Tal Ben Haim, the Yellow & Blue’s central defender and number 26 looked back at the match against Alkmaar in the Europa League groups stages while also looking ahead to Sunday’s game against Maccabi Petach Tikva:

“It’s not a terrible result, but of course when we are at home we always want to win. We played against an excellent team and no one should be fooled that they aren’t. Alkmaar is a very good side. We had plenty of chances to win two games but sometimes the ball just doesn’t go in. I was happy with our game tonight because of the many chances we had and the quality of play. I’m sure we will score going forward. Sometimes we just have days like this.”

Positives:

“I think we can be satisfied with the opportunities that we had and how we controlled the pace of the game. We also had a very good defensive effort from the whole team. We may have had results which weren’t the greatest, especially in league play but we have been playing good football. When we will score we will put in three or four goals in a game.”

Defense:

“The defensive game tonight was very good and everyone played a part in that. I think that our attacking players also chipped in on the defensive side of things like Dor Micha who ran to play defense. Yossi Benayoun played well and got into the game. All of the players took part in the defensive game which was great, but we didn’t score and we were disappointed because of that. But that’s football.”

Sunday’s match:

“It’s an important match just like every other league game. We will come into the contest in tip top shape and we look at every match as a test and we try to win each and every league game. Just like at Beer Sheva, where we played extremely well in the first half and we attacked, unfortunately we gave up a goal, but that’s football.”

Supporting the offense:

“We have enough players that deal with the offensive side of things and we’re just going through a period right now when the goals aren’t coming. But once we do finally score, the goals will start to come in a flurry.”

There were a bunch of disappointed faces at the end of Maccabi Tel Aviv’s match against Alkmaar that ended in a goalless draw. The Yellow & Blue were close to winning but they couldn’t covert their chances into goals.

Following the game, Eitan Tibi spoke about what he saw in the pitch: “We wanted to win and we had plenty of chances, but unfortunately the ball didn’t go into the goal. It’s ok as the chances for us to advance are still even since we will have an important match in St. Petersburg. We will need a good result in Russia in order for us to continue on in the competition. A draw today was also fine, it’s not great as we wanted to win but that’s part of football. Some things aren’t always dependent on us.”

On the things that didn’t work:

“It’s a combination of a number of things and I’ll let the coach analyze as to what was good and what wasn’t. My focus is on football.”

Looking ahead to Sunday:

“We have a very important match on Sunday and we are going into the game with the goal to win, hopefully we will do just that. Maccabi Petach Tikva have begun the season well and I believe that the coach will prepare us properly for the game. We have all of the right conditions available for us to get our bodies in the proper shape to handle the busy schedule and we will be ready for the contest.”

On not giving up any goals:

“It’s encouraging that we didn’t give up any goals as we gave up some in the last few game that we should have never given up. I’m happy we’ve improved.

Shota Arveladze, the Yellow & Blue coach spoke to the press following his side’s 0:0 draw as Maccabi spoilt the points with Alkmaar. The boss talked about the decisions he made, pressure as well as passion and reviewed the match that was and what he may expect in Russia on Matchday Five:

“If the game in St. Petersburg was in three or four days it would be a different case than when it will really will be at the end of the month. Some of the players will go on international duty but we have one game before and one game after. Right now the points are even as we have four points and Dundalk has four points as well. We played offensive football with a number of chances but there were parts when we weren’t as good. I asked Rajikovic to slow things down to cool off the team and he did exactly that. We have to give credit to the boys and the pitch wasn’t as good but they were all there. I saw how much we wanted to score but we couldn’t. The most difficult thing in football is to score.”

Scoring issues:

“All of the goal scorers were on the field except for Eden Ben Basat. The rest were on the field. Omri had to come out due to injury and we then we had to adjust. It’s not that easy to decide who comes in. We had 25 chances to score over the last four games across a number of competitions but the ball has to go in at some point. I always expect the goal scorers to score and eventually they will.”

Playing with passion:

“For 90 minutes we went on counter attacks, they all played their positions and there were no cramps. The set pieces were all organized as well. The guys gave it their all.”

Pressure:

“There is never a week where Maccabi has no pressure. Everyone from the club starting with the doorman and ending with the bus driver, we all have a love for the club. We have to give credit to the guys as they play every second day and we also have to give credit to the opponents, Beer Sheva, AZ and also Zenit, one of the best in Europe. This is why we love football. Our opponents have also played well and done a good job as they also have keepers. But I feel good because we have been creating and we have a number of players who can score.”

Decisions:

“Before the game all of the decisions were right as the game goes on you see what was right. Nosa had a problem with his knee and we gave him a break this week. Scarione was also not in the position he usually likes. But we will come into Sunday ready as we are already recovering. Sometimes the ball looks like an ugly ball but it will eventually go in.”

The Yellow & Blue looked for three points in the return match with Alkmaar on Matchday Four of the Europa League groups stages but will have to be satisfied with just one as the sides ended in a goalless draw 0:0 at the Netanya Stadium.

