“There are periods of time in football that nothing goes right. No one can say that the players aren’t going out to try their hardest. Unfortunately we aren’t playing well and you don’t have to be an expert to figure that out. Now is the time to show character, from the players to everyone else in the club.

Fighting for first place:

“Now’s not the time to look at the gap to Beer Sheva if it’s 10 or 12 points. We have to begin to play good quality football first and then we can look ahead. We have to stay together and find a way out of this situation together.”

Getting out of the situation:

“I’m sure there are good players here that can help get us going but we all have to give it our best. We have to be better and play better and I’m not going to start using a whole bunch of cliches.”

Why:

“I don’t have any explanation, we are just not playing well. We have to play better and stay together, play more aggressive and get out of this because we haven’t forgotten how to play football.”

Shota Arveladze, the Yellow & Blue’s boss addressed the ending following his team’s 1:1 draw at Hapoel Kfar Slava on the opening match of the second round of Ligat Ha’Al matches and commented on the match that was:

The Yellow & Blue opened the second round of Ligat Ha’Al matches with a 1:1 draw as Barak Itzhaki scored for Maccabi and Eli Elbaz drew Kfar Saba even later on in the first half as the sides split the points at Levita Stadium.

Prematch
Head Coach Shota Arveladze started Serbian keeper Predrag Rajikovic in goal with a defense of Eli Dasa, Eitan Tibi, Tal Ben Haim and Omri Ben Harush in front of him. Eyal Golasa, Haris Medunjanin and Dor Micha patrolled the midfield while Tal Ben Chaim, acting captain Barak Itzhaki and Vidar Kjartansson provided the attack.

Available on the bench for the Georgian boss were keeper Daniel Tenenbaum, Oscar Scarione, Gal Alberman, Avi Rikan, Eden Ben Basat, Egor Filipenka and Yossi Benayoun.

First Half
Kfar Saba put Maccabi Tel Aviv under pressure from the get go as Mavis Tchibota, loaned from the Yellow & Blue almost found the back of Rajikovic’s goal twice early on but the visitors were able to stave off the threat both times.

In the 15th minute, Arveladze’s hunch to put Itzhaki in the Starting XI paid off. Number 10 handed the ball off to Ben Chaim who took a fantastic shot on goal that Kadosh poorly cleared giving Itzhaki the opportunity to score from in close which he promptly did to give the Yellow & Blue a 1:0 lead.

However, Maccabi wasn’t able to translate the goal into more chances as they barely threatened the Kfar Saba goal. In the 35th minute Eli Elbaz tried his luck from 17 meters out and hit the jackpot as the ball went off of Ben Harush and behind Rajikovic to even up the contest at 1:1.

Second Half
A slow start to half number two saw both winger Ben Chaim and central defender Ben Haim pick up yellow cards while coach Arveladze made his first substitution in the 61st minute inserting Ben Basat for Kjartansson. Two minutes later Medunjanin found Tibi in the box but the defender’s header missed the mark to keep the score even at 1:1.

Oscar Scarione became Maccabi’s second substitution in the 70th minute replacing Itzhaki as the Yellow & Blue searched in earnest for a go ahead goal. In the 77th minute Ben Basat had a prime opportunity to do just thatbut his chance from 5 meters was blocked by Kadosh and went out for a corner. Two minutes later Yossi Benayoun was introduced as the final substitute for Medunjanin.

Ben Chaim was shown his second yellow card good for a red after a reckless tackle that left Maccabi with ten men in the 85th minute. But that didn’t stop Benayoun’s wonderful chance one minute later that was blocked and went out for a corner. Tibi had a marvelous opportunity as the clock hit the 90th minute but his right footed low show was just blocked by Kadosh as Maccabi continued to look for a winner.

But neither team would find one as the contest ended with the side’s splitting the points.

Many leagues have begun their winter break while in England they are getting prepared for the Boxing Day matches. In Israel, we are getting ready for the second round of Ligat Ha’Al matches and if you’d like, we can call this the Winter Round.

