Tal Ben Haim, the Maccabi Tel Aviv veteran central defender featured for the Yellow & Blue in the 1:0 loss to Hapoel Beer Sheva. Number 26 spoke to the media following the contest:

“I suffered on the bench over the last few matches just like the fans. My heart was broken so I know exactly how the fans are feeling. I know what they are going through as someone who has grown up through the ranks of the club. As for the result, we failed and we have to pick ourselves up quickly. We played well and had a number of chances but we gave up on a half chance by Beer Sheva and I’m disappointed just like the rest of the players.”

Showing a fighting spirit for the upcoming match with Beitar:
“There’s no question that our hearts are broken and if it’s not you shouldn’t be in this business. When we saw Beer Sheva celebrating last year, it was something that stayed with us all summer long. We began the season well, but when you lose a few matches in money time everything changes. Just a few weeks ago we had the same points as they did. We have an important match against Beitar coming up and if we go into that game the same way as we did in this one, with the same character and fighting spirit and we take advantage of our situations the results will be better.”

Being motivated for every match:
“I don’t think that there’s one player that didn’t come into this the correct way if someone does then they will find themselves on the outside looking in. That’s unacceptable at Maccabi. We will go into every match motivated and show that we are prepared to play at this level.”

European spot in jeopardy:
“Right now we don’t have to look at the table but at ourselves and make sure that we come into every match ready to play quality football, take advantage of the situations and get the results.”

Looking ahead:
“My heart is broken. Not just the fans at the stadium, but the ones at home watching on TV. Whether it’s phone calls or messages that we have gotten over the past few weeks we came into this match in better shape and now we have to put the talking aside and we have to make sure we go into the next match and look better and score when we have the chances to score.”

Being a part of Maccabi now and in the future:
“Unfortunately we lost some of that and my goal is to help bring this back to the club. I began at Maccabi from the age of 6 and I’m a fan of Maccabi Tel Aviv. I don’t have anything to add now but we will wait until the summer and see.”

Jordi Cruyff, the Yellow & Blue Head Coach looked back at his side’s 1:0 loss to Hapoel Beer Sheva on Matchday 3 of the Israel Premier League Ligat Ha’Al Championship Playoffs:

“You can try and find 100 excuses but it doesn’t change the feeling of the disappointment today. Even if they had ten men they were in the flow. They pushed and we got carried away with emotions when we wanted to play and attack the opponent. In the key moments we were not there. We had good chances to score and they didn’t have any better chances than we did but they took home the 3 points. They have the quality of winning when they aren’t playing their best and we are the opposite. We are just not good enough, not in terms of quality but maybe mentally strong enough when we have to be. The two times we were in first place we had to take it and we didn’t.”

Personality and character:
“A lot has to do with personality and character, which is something you can’t learn and teach. I hope that when Maccabi builds for next year they look at that quality.”

Ups and downs:
“Decision making is about making mistakes. I have regretted a lot of things and when I talk to the owner I give him my opinion. We have too many irregularities with to many ups and down.”

Objectives going forward:
“The players tried, they gave heart, passion and desire and sometimes when you put things together things don’t work. That’s football. When there are failures you have to make changes. At the bad times you can’t jump from the ship. You can never put your hands down and if you do then you shouldn’t be at Maccabi. We have to play good and strong the rest of the way. Those who jump mentally from the ship won’t be at Maccabi. The objective is to take the European spot.”

Barak Bachar and Hapoel Beer Sheva:
“I’m sure if we had a Bloomfield we wouldn’t be losing points like we have been but that’s no excuse. Barak Bachar is a good coach and he may win three championships in a row.”

Compliments:
“I don’t care about compliments and in football there are always cycles of up and downs. I’m just angry how we are performing and how we are disappointing. We haven’t done what we could have done and now we are paying for it.”

Omer Atzily:
“I like him no doubt about it and he’s important for the present and future. Rikan came in for help on the second line. Itzhaki played well against Netanya and Vidar is still the most clinical striker in the club. He will get his minutes in the upcoming games.”

Transfers and signings:
“Maccabi has invested in general more in the Israeli players than the foreigners. We had a lot of players who have come on free transfers. There is a lot of time to prepare and to do it quickly.”

Standing with the players:
“I go with the players to the end. When there are wrong decisions it goes to the decision maker. There are players who have been with me many years and they are giving more than 100% and I know they give everything but sometimes that is not enough.”

The Yellow & Blue fell to Hapoel Beer Sheva 1:0 on a Hanan Maman first half goal on Matchday 3 of the Israel Premier League Ligat Ha’Al Championship Playoffs. Visiting defender Ben Bitton was issued a red card as Beer Sheva played with ten men for the majority of the second half but the host’s couldn’t crack the Reds defense. Next Monday, Maccabi Tel Aviv will visit Beitar Jerusalem at Teddy Stadium.

