Barak Bakhar: "There is pressure here, the new players need time"

Maccabi Haifa finished its Toto Cup campaign this Monday with a 1:0 loss to Hapoel Jerusalem at Sammy Ofer Stadium, finishing in only tenth place in the ranking matches. The Greens lost three of their five tournament matches, raising concerns ahead of their Premier League opener this Saturday, where they will host the newly promoted Hapoel Ramat Gan.

"We were less sharp, even when we got close to the goal. In the second half, we were not purposeful enough and barely created any situations. We still need to work. There are many new players who need to be integrated. We are working a lot on defense and adding more training sessions. On Saturday is the first league game, the atmosphere will be different and we will need to pick ourselves up. I want to see improvement and progress, even if we don't put on a show. We will need to improve during the games," said the Greens' coach, Barak Bakhar, at the end of the match.

Bakhar added: "I feel that I need to work harder, both me and the players. It is clear that we expected to look better and win more. There is a lot of work and I expect to see improvement already on Saturday. With all due respect to the Toto Cup, we will be judged by the results in the league, that is something else entirely. Lior Refaelov and I know that there is still a lot of work. There is pressure here. The new players need time. Some understand, for some it will take more time."

The winning coach, Lior Zada, said: "We didn't play that well. There were moments when we were okay, but not too many. We can and should play better." Regarding the goalscorer, Israel Daffe, he said: "It is too early to start with headlines and create a phenomenon around him. He still has a lot to learn and room to grow. The desire is there and I hope there will be continuity. He is a dangerous and strong player with very good physical abilities. He will continue to progress."