Maccabi Tel Aviv will begin the second round with an away tilt on Matchday 14 against Hapoel Kfar Saba at Levita Stadium. The Yellow & Blue head into this encounter after defeating Hapoel Haifa away at Sammy Ofer Stadium and they have one clear goal in mind: to continue their winning ways. Kfar Saba is currently in 10th place with 13 points just two above the relegation zone following a 2:2 draw against Kiryat Shemona.

Maccabi enter the contest ten points behind the defending champions Hapoel Beer Sheva, but Haris Medunjanin had a clear message to the rest of the league: “We will fight until the end, but we know that ten points is quite a lot especially since they (Beer Sheva) are playing so well. We still believe in our team and we will fight until the end and see where we are at.”

Head Coach Shota Arveladze also commented on the current situation: “I don’t agree with the statement that teams aren’t afraid to play Maccabi anymore. Most of them play with ten men behind the ball. I have to give them credit, defending well is not easy.”

Did you know?

Maccabi won the first match between the clubs on Opening Day, 3:1 thanks to a brace by Tal Ben Chaim and a goal by Eden Ben Basat. The game took place at Teddy Stadium due to a radius penalty that was handed down to the Yellow & Blue.

Last season Maccabi Tel Aviv ended the first round with a goalless draw against Hapoel Kfar Saba and maintained the league lead thanks to a better goal differential than Hapoel Beer Sheva.

Maccabi’s biggest away win against Hapoel Kfar Saba at Levita Stadium occurred in 1998/99 under the direction of Avram Grant beating the Sharon Greens 5:0. Polish striker Andrej Kubica scored a pair of goals and won the league’s scoring title that same campaign.

Maccabi Tel Aviv have opened the second round twice against Hapoel Kfar Saba back in 1982/83 and 1997/98 with both matches ending in a draw.

Haris Medunjanin scored his first goal with Maccabi in his second time around with the Club against Hapoel Kfar Saba at Levita Stadium in a 3:0 win.

One of the players Maccabi loaned out this season, Mavis Tchibota leads Hapoel Kfar Saba in goals with four this season.

Beginning in 1977/78, the top Israeli league began having two full rounds of matches where the second round only began after the first round had finished. Before that, the club’s would play each other home and away but it could be in any type of order and the campaign would end once each team played each other twice.

Maccabi has never been relegated and has participated in 39 second rounds where their record in the opening match of round number two stands at 19 victories, 9 draws and 11 losses.

The Yellow & Blue have played Kfar Saba twice in the opening match of the second round prior to this campaign back in 1997/98 and 1982/83 with both encounters ending in a draw.

Over the past three seasons, Maccabi has won the first match of the second round and in fact has also won each season’s opener. Their opponents over this time period have included Sakhnin, Maccabi Petach Tikva and Hapoel Akko. The Petach Tikva side has actually played Maccabi the most times in the first match since the rounds format was adopted, five times in total. One of those contests ended in dramatic fashion just before Maccabi headed to Torino for a date with Juventus as Erez Mesika scored in the 88th minute to clinch the crucial win over Petach Tikva.

Avram Grant has coached Maccabi Tel Aviv the most times in the opening match of the second round and was able to guide the Yellow & Blue to two League Championships and one State Cup.

And how about the top goal scorers in the first match of the second round? Well we have three names that won’t surprise many of you. Eli Drikes and Eran Zahavi have five goals a piece and sit in second place. Who’s in first? Avi Nimni with 8 markers to be recognized as Maccabi’s all time leading goal scorer in the opening contests of the second round.

Monas Dabbur, Maccabi’s former striker is now playing at Red Bull Salzburg under one of the Yellow & Blue’s coaches of the past, Oscar Garcia. Dabbur spent a couple of minutes telling us all about playing in Austria, how he follows Maccabi and his current trip to Israel:

“It’s exciting and fun to be back at Kiryat Shalom. I still care about the guys so it’s always good to see everyone.”

Keeping in touch:

“I’m still in touch with some of the guys, though a little bit less than before. Even if we don’t speak too often I know inside how I feel about everyone and vice versa.”

