The Yellow & Blue midfielder took a look back at his club’s performance in the 3:0 victory over Gorica. Number 15 talked about finishing the job off in Slovenia, the new coach and starting the season well:

“It was important to start the year off on the right foot and our first match was pretty good. Of course we can definitely improve and play much better, but we are happy to open the year with a win.”

Starting the season well:

“On a personal level I want to make sure I begin my season well and not like some of the past campaigns. I want to do start properly and I did exactly that today.”

The confidence shown by the new coach:

“I was really happy that he gave me the credit and had confidence in me. I always give 100% when I’m on the pitch and I’ll make sure to show Arveladze that I belong. We’re getting along well and we’re understanding his expectations for us. It’s my responsibility to justify the credit I’m getting in every match I play in”

Next week’s second leg in Slovenia:

“For sure we’ll come ready. In football you never know a lot can happen. We’ll make sure to finish the job.”

Shota Arveladze, the Yellow & Blue’s Head Coach spoke about his side’s win in the opening match of the 2016/17 season. The Georgian boss focussed on Nosa Igiebor’s play, his first match at home and of course the game that was:

“It’s the really early stages and this is 8 weeks before the season starts which is difficult. On one hand it’s good to have official games but it’s still preseason mentality. We should have realized in the first 20 minutes that it was a real game. In the second half you could see what we were doing and we were doing it and we slowed it down in the last five minutes as it’s not easy to run in this weather. In general I am happy and it’s good to start with a win. We controlled the game and it was good after our ten day training camp.”

Nosa Igiebor’s performance:

“You see how much difference I can make? I knew he could make a big difference. He had a lot of chances last year. But today he was in the right place.”

About Carlos Garcia’s status:

“There is nothing I can say now. Anything can happen but there is nothing we can announce now.”

The second leg in Slovenia:

“We are not afraid and we are never afraid. We come out to play nice and attractive football. It’s important to concentrate. People who shake when they play football maybe should never play football. It’s nice to impress the people in the stands.”

His first match in front of the Maccabi crowd:

“It was a great experience for me. I felt how much the fans can give to the boys and after the game the fans were celebrating and I’m sure it will grow. The supporters never turn against their club and they are behind them for the full 90 minutes. It makes for a great atmosphere.”

Changes in the squad and working with Jordi Cruyff:

“Yes, we spoke and we plan some things to move and we will make right and good decisions and what is best for the club. We are looking for good players.”

On Yossi Benayoun:

“Everyone must worry about their minutes as we have 25 players and only 11 play. I’m not talking about Yossi but everyone has to show them quality and probably he will show it. He is doing good.”

Filipenko’s status:

“He just came back from a 4-5 week holiday but I don’t meek how soon. He probably needs more time to be fit.”

Gorica from Slovenia visits Israel to face Maccabi Tel Aviv in the first round of Europa League qualifying this week and we’ve got an insiders view to who the best players on the squad are, who their coach is and much more.

“Gorica have a few quality players in promising keeper Grega Sorcan, attacking midfielder Andrej Kotnik and Amel Džuzdanović who is recovering after an ACL injury,” said the @Sloveniafooty Twitter account which is run by a number of the league’s rabid fans.

“We had a relationship with Parma from Italy for a number of years but once the club dissolved, Gorica was left with a huge debt. Parma had loaned Gorica practically their entire squad including the most famous loanee, Gianluca Lapadula who now is with AC Milan.”

Sanel Konjevic, former CEO of FC Olimpija Ljubljana also commented on the financial situation that faced the club: “The same scenario that happened with Parma was almost seen in Gorica which was saved by some local patriots. They are still paying off the debt but last season’s transfers eased the situation.”

When it comes to manning the sidelines they have a wily veteran leading the team explained @sloveniafooty: “The coach is Miran Srebrnič and he happens to be a club legend having played many years with the team as well as coaching them on a number of occasions. He primarily plays from the wings with a 4-4-2 formation.”

Konjevic also spoke highly of Srebrnič: “He is doing a good job with the club.” He also brought up the fact that one of the assistant coaches of Gorica, Andrej Komac played for Maccabi back in the 2009/10 season.

“Gorica probably don’t expect that they will make it past Maccabi but they always attempt to reach Europe through the League or Cup,” @Sloveniafooty continued. “The locals also don’t know much about the Israeli league as it would not really be of interest to them and their fan base is small with an average attendance of less than 900 supporters.”

