Ido Shahar is enjoyig the best season of his career as the goal he scored in the State Cup Quarter Final tie against Maccabi Jaffa took his season tally to 13 goals in all competitions. The 24-year-old midfielder who grew up in Maccabi’s Youth Academy, began by offering his condolences to the Federman family alfollowing the news of former Maccabi basketball owner, David Federman has passed away this morning at the age of 81: “I would like to express my condolences to the Federman family, on behalf of all the players and the club’s staff.”
Shahar who continued scoring under newly appointed Head Coach Ronny Deila, said of the mood in the camp with two emphatic victories in the last two outings: “We have a new coach. Every coach arrives with a philosophy, a style of play and specific emphases. We need to adapt as quickly as possible and perform in the best way. I am happy we have done that in the last two matches. The upcoming matches are like Cup finals, and we are coming at peak readiness. The coach believes in a very attacking style. We have video sessions, he shows us what he wants us to do, and we try to execute it in the best possible way.”
As Maccabi now face bottom of the table Bnei Reineh followed by a clash away to fellow title contenders Beitar Jerusalem, Shahar remained adamant: “Reineh is a very important match. It is true that Beitar are a direct title rival, but in the end it is three points. If we don’t do the job tomorrow, then there’s no point. We will try to do our best tomorrow.”
While Shahar is currently Maccabi’s top scorer in all competitions, in the league his 8 goals leave him one behind Dor Peretz. Shahar, paid tribute to his captain as he said: “Dor and I have a very good connection. I learn a lot from him, both on and off the pitch. I’m happy for everything he brings to the team and hope he keeps it up.”
On his personal targets for the rest of the season, Shahar revealed: “Some people say that even I didn’t believe I could reach these numbers. Before the first round, the previous coach and his staff called me in for a talk and we discussed goals for the season. They set a target of 15 goals and I said I could do it. I hope to reach that target.”
On helping new signing Emir Sahiti settle in, Shahar added: “As players, we try as much as possible to warmly welcome the foreign players who arrive here, especially in a period like this. I spoke with him before and during the match, about expectations, understanding certain things, and looking for each other on the pitch. I told him I’ve got his back and that he should play with confidence.”
On what the team might expect against Reineh tomorrow, Shahar concluded: “It’s not easy to break down a team that defends deep. We need to be dynamic, make movements and move the ball. That’s the solution in games like this. An early goal could help us, but we’ll stick to our way until we achieve the objective.”
