Marcel Brands points to PSV’s youth academy

Last Monday, general director Marcel Brands was a guest in the talk show Rondo on Ziggo Sport.

Among other things, Brands spoke about the expansion of the Philips Stadium and about bringing in midfielder Kodai Sano. But much more was also discussed. In addition, there was also talk about PSV’s youth academy. This season, Amir Bouhamdi has broken through to the first team, and that has not escaped the general manager either.

Therefore Brands is of the opinion that PSV is back on the right track with regard to the youth academy. In the past few years, not all that many talents have truly broken through, and that is also something the CEO of PSV sees.

In doing so, the native man from ’s-Hertogenbosch points to his period as technical director of PSV between 2010 and 2018. ''In my first term we said in 2013 that we needed to get more out of our training program. In the end, in my final year we became Dutch champions with a team in which 12 of the 23 players came from our own training program. Now the goal is still that a third of our squad should consist of boys whom we train ourselves'', says Brands.

After that, the general director continues. ''I think that over the past few years we have fallen short there to some extent, and that is why we have made a few adjustments in scouting and some roles as well. For example, we placed Phillip Cocu at Topsport, primarily to guide the young boys'', it says.

Nevertheless, Brands also sees some positive bright spots. ''And you can now slowly see good new growth coming in again. On the other hand, the level is also quite high and the entry point is lower. The guys are impatient,'' continues the general director.

It also refers to AZ. ''Recently, our scouting has also analyzed AZ and some talents have emerged from there, but they are all no longer 18 years old. They are often already 20 or 21 and they all arrive a bit later. They have a little more patience. Whereas, if you look at us now: Noah Fernandez is 18, Amir Bouhamdi is 18 and Shuryjano Cornecion is also on the way; he is also 18. It's also difficult'', Brands concludes.