Maccabi Haifa's championship celebrations (Photo: Yotam Ronen, Video Editing: Aviad Balili)
After another dream season and celebrations of winning a third consecutive championship, Omam Atzili was interviewed today for the "Panel" program hosted by Yaniv Katan on Haifa Radio. The Maccabi Haifa midfielder, who scored 21 goals and cooked 10 more, spoke about the Greens' wonderful season.
He said: "The guys in the dressing room were talking about which championship was more exciting, asking if the first or the third. For me it's the third because it's a very long season and in the end we didn't show the good ability, but we brought character. Winning a third championship is much harder and we took it tooth and nail at the very end."
The midfielder spoke at length about Barak Bahar: "On the offensive side, the professional staff gave me a free hand, so much so that sometimes I would fake the defense and they would turn a blind eye. They told me about the attack, 'It's yours and do what you know.'"
"I had training sessions that I didn't feel like, that I was upset, that it affected me. I'm very sensitive, so you see when things affect me."
Atzili was asked about the bench in some European games, especially at the start of the season: "Obviously it's not fun and I was nervous - and I said it too. Barak told me that tactically he wanted us to be five defenders and two forwards. He told me that he did not underestimate me and appreciated me very much, and that he was sure that I would come in as a replacement and make a change. Of course I was nervous..."
The midfielder continued: "I had training sessions that I didn't feel like, that I was upset, that it affected me. I'm very sensitive, so you see when things affect me. There was a training session when it didn't go as long as I got off the grass. Barack talked about it. I took off my jersey, got off the grass, I wanted the world to burn. Barak knew how to come just before I..."
On the change, he said: "When I needed it, Barak came and told me, 'Your keys, bring a championship to Maccabi Haifa.' We were on a team building day, he sat at the bar and called me. I said I was a bit disappointed, he said maybe he made a bit of a mistake - I appreciate that the most. After that, I went back to the lineup regularly and exploded."
On the coach, he added: "We followed Barak, you know there's a character here, there's a landlord. It doesn't explode, you won't see it kicking the board, it doesn't break the dishes. He knows how to contain all the stars."
- sport
- Israeli football
- League
Tags
- Omer Noble
- Maccabi Haifa
