what do we have to do? Just don't allow them to play on the break, this is the way they really enjoy playing. And try to be dominant this game. It will be more difficult because they are getting the results. They were able to get a win at Beitar in Jerusalem, even with an outnumbered team. For sure it won't be easy but we are ready to fight against any opposition and we will try to win".
When one of those present referred to the match as the "game of the season", the Spaniard responded: "To be honest I don't take this game as a final because there's still a long time to go. I think we finish for the play-off in March and after we have another ten games. In this case I think it's a game in which we have to continue to improve the way we are playing, and as a result and as a consequence of the way we play the game we will get the result we deserve. I think the play-off will be the crucial moment of the season and until then it will be important to arrive in the right position. That's all".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrOPW4c-4l8&feature=youtu.be
The coach was asked if his strategy for the match would be similar to that of last week's Toto Cup final against Maccabi Haifa: "This game is different. You take decisions at the moment and you always think that's the best decision. Sometimes the result makes you right and sometimes makes you wrong but it's not something I think too much about. The decision is at the moment and some days it's always easy. If you get it right you can be proud and if you get it wrong you are going to get stick from everybody. That's football".
Continuing on the subject of Maccabi's Cup win in Netanya, one of the journalists suggested that the victory was of a personal nature: "No, I always try to make the result collectively and I think as a team we were better than Maccabi Haifa and that's the reason why we won". But by leaving star midfielder Eran Zahavi out of the squad, wasn't he finally establishing his credentials as the man in charge? "No, I was before as well. One decision doesn't make a coach more or less strong. I think I try to take the decisions with responsibility and try to make the best decisions for the team, for the club and for the result. This is what I always try to do". But now, finally, the team will be returning to play a home match at Bloomfield Stadium for the first time since November 9th. "It's going to be great, especially for us to have a good surface to play on, it's really important. Despite the fact I really like the Stadium in Netanya, it was not in good condition because there were so many games played there. In this case I think it will be really great for us. For the players, who will have a chance to show their quality and for the supporters, who I hope will enjoy a good game".
Turning his attention to the forthcoming January transfer window, Pako remarked: "I think every club has to think about strengthening the team and the club and if there is an opportunity anywhere to improve our squad, welcome. But it's not something we are looking at at the moment. For me I have the best players in the league and I'm going to stick with them, at least for now. As long as they continue showing they are capable of getting the targets that the club set this year, I'm going to stick with them".
Finally, the former Liverpool assistant coach had a word to say about legend Steven Gerrard's decision to leave the club at the end of the season: "Still we keep a relation. I told him, and that's what I believe, it's going to be an unfillable whole he's going to leave. Maybe when Ian Rush left nothing happened and Liverpool continued to be the same, but at that moment I think there were players who could continue, keeping the value, like (Jamie) Carragher and Stevie. But now I think I cannot see anyone behind them and I think it's going to be difficult to find players with passion, commitment and quality like the last two players that left the club (Gerrard and Luis Suarez)".
Tal Ben Chaim also opened his remarks with a word about tomorrow night's home encounter with Hapoel Beer Sheva: "It's a game worth three points like any other, but they're a very good side who in the last two years have earned their place in the title races. Last year they made difficulties for us and this year too we'll have to fight with them to the end, with Kiryat Shmona too. These are very important matches but like I said, it's the same three points". As for the last outing between the two sides in September the winger commented: "I was really bothered after the match in Beer Sheva because we played really well against a very good team at their venue and we played better but lost. I was very frustrated but that's football". The winger was also asked how he felt about returning to Bloomfield Stadium: "Everybody knows what Bloomfield means to us and we're very happy to return home. Bloomfield helps us in the same way that Wassermill (Stadium) helps Beer Sheva and hopefully it will make a difference in the match tomorrow night".
As for his chances in the starting eleven, Ben Chaim remarked: "Last year it was the same thing. There are good players for every position on the pitch so the coach has to make the right decisions as to who's going to play. There's a match every week, sometimes two, and at training you have to prove that your place is in the eleven, the coach knows best how to make these decisions. You have to take advantage of every minute at the club, every player wants to play and if they don't, they don't belong at Maccabi. So obviously it's disappointing when you don't play but I've had a good run since the beginning of the season so apparently I deserved it. And if there were a few matches that I wasn't in the eleven, apparently I deserved that too. Playing all the time increases your confidence but you have to earn it with your ability and effort ".
Ben Chaim also addressed rumours that scouts from other clubs were tracking his progress as the January transfer window approaches: "I'm very flattered because one of my objectives is at some stage to play abroad. But it's not something I'm thinking about at present, I'm a Maccabi Tel Aviv player, which is the best place in Israel to be, and I love every minute of it. Right now I'm a Maccabi Tel Aviv player and I'm not thinking about anything else. January moves are 50-50 in any case, there are no rules, sometimes players make the adjustment to the new club, sometimes they don't. The squad we have now is good enough to take a third title on the trot, but acquisitions are managerial decisions and they'll decide if we have to add any players. Right now they're confident that the present squad can take us wherever we want to go ".