Playing under Oscar Garcia at Red Bull:

“It’s interesting to be with Oscar again after playing under him here at Maccabi, but everything is ok between the two of us.”

Maccabi’s current situation:

“I watch many of the Maccabi games and it’s not an easy situation but they also had a run of bad luck. I believe that Maccabi will get back on track and get back to where they belong.”

Haris Medunjanin, Maccabi’s veteran midfielder spoke about the Club’s upcoming match against Hapoel Kfar Saba this Saturday at Levita Stadium, 16:00. Number 4 talked about scoring, his status with the team going into January and battling for the league title:

“We will fight until the end, but we know that ten points is quite a lot especially since they (Beer Sheva) are playing so well. We still believe in our team and we will fight until the end and see where we are at.”

Recovering from the amount of matches over the last few months:

“I feel better and I have been having some rest now as I didn’t play from the start. Micha played well in the same position and I hope a lot of players will stand up and play well. We now are starting the second round and we will do the best we can.”

Offensive football:

“We want to play attacking football but everything comes down to results. The coach can explain the tactics.”

Opening his contract in January:

“I am not even thinking about it. Right now I am focusing on Maccabi and I’m here to win a championship and do the best for the team. I came back to be a champion and play attacking football, that’s why I came back.”

Scoring:

“I haven’t scored in a long time, I think the last time was against Zenit. It’s not just about scoring but helping the team and collect points. That’s the most important thing.”

Changes in the squad:

“Especially when we are ten points behind anyone can go. We are all professionals and everyone knows we are in a bad situation but it’s also good for the players that they are insecure so they can be sharp and they may think it’s their last game. Bringing in new players will also help the competition and we all must give more than 100% during training.”

About the owner not being in Israel in awhile:

“I haven’t seen him in a long time but he has his own things that he is busy with and he speaks to the coaches and Jordi about the club.”

Head Coach Shota Arveladze addressed the media at the prematch press conference prior to Maccabi’s Matchday 14 contest against Hapoel Kfar Saba. The Georgian boss discussed the upcoming transfer window, Dor Peretz and the early hour of Saturday’s match:

“We have been training at about 17:00 so it won’t be a big change. It’s the earliest we played and we have been playing at all different times this season. The main thing is that it’s an important game.”

Playing many games:

“We had a hard time playing 32 games in a short period of time. Now we have a bit more time to think and more time to prepare better sessions and address the problems. For the players, it’s still a physical and mental competition. The Cup games will start in January and we will have more games once again after a few weeks of just one match a week.”

Recent performance:

“We have had some good runs and we can play against anyone in Europe. We played well and could stand up against anyone. But then we had some problems and we couldn’t play well against anyone. We had some bad luck at the end of the Europa League campaign and we could have had an extra point to make it to the Round of 32 but now we are back to the league. I wasn’t happy with the second half, but we also had a tough game against the Irish club just three days earlier. We knew we had to win but our performance was not enough.”

Still in the championship race:

“It’s only December 15th. We need to unite and use our spirit to do so. It’s not an individual game and we have to come together. We need everyone’s quality to unite and to just do it.”

Clubs frightened to play Maccabi:

“Everyone still comes to play with ten men behind the ball.”

January changes:

“It’s a choice. If someone wants to leave it means that they didn’t connect with the club and doesn’t see his future with the team. They may have gotten chances but they just didn’t have the best opportunities. If they go, I just wish them luck and I hope that the don’t make the same mistakes as they made here.”

About Dor Peretz:

“He was the best player in the first two months but didn’t play his best position. He played defensive back and I was so happy with his performance. Occasionally it happens with the younger guys, they have to come back after playing very hard. We may not agree on everything after talking with him. He needs to come back again and I believe that he has a very good future. I have to give credit to his parents as he was raised so well, but this is football. He has played right back, center back but he prefers playing the number 6 position which he has barely played this season. I hope to see him back soon.”

Do you have the green light to make changes in January:

“It’s green. There will be some changes and we have spoken about it. No coach wants to have 35 players and we won’t have that many here. We will have an amount of players that will be good enough for each player to fight for their position.”