Jordi Cruyff, the Yellow & Blue Head Coach looked back on his squad’s 1:0 loss to Hapoel Raanana on Matchday 23 of the Israel Premier League Ligat Ha’Al:

“The first half we were very sloppy and were late all of the time. Every rebound and second ball was for them, even the goal was defended poorly off a rebound in our area. We played badly. The second half we pushed more, we didn’t create a lot of clear chances but we had chances at the end with crosses, corners or free kicks. It’s one of those days that despite not playing well we still had chances to score but the ball didn’t go in.”

About Raanana and more on the match:
“They played well in the first half and in football when every first or second ball is for you, you have a big advantage. They were also dangerous on the counter attack. In the second half we put a lot of pressure to try to score a goal. We had maybe 20 shots today which is usually good enough to score one or two goals, but today the feeling was that the ball just wasn’t going to go in no matter who had the ball or the chance. When you don’t score and you have a poor first half you lose the game.”

Title battle:
“There are four teams that are close together and every week there is a team losing points. We lost points in a place that we didn’t expect to and on a day that we didn’t expect to. It happened, but now we have to stand up strong and understand that to win games we have to play from the first to the last moment we have to go 200%.”

Maccabi Tel Aviv fell to Hapoel Raanana on Matchday 23 as Roei Zikri’s 28’ goal made all the difference as the visitors pocketed the 3-points and the win. The Yellow & Blue will look to get back onto the winning track next week when they host Hapoel Haifa

Prematch
Jordi Cruyff’s Starting XI incuded Predrag Rajikovic in goal along with Yuval Shpungin, Jean-Sylvain Babin, Eitan Tibi, Ofir Davidzada, Dor Peretz, Cristian Battocchio, Dor Micha (C), Nick Blackman, Eliran Atar and Vidar Kjartansson.

Available on the bench were Daniel Tenenbaum, Eli Dasa, Jose Rodriguez, Gidi Kanuk, Avi Rikan, Aaron Schoenfeld and Tal Ben Haim.

First Half
Maccabi began the contest with a diamond in the middle of the pitch and with two strikers up front and in the 5’ Atar had the Yellow & Blue’s first chance that missed the target and went out. Two minutes later Raanana had their opening opportunity but Rajikovic was up to the task and stopped Abuhatzera on a one-on-one situation and one minute later, the visitor’s striker had another chance off a corner but he put the ball out.

As Maccabi controlled the pace they found themselves down a goal in the 29’ off a counter attack that Roei Zikri scored on for a 1:0 Raanana lead. Rajiko was able to make the initial save but Zikri jumped on the rebound and put it behind the Yellow & Bleu shot stopper. Kjartansson tried to even up the score two minutes later but his opportunity went over the bar. Maccabi continued to press but Battocchio’s 35’ header was stopped by the Raanana keeper Vizkarra as the half ended with Menachem Koretzy’s side up 1:0.

Second Half
The Yellow & Blue looked dangerous from the outset of the second half and in the 55’ Atar had a wonderful opportunity to tie up the contest after Micha stole the ball and sent it to the striker, but #16 came up short. Six minutes later Eli Dasa was introduced for Davidzada as the right back came back from injury after a few weeks.

In the 64’ Micha had a terrific chance to draw Maccabi even after a header by Babin but his ball hit the outside netting of the goal. Cruyff made his second substitute as Avi Rikan replaced Shpungin and a minute later he sent a ball to Atar but his attempt missed the goal. Six minutes from time, Blackman had a tremendous opportunity to score but the Raanana defense was able to block his attempt as Maccabi fell 1:0 to Raanana.

Predrag Rajikovic, Maccabi Tel Aviv’s first choice keeper looked ahead to Saturday afternoon’s match versus Hapoel Raanana at the Netanya Stadium on Matchday 23 of the Israel Premier League Ligat Ha’Al while first discussing his side’s win over Hapoel Acre last Matchday:

“I felt good because I gave my best and we kept the clean sheet. We took a difficult 3 points and it wasn’t easy after Beer Sheva, but we knew we had to win the game and we showed our character over the last 20 minutes.”

Different system playing in front of him than the beginning of the season:
“I think it’s easier with 3 central defenders and there are less goals. They also may feel better, but we have to keep focusing on our main goals.”

Battling for the starting keeper role for Serbia in this summer’s World Cup:
“I’m concentrating on the Israeli League and winning the championship. Afterwards I’ll show the coach in training camp and fight for the starting spot.”

Rumors out of Serbia concerning where he’ll play next season:
“I haven’t commented on these things. Right now I’m focusing on the Israeli league and I’ll see what will happen after the World Cup.”

Jordi Cruyff, the Yellow & Blue Head Coach addressed the assembled media ahead of Saturday afternoon’s Israel Premier League Ligat Ha’Al Matchday 23 clash versus Hapoel Raanana and was asked if it’s similar to last week’s match against Hapoel Acre:

“It’s a different game. Every team has difficulties winning games and every team suffers to win and it doesn’t matter how many points a team has. Every game is a new battle with a new difficulty.”

Keys for the match:
“We have to start all the games with the right intensity and look at ourselves. If you watch the highlights from Acre you could see the trouble we had. This league shows that it’s difficult to win, it’s not relevant what happened this year or two years ago. We have to make sure that we are ready.”

Controlling tempo of the game:
“Some games are just difficult. Instead of hitting the post and you score after 5 minutes the game is different. But we didn’t and the game became more intense and it gives the other teams hope. We’re happy we took the three points but we want to control the tempo of the game and be dominant and just focus on winning and nothing else.”

On the possibility of Eliran Atar starting:
“All of our strikers and attacking midfielders are scoring. It doesn’t matter who scores but that we do score. We have to see who will start on Saturday.”

Injury status of squad members:
“We want everybody to be fit and there are 14 games, 14 finals and we have to be ready for all of them.”

Referees:
“We all have good moments and good form and bad moments and bad form. It’s all part of football. I do like that there is communication on the field between the referees, players and staff. The ball went over the line against Beer Sheva and it should have counted. We are all human and we all make mistakes that’s part of football.”

Playing at 16:00:
“There’s a lot of things I have an opinion about and I have to concentrate on my job, who will play, tactics and everything else around a game. It was extremely difficult for us when we played at 16:00 last time. We had our trainings at the same time but it was difficult nonetheless.”