Prematch
Head Coach Shota Arveladze had Serbian keeper Predrag Rajikovic in goal with a defensive quartet of Eli Dasa, Tal Ben Haim, Eitan Tibi and Omri Ben Harush in front of him. Captain Gal Alberman was in his usual defensive midfielder position with Oscar Scarione and Haris Medunjanin playing beside him while Tal Ben Chaim, Dor Micha and Vidar Kjartansson provided the attack.

Available on the bench was keeper Daniel Tenenbaum, Eden Ben Basat, Barak Itzhaki, Egor Filipenka, Avi Rikan, Nosa Igiebor and Yossi Benayoun.

First Half
After ten minutes of play being held primarily in the midfield, Maccabi had the first chance of the match when Micha sent Ben Chaim a terrific ball who in turn passed it to Kjartansson. The Icelander then sent the ball back to the winger who made it past the keeper but couldn’t find the back of the goal. Two minutes later Micha gave Kjartansson an unbelievable ball and went in uncontested on goal but his shot just went wide left.

Alkmaar had their first opportunity in the 26th minute when Ben Rienstra had a one on one chance against Rajikovic but his effort just went wide to the right. As the match hit the 38th minute, Scarione moved in on goal and sent Dasa a pass to the right side of the box but his low effort just missed the target and went out for a goal kick.

As the half wound down Alkmaar’s Mattias Johansson took a shot from long range that just went over the bar while Tibi picked up a yellow card as the team’s headed into the break deadlocked at 0:0.

Second Half
To open the second half, Dasa was issued a yellow card in the 50th minute while two minutes later Ben Chaim came in off of the left wing but his effort was skied over the bar. Derrick Luckassen was them shown yellow for Alkmaar and coach John van den Brom introduced striker Robert Muhren in favor of Rens van Eijden as the match began to heat up.

In the 60th minute Alkmaar made their second substitution of the contest as Dabney Dos Santos came on for Illiass Bel Hassani and just a minute later Rajikovic made a fantastic kick save off of a Luckassen strike to keep the match goalless. Muhren’s 67th minute free kick just missed the goal as coach Arveladze made a double substitution five minutes later bringing on Nosa Igiebor and Avi Rikan for Ben Harush and Kjartansson who had picked up a yellow card a couple of minutes earlier.

In the 74th minute Dos Santos almost beat Rajikovic but his effort missed the mark and went out. Two minutes later, Muhren raced in on goal as Ben Haim cut him off and he just hit the netting of the goal on the short side. Immediately after the miss Wout Weghorst was substituted off and Fred Friday entered the match.

As the clock hit the 81st minute Medunjanin led a break and gave the ball off to Ben Chaim on his left side. Number 11 sent a pass back to the Bosnian but his effort just went wide right. The Yellow & Blue made their third substitution of the match and introduced Yossi Benayoun in favor of Dor Micha. Just minutes after entering the fray Benayoun was shown his first yellow card of the game.

As the match hit the 90th minute Scarione’s long range screamer went just wide of the mark as Maccabi looked to find a winner as three minutes of injury time were added by the referee. However it was not to be as the contest ended in a goalless draw. The Yellow & Blue will now prepare to face Maccabi Petach Tikva in Ligat Ha’Al play on Sunday evening.

I miss it. Those are the words that immediately come to mind anytime I begin talking about Maccabi. The last time I met up with the team was two weeks ago in Holland and it was a lot of fun and also very important for me personally.

My former teammates have a tough game this evening. The contest in Holland was really exciting and it was a pleasure to see the team, as an away victory at Alkmaar is not that simple. Maccabi played against a very strong side in a difficult stadium and the Yellow & Blue’s organized game plan led to the victory.

If you look back to the days when I played with the club in Europe, which wasn’t that long ago, you can see a big gap, a positive one in Maccabi’s abilities on the pitch. This is mainly due to the squad’s experience in European competitions over the past number of seasons. The way the club is managed and not just how the team is managed has a terrific influence on the players. It gives them peace of mind which they then reflect on the field of play.

The loss to Zenit was painful and unbelievable, but even in that match one could see that Maccabi doesn’t come into any contest with an inferiority complex. The team’s goal is to control the pace and flow of the game, to play in the right positions and then go back to the correct place. This was particularly noticeable in Alkmaar. Everyone has been asking how Maccabi can win the match as after all the club needs to win in order to have an opportunity to advance to the next round. I believe that Maccabi needs to play a similar game to how they played at AFAS Stadium. Organized. Not just being careful but being smart on defense. Alkmaar is a very strong club with many dangerous players and Maccabi needs to be super careful not to give up a goal. At the same time, the club needs to know how to control the ball, go on counter attacks and take advantage of the situations. Those are the most important things, but not the easiest.

It’s true that Maccabi is entering this clash after recording two straight league losses but also where they had the ability to control the game. Do these two matches have any influence on the players? No. Simply, no. There are teams that play in their domestic leagues and aren’t that successful but when they play in Europe they are a totally different side. This is a golden opportunity to prove that they are professionals and know how to separate between the two competitions.

I believe that if Maccabi will continue to control the pace of the match just like in the last few games they have played and that they will know how to take advantage of the opportunities that are presented to them, then they will record another win. I’ll be crossing my finger for them from here in Germany.

Yours, Roberto Colautti