Elia becomes frustrated before the match of his life: “I have to make sure that changes.”

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View: Meschack Elia, you are playing against Manchester City. How do you rate this game for you personally?
Meshack Elia: It’s the biggest game of my life! Manchester City are without a doubt the best team in the world.

They clearly love big games like those against Maccabi Haifa or RB Leipzig. The respect from Red Star Belgrade was enormous. The Serbs wrote about an extremely fast player who could hardly be defended when he runs towards the defense. Does that make you proud?
That’s nice. But you can never stand still. And you have to have the right attitude for the Champions League, and I succeeded in that.

Are you a player for the really big games?
Let’s put it this way: I’ve been able to play some really big games and I’m sure there are more great things waiting for me as I continue to improve.

And now it’s the turn of Manuel Akanji, perhaps the best central defender Switzerland has ever had.
I’ve never played against Manuel Akanji. This will certainly be a great match. He is definitely one of the best defenders in the world.

Then there are Walker, Stones, Aké, Gvardiol, Ruben Dias. Market value of these guys: 300 million!
That’s a super defense! But duels like this help you get better. I watched a lot of City games and kept asking myself the same question: what would I have to do to somehow get through this…

There were rumors in the summer for a transfer to Besiktas Istanbul. Or were these more than rumors?
There was an offer. But I really wanted to do the Champions League with YB.

Turkey would also have been the wrong country – with a league only slightly better than Switzerland – for someone with a chance of making it into the big leagues after a second strong Champions League campaign.
That is also my wish. I have always dreamed of going to England or Germany via France or Switzerland.

YB has four forwards. One that always plays, three that rotate. You’re the first, the one who always plays.
But I also often play the piano. Even the majority before my YB days. Only here did I become a central striker. The most important thing is that all four of us perform well when we play. And the others are ready when they are needed, because they all get operational time.

But you don’t get outplayed because you have so much playing time?
No. I’m just tired after the match and I’m trying to recover as best I can. My body responds positively. For players from Africa, the European rhythm of the three-day matches is unknown. You just have to get used to it.

How does it look?
I’m going for a walk with my wife and my three-year-old twins and my seven-month-old daughter. Like now after the match against FC Zurich. But not too long.

Seven months? Are you sleeping enough?
My sister-in-law is also with us. So there are three of us.

And as a professional footballer you don’t have to work night shifts.
That’s how it is. I can sleep through the night. Often in a separate room so that you can sleep as undisturbed as possible.

You are someone who always defends that you have to do what the coach says. Didn’t he ever tell you to score more goals?
Of course he has, I’ll try. I often shoot on target. And I’m sure: the goals will come. And once I score, that will be the case regularly.

The last time we did a big interview with you, which was at the end of April, you had the same discourse. And now we are at two goals from fifteen games. Not good value…
I’m in a difficult phase when it comes to scoring goals. The number of goals is not good and it frustrates me. I play well and can help my team even without scoring, but I score too rarely. Now I have to see that change. I’ll keep working hard. This is the only way.

Fabian Rieder is no longer there. Now Meschack Elia is the most valuable YB player.
I saw that too. But this is also the case thanks to you, the media. Because if they write well about a player, it improves the market value.

And YB might not be unhappy if they don’t score too often. Because if they scored twenty goals a season, they would have left YB for R20 million long ago.
Those responsible for YB also ask themselves: why does he play well and not score often? Because they would certainly be happy if I scored more goals and my market value increased.

Source : Blick