“I think the tie will already be solved in Israel for Tel Aviv as Gorica is well behind Maccabi at least the one I watched last season this time in Europe. But the Slovenian side will play tough and will be combative throughout though they lack real strength,” Konjevic concluded.

Maccabi Tel Aviv recently acquired Egor Filipenko from Spanish outfit Malaga and he just joined practice sessions under new Head Coach Shota Arveladze. Here’s the Belarusian in a quick 1 minute interview where you can get a taste of who the Yellow & Blue’s new defender is:

My name is Egor Filipenko and I’m a 28 year old central defender from Belarus. I arrived at Maccabi from Malaga of La Liga and I know that the Club had won 3 championships in a row and had some terrific accomplishments including playing in the Champions League last season. I’m really happy to be here and I waited a long time for this, so I’m really satisfied.

I want to thank the fans and I want them to know that I’m really happy to be part of the Maccabi family. I’ll try to prove to all of you that I’m here to be a very solid addition to the team.

YALLA Maccabi!

The Yellow & Blue begin their European quest tonight, Thursday against Gorica from Slovenia so now’s a great time to check out all of the interesting facts and stats going into this campaign:

• Maccabi has played 50 Europa League matches including qualifiers. They have won 19 games, lost 19 and drew 12 contests.
• 2013/14 was Maccabi’s most successful season in the Europa League. The Club advanced to the Round of 32 after finishing the group stage with 11 points when they faced Frankfurt, Bordeaux and APOEL Nicosia.



• 2011/12 was Maccabi’s first year in the group stages of the competition and they played against the likes of Besiktas, Dynamo Kyiv and Stoke City as they ended the campaign with only two points. Interestingly enough the points were from two draws against Dynamo Kyiv.
• This will be the first year that Maccabi Tel Aviv will participate in the opening round of Europa League qualifying matches.
• The Yellow & Blue will make their fourth appearance in the Europa League qualifying tournament. 2010/11 marked the first time they participated when they defeated Paris St. Germain 4:3 in Israel but were eliminated by the French outfit. Maccabi also were part of the 2011/12 and 2014/15 qualification competition. In 2013, the Club automatically advanced to the group stages when Ukrainian side Kharkiv were disqualified from the Europa League thereby cancelling the side’s two legged tie with PAOK.



• The leading goal scorers in qualification matches and Europa League from the current Maccabi Tel Aviv squad are Haris Medunjanin with 5 goals, Barak Itzhaki with 3 and Dor Micha with a pair.
• The Head Coach Shota Arveladze is Georgia’s all time leading goal scorer with 26 goals in 61 appearances for his national team. In Club play he ranks as the fifth leading scorer of all time in the UEFA CUP/Europa League with 27 goals just behind Henrik Larsson, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Radamel Falcao and Dieter Muller.
• Yossi Benayoun is the only player from the Club’s current squad and the only one in Israel who has won the Europa League and it took place when he was with Chelsea in 2012/13 when he played in 5 matches.

Gal Alberman, the Yellow & Blue defensive midfielder is getting ready for the first official match of the 2016/17 season when his side takes on Slovenian outfit Gorica in first round Europa League action. Number 6 spoke about the move from Bloomfield to Netanya along with the narrowing of the European football gap and also wished Eran Zahavi the best:

“It’s not an easy day for us and for his former teammates. But every transfer window we knew something like this could happen. We are very happy for him and we hope that he will succeed in his new home. He will continue on his way and we will continue on our way.”

Favorites?

“We should not consider ourselves as favorites but we must work hard and do what we need to do to reach the upper echelons once again.”

The club’s focus:

“Right now tomorrow’s match is what we are focussing on and we will see what happens along the way but we are strong club and will continue on.”

Changes:

“We are used to changes. We’ve had new coaches every year and players come and go. The club is strong and that is what is most important.”

Netanya move:

“We still haven’t had an official home match in Netanya so I’ll need to see after a few games how it will be in place of Bloomfield.”

About Benayoun:

“Yossi Benayoun has looked like a hungry player who can help us all year long and that’s why Maccabi signed him.”

European football:

“The gap in European football has definitely gotten tighter. It doesn’t matter who we are playing we have to concentrate and make sure that are ready.”