PSV brothers are clear: “Absolutely not!”
1 min readPSV got off to a false start on Sunday evening at the start of the new football season with a 0-4 defeat in the Johan Cruijff Shield against AZ. Thanks in part to an early red card for Joey Veerman, it never became a real match, and after halftime the Alkmaar side pulled away from Peter Bosz's team.
That was also seen by the brothers Willy and René van de Kerkhof. In the Willy & René PSV Podcast by Omroep Brabant, both brothers therefore also express a fair amount of frustration.
Especially the red card for Joey Veerman, which according to the brothers was completely justified, is causing a lot of irritation. ''No matter how he went in, it was basically from his own half. Johan Cruyff always said: football you don’t play with your feet, but with your head. You have to think about what you’re doing. And Veerman didn’t do that. And if he does things like this, he can forget about a transfer,'' Willy rages.
René is also specifically critical of the fact that players such as Ivan Perišić and Ruben van Bommel had to start from the bench, just like among others Paul Wanner, Ricardo Pepi and Esmir Bajraktarevic. ''I thought he would start with Ivan Perišić and Ruben van Bommel, but they weren’t match fit. But what is match fit, anyway? Do you have to have played there first fifteen times for it?'', René wonders aloud.
Willy shares that opinion. ''A top player is always match-fit. You have a basic level of fitness. If you came back from vacation earlier and the coach said: we'll play in an hour, then we'd play in an hour. And if you're fit enough for the bench then you can also play football'', said Willy.
The PSV defense also gets a good scolding from both of the icons. ''Especially Sildillia, Fernandez and Yarek. With a defense like that, you can't start the competition. Absolutely not!'', says René, who, just like Willy, believes that the defense needs investment. ''We'll wait and see, but two to three players definitely have to be added'', the brothers conclude.
Comments6
"Absolutely not!" for that defense is too accurate. Even with the red card, AZ made it look easy. Bosz has to fix the structure, not just hope it clicks after the break.
René blaming Sildillia, Fernandez and Yarek, i cannot even argue. It looked like they were stepping out of shape all night. If PSV wants to compete, two to three defenders must come in, otherwise this can turn into a long season 💀
"A top player is always match-fit." Not always, imo. Pre-season minutes matter, but if you are good you should adapt faster than 15 games. The frustration is justified though, the defense needs reinforcement ASAP 👀
Rene asking "Do you have to play for it fifteen times first?" lol i get the point, but if they were not match-fit then Bosz had to pick his safest options. Still, sitting Perisic and Van Bommel after that kind of result feels like a gamble.
The Veerman red card being "completely deserved" is so real. If you come in from your own half, that is not football with your head, that is desperation. He better not act like that again this season, no transfers talk now.
0-4 with an early red, yeah it killed the game instantly. But still, that back line looked shaky. "Absolutely not!" honestly fits how i felt watching it 😅