Head Coach Jordi Cruyff’s Starting XI featured Predrag Rajikovic, Eli Dasa, Tal Ben Haim, Jean-Sylvain Babin, Ofir Davidzada, Dor Peretz, Eyal Golasa, Jose Rodriguez, Dor Micha (C), Eliran Atar and Nick Blackman.

Available on the bench were keeper Daniel Tenenbaum, Barak Itzhaki, Avi Rikan, Vidar Kjartansson, Aaron Schoenfeld, Eitan Tibi, Omer Atzily.

First Half
Maccabi opened up with a pair of quality chances by Atar in the 5’ and Blackman in the 8’ but the Beer Sheva keeper Guy Haimov made the alert saves on both attempts early on. Dasa was next with a 14’ opportunity off a rebound but the defender put the ball over the goal while Atar’s 20 meter strike also cleared the bar and went out a minute later.

Golasa took a long range chance in the 30’ to no avail while four minutes later Beer Sheva had an opportunity in the box via Michael Ohana but his attempt just went wide left of the goal. However, a minute later Hanan Maman took advantage of an Ohana steal in the Maccabi half of the pitch as the former slotted it behind Rajikovic for a 1:0 Beer Sheva lead. Ben Bitton was handed a yellow card a minute later while Rodriguez looked to get Maccabi level in the 39’ but his score he skied over the goal as the half ended with the visitor’s sporting the 1:0 advantage.

Second Half
Babin was issued a yellow card for a reckless tackle in the 50’ while five minutes later Bitton was given his second yellow, good for a red card as Beer Sheva went down to ten men for the balance of the match. Cruyff then made his first substitution of the contest as he inserted Avi Rikan in favor of Jose Rodriguez. Maccabi then had a trio of chances, Atar from 16 meters which was parried by Haimov, a Golasa header that the Beer Sheva keeper again stopped and a Peretz missile from the top of the box that went over the goal as the Yellow & Blue pushed for the equalizer.

Vidar Kjartansson came on for Blackman in the 64’ as Cruyff’s second sub to freshen up the offense as the Iceman fed Golasa a gorgeous ball but Haimov again was up to the task. Dasa fed Peretz a terrific ball in the box but the midfielder’s header just missed the mark in the 75’. Cruyff’s third substitution saw Barak Itzhaki enter the match for Babin as Maccabi looked for some magic from the veteran.

Ben Haim was shown a yellow card in the 84’ for a reckless tackle on Nwakaeme while Golasa received one as well two minutes later. As the match went into injury time Dasa’s long range screamer went over the bar and Itzhaki was issued a red card as Hapoel Beer Sheva took the 1:0 win.

Avi Rikan, the Maccabi Tel Aviv midfielder looked ahead to his side’s Championship Playoff match against Hapoel Beer Sheva on Monday at the Netanya Stadium, 21:00:

“We wanted to come into a better situation, but now that’s not so relevant. We want to do what we do best as we can tomorrow. We had a tough time the last two games, but we will see tomorrow.”

The desire and will:
“There is the desire and will and we have to show that on the pitch. It’s not that we don’t want to. We have to win games even if we aren’t playing the best. Other teams have done that. We aren’t looking to far ahead and we are just concentrating on tomorrow’s game, only after that we will see.”

This team compared to others over the last few seasons:
“I don’t think that this is a lesser team, we have good players on the squad and we were able to make it into the Europa League. We can’t sum up the season just yet as there are still 8 matches and we have to do what’s needed to win as many as we can.”

Plenty of matches left:
“There have been times when we got back onto our feet and we did some nice things. The players have to understand that there is plenty to do still going forward and there are plenty of matches left. The fans are cheering us on and they are supporting us. This is Maccabi Tel Aviv. We have to give it our all.”

Next season:
“We are always being tested and looked at, either from the owner and others. I don’t want to look ahead to next year just yet. We are a strong club and we all understand that. We have to look better than we have over the last two matches.”

Jordi Cruyff, the Yellow & Blue Head Coach addressed the assembled press ahead of Monday night’s match versus the top of the table club, Hapoel Beer Sheva.

“We need to win because it’s the next game and we didn’t win the last two. We need to win no matter what. We have to fight and recover our confidence.”

The current status:
“The game is about trying to get the 3 points. The disappointing factor is that a few games ago we were only 2 points away and we lost the last two. We could have won but we missed more than usual and we conceded more than usual. Instead of continuing good momentum we are in the position we are now.”

Giving everything they’ve got:
“No matter what the impact is after the game, is just that, after the game. We have beaten them and they have beaten us. We have to give every single drop that we have and leave everything on the pitch. We have to go with everything and score when it comes. Not always the best team wins, it’s the teams that defend better and score and that’s the conclusion that I had after the first two rounds of the playoffs.”

Last match against Netanya:
“Disappointment of course, and we lost. We switched to four and we looked terrible.”

The Starting XI for the match against Beer Sheva:
“If you only look at the last two games and you saw we conceded too much one would think we would change, but we will see, maybe, maybe not.”

Bringing in players during the January transfer window:
“Maybe we couldn’t bring players. Maybe, maybe not.”