Barda and Altman ahead of the match against Maccabi Netanya: “We must stay focused on our goals for the rest of the season”
Hapoel will host Maccabi Netanya tomorrow (Saturday, 15:00) at Bloomfield Stadium as part of Matchday 21 in the Winner League. Ahead of the clash, head coach Elyaniv Barda and player Omri Altman shared their thoughts at a press conference.
The coach opened: “First of all, we’re at a press conference ahead of the match against Maccabi Netanya, and that’s the game I’m addressing - a game in which I’d love to see Bloomfield full”.
Asked how the team regains focus after Monday’s win: “We have professional players who respect their profession and understand that with all the prestige of the derby - in the end, it’s just three points, exactly like the match against Maccabi Netanya. We must stay focused on our goals for the end of the season”.
On the objectives going forward: “We’ve always said we want to finish as high as possible; this team strives for the maximum. Right now, we’re focused on securing our place in the Top Playoff, and from there we’ll redefine our goals”.
“Of course we want to improve and aim to control the tempo of the game more. Everyone in our squad is worthy, and I think the derby showed that. There were players who hadn’t played for a long time, got their chance and proved they deserve to wear the Hapoel Tel Aviv shirt - and that’s what I expect from every one of our players”.
On the opponent, Maccabi Netanya: “I’m convinced that if we don’t arrive prepared, Netanya will bring us back down to earth very quickly. Netanya are an excellent team with an excellent coach; they have a very strong attacking unit with tremendous speed. We can’t be exposed to their transition attacks, and we’ll prepare the players for all of that. We know it will be difficult against a team that beat Maccabi Haifa, which we didn’t, and we need to arrive as prepared as possible if we want to continue our good home results”.
On the previous match against Netanya: “It’s two different encounters. They had different coaches and different systems, so it’s hard to draw conclusions. We remember that in the first half against them we were really good, and after the red card the game slipped away a bit; we conceded a goal, took a small gamble and conceded the second. Those were valuable points we dropped”.
Omri Altman shared: “It was a great feeling when it finally happened. It was important for us as players and for the whole club; the intensity surprised us and the experience was amazing - but it really is behind us now. We still have many goals until the end of the season, we’re focused and already locked in on tomorrow’s match, and we hope to continue our path at home”.
“There’s a group of mature players here who understand that what was, was - and it’s over. It’s very hard to put it behind you, but once we got back onto the training pitch we understood that life goes on,” he added. “What did Barda tell us? Just like he told you, he mainly spoke about Maccabi Netanya. What filters down from him to us is to never be satisfied. I never felt in any match this season that we let go or that we weren’t good enough or couldn’t do it. The belief is always there, no matter how we’re playing or the flow of the game - the players always lift each other up. Personally, I feel good and ready for any decision the coach makes”.
