Back in Dublin 13 years after an eventful first visit to the Irish capital, Maccabi Tel Aviv manager Shota Arveladze says he has been surprised by the quality of Dundalk's football over the last few weeks but insists that he does not see Thursday night's game in Tallaght as 'make or break' in the wake of the traumatic home defeat by Zenit Saint Petersburg two weeks ago.
“We followed them in the qualifiers and saw the type of game that they try to play; it’s nice to see a team try to play football like that,” said the former Georgian international.
“To be honest (it was a little bit of a surprise), yes. Before I watched their games I expected a more British style of football – long balls and second balls, 4-4-2 – but at the end of the day this is a really nice football team. I have seen two or three games, the two against Legia and the one against AZ and their identity never changed. It’s always good to see someone play nice football.”
He name-checks David McMillan for the goals he has scored in Europe this season and, inevitably, Daryl Horgan, for his consistently strong performances and says his own side's priority is primarily to play well over the entire 90 minutes after squandering a three goal lead in the last 13 against Zenit; something the manager still sounds a little shocked by.
“For the first 77 minutes against Zenit we had a really good game and then somehow we collapsed so the priority here is to play well and show we can do better and then after that we can worry about the result.”
It is Arveladze’s first time in Dublin since 2003 when he played for Georgia against Ireland in Lansdowne Road where, as a Rangers player, he was subjected to persistent booing by a section of the home support then took seriously ill after the game and had to be hospitalised for three days.
“Yes, I remember it, I almost died after the game,” he says with the air of a man who can scarcely believe that really happened either. “I was in hospital three days. I had taken a lot of pain killers after the game and they reacted badly in my stomach and caused bleeding. I was lucky that I was not on the plane already as it’s a long way to Georgia and thanks to the FA, I stayed in best hospitals and saw the best doctors so I was okay.”
It might just be politeness but he smiles as he recalls it all then, with a grin that broadens as the sentence becomes more ridiculous, remarks: “I have really good memories of the trip . . . even though we lost . . . and I nearly died.”
This time, he says, he is hoping for a little less drama “although there might still be some guys in Celtic shirts in the crowd with some nice words for my backside.”
