Barda and Leidner spoke ahead of the return from the international break, against Bnei Sakhnin: “We want to play better football and get back to winning matches”
With the end of the national-team break and pitch renewal, Hapoel will host Bnei Sakhnin this Saturday (29.11, 17:30) at Bloomfield. Head coach Elyaniv Barda and Doron Leidner spoke at the press conference ahead of the match.
“It was a long break - even too long” Barda shared. “I want to play football every week, to prepare and get excited for the match, so for me it was too long. We went for a mini training camp with many youth players who did a good job, we played three good preparation matches - and I think the guys are ready”.
“A busy week and squad rotation? All that matters to us is the match on Saturday, against a very good opponent, and that’s the only thing on our minds” the coach added. “We’ll need to be very serious and focused; Sakhnin know how to get good results away from home, they’re organized and disciplined, and I’m sure it will be very difficult”.
On squad fitness: “Regarding injured players, I think the break did us good in that respect. Several players have returned to full training, except for Mahamid and Lemkin, who are close to returning”.
“I’m focused on improving our team, playing better football, and getting back to winning games. These are the most important things for me”, Barda concluded.
Defender Doron Leidner also addressed the return from the break: “As Elyaniv said, the break was too long. We went into it in a less good period, and we’ve been waiting a long time for this match”.
“A mental drop? That’s not the case,” he added. “We’ve never felt that we were above our actual position. Our feet are always on the ground. Every team has good periods and less good periods - it’s natural. I promise we’ll give everything, we’ll fight, and we’ll come to win”.
Click here to purchase tickets for the match
