Valentine Driesen points to Jerdy Schouten

Since the summer of 2023, Jerdy Schouten has been a player for PSV and last season Schouten was appointed the new captain after Luuk de Jong left for FC Porto. In addition, last season the midfielder was deployed as a central defender after a change by coach Peter Bosz in order to play more football from the back.

This choice by Bosz paid off well, since the team began to turn things around at that moment and ultimately left with the whistle, heading toward the third consecutive national championship. Nevertheless, the decision to place Schouten in defense is nothing new.

This is what Valentijn Driessen says in the De Telegraaf podcast Kick-off when a possible role as national team coach for Bosz is discussed. ''A fairly large number of players have already worked with him and already know what that football of Bosz looks like. It also fits in with Dutch football culture. And it’s also not the case that he does whole bizarre things that they’ve never come across in their careers. Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt worked with him at Ajax and a number have worked with him at PSV in recent years. It’s also not the case that it’s something brand new for everyone,'' says PSV watcher Jeroen Kapteijns in that same podcast.

''And his style of play is also absolutely nothing new. Jerdy Schouten in the back, that was Oranje in 1974 already. Back then it was Arie Haan'', says Driessen in response.

After that, the journalist continues his story, also claiming that Bosz is a coach who would dare to make such a decision. ''And later with Frank Rijkaard and Ronald Koeman himself. It is not at all new. It is presented as if it were very new, but it isn’t. The only thing is: he dares it. He dares it in a time when most coaches are anxious about attacking, because they are afraid of the counter. And at the Netherlands team he has better players than he has at PSV'', said Driessen.