Maccabi Tel Aviv host Hapoel Haifa at Bloomfield aiming to bounce back to winning ways following the two 0-0 draws against Bnei Sakhnin and Beitar Jerusalem.
Raz Shlomo spoke at the pre-match Press Conference, addressing the mood within the calp following two consecutive draws, his excellent individual form since the start of the season, and the keys to returning to winning ways.
On the points dropped in recent matches and the team’s performances in attack and defence, Shlomo replied: “We all work together, both on scoring goals and preventing them. We don’t divide ourselves into two separate units. We did some good things in the last two matches, even if we perhaps lacked a little sharpness. We created chances, and if we hadn’t been creating chances, we might have been a little more concerned. But I’m confident the goals and victories will come in the upcoming matches.”
On Maccabi’s results and the start to the season, the defender added: “On paper, we’ve played all the big teams and achieved good results, but as we saw against Sakhnin, for example, there are no easy matches in this league. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing, whether the opposition comes to defend or to play open football. We need to find ways to win the ‘less glamorous’ and ‘less attractive’ matches, so to speak. I hope we can start doing that tomorrow and get back to winning ways.”
Shlomo also addressed his individual performances and the excellent form he has shown since the beginning of the season: “I feel really good and I’m in excellent form. The real challenge is maintaining that level over a long period. As I’ve said in previous interviews, consistency is key. I haven’t done anything special. I’m simply taking things one match at a time rather than looking too far ahead. I’m happy with how things are going at the moment and I’m determined to keep it up.”
Finally, the defender was asked about the challenge posed by Hapoel Haifa’s attack and their leading striker, Alon Turgeman:
“He’s a very good player with plenty of experience and an impressive CV. We’ll watch the video footage, analyse their strengths and what they do well, but we’ll focus primarily on our own strengths as a team. We’ll know exactly how to stop them on the pitch.”
