Head Coach Slavisa Jokanovic spoke to the assembled press following Maccabi’s 2:0 away victory against Maccabi Haifa at Sammy Ofer Stadium.
How important was this victory:
“This was an important win especially after our last game at home. We improved our organization and played more in the box that increased the amount of chances that we had last match. but there’s always place to improve.”
On comparing last week’s loss to this week’s win:
“I just say what I am thinking and I’m not against the players or the club, but if I believe there is something that is true I have to say it. I don’t know about Israeli mentality I know only about sports mentality. If you show up to a game with only 50% effort then that’s what will happen like we saw in last game. This game we had 100% effort.”
What can you say about Eden Ben Basat:
“Eden Ben Basat plays in the box and scores many goals. Near the end of the game we put more players close to the goal and we were lucky that he was able to score the winning goal. He did a lot in the last few minutes of the game and it’s good for all of us that he did.”
You’re showing confidence in Dor Peretz and he scored a goal today:
“Dor Peretz is a different kind of an Israeli player. He’s tall and has long legs and is very young and can keep learning. He has played a number of positions this year whereas last year he just payed as a central defender. It really depends on him as to what he will do in the future but he can be a very important player in Israeli football for many years to come.”
Dynamo Kyiv is a totally different match on Tuesday:
“We have to be optimistic and try to improve our performance in the Champions League. We will play against a higher quality team than Maccabi Haifa and we have to play at a higher level as well. We have to show something different against Kyiv than what we did against Chelsea.”
