PSV managed to solidify their second position on the ranking in Waalwijk. Next opponent is VVV-Venlo, who is trailing at number 15. A seemingly easy last home match of 2020, but the last mile is the longest.
Roger Schmidt started with his strongest line-up: Mvogo; Dumfries (C), Teze, Boscagli, Max; Rosario, Sangaré; Gakpo, Götze; Ihattaren and Malen. Baumgartl, Fein, Hendrix, Madueke, Müller, Oppegard, Piroe, Sambo, Viergever and Unnerstall took place on the bench.
RKC started with Lamprou; Bakari, Meulensteen, Touba, Quasten; Van der Venne, Anita, Tahiri; Ngonge, Stokkers and John in a classic 4-3-3 system. With Fred Grim as head coach, it was clear that RKC wanted to play the type of football he always did at Ajax, and so it happened.
First half
The first ten minutes had a lot to offer. PSV got their first corner kick within the first minute and RKC lost Ola John due to an injury in the second minute already. He got replaced by PSV youth exponent Lennerd Daneels. Mohamed Ihattaren created the first danger with an assist towards the first goalpost, but Kostas Lamprou did his job well. Philipp Max’s assist, some minutes later, also had no result and RKC forgot to take their chance when Anas Tahiri hit the bar.
Cody Gakpo needed just one opportunity to score the opening goal in the eleventh minute, after a solid pass from Mario Götze. A few moments later Mohamed Ihattaren also hit home, and PSV were now leading with 0-2 in less than 15 minutes; the fastest since 2016. What could have been 0-3 was called offside, and that was the end of entertainment for the first half.
PSV looked tired and gave away the initiative. The chances and corner kicks they managed to create in the dying minutes were taken quite dramatically and had no result whatsoever. Schmidt’s yellow card for complaining about the referee’s decisions was probably also a result of frustration about his squad’s performance.
Second half
The second half continued in the same low pace as the first. Dumfries got a reasonable chance to score, but his header ended in the Greek goalkeeper’s hands. Lamprou also kept Götze’s shot out of the far upper corner and Max got a yellow card for stepping on the break in the 60th minute.
Twenty-five minutes before time Schmidt decided he needed ‘fresh legs’ again and brought Joel Piroe for Malen and Noni Madueke for Gakpo. Referee Kevin Blom once again made a terrible decision when he gave PSV a penalty after Dumfries pulled one of his tricks again. The captain has been successful with this in the last few weeks, and cashed the free check-in by himself: 0-3.
The way the 1-3 still fell in the 87th minute says a lot. Olivier Boscagli really let Finn Stokkers go and didn’t make an effort to stop him from shooting it behind Yvon Mvogo, who clearly wasn’t amused with this. Maybe this is all a sign that the last mile is the longest.
On the other hand, the 1-4 is a sign that the hunger of the substitutes is enormous. The assist from Adrian Fein and the finish of Madueke were the last highlight of this match, plus the fact that Fredrik Oppegård was allowed to make his debut as replacement of Max in the extra time.
Watch the full resume right here.
Next opponent: VVV-Venlo
VVV-Venlo was founded on 7 February 1903 in Venlo, a small city in the southeast of the Netherlands. The three V’s stand for Venlo Football Club. Apart from some years in the 70s and 80s, the club colours have always been yellow and black. Their home stadium was De Kraal until they moved to De Koel in 1972, which is the home base until today, and it allows for 8.000 visitors. This stadium is located in a pit, where players actually descend into in order to play the matches.
The first game in Dutch professional football, on August 14 of 1954, was a friendly match between Alkmaar ’54 (predecessor of AZ) and Sportclub Venlo, which was won 3-0 by the home team in Alkmaar. After the merger of the KNVB and the NBVB, on November 25 of 1954, VVV and Sportclub Venlo also merged a day later. Under the name VVV ’03 they beat Ajax with 3-2 during their first official KNVB competition match.
VVV were a Dutch sub-topper in the 50s and 60s, with Faas Wilkes being one of the most influential players of the Netherlands. Johan Cruyff named him his main example. Wilkes played for teams like Internazionale, Torino FC and Valencia CF between 1949 and 1956, and scored 35 goals in 38 matches for the Dutch national team. The KNVB actually excluded Wilkes from the Dutch national team for several years, because he made money with football. They apologized for this during his funeral.
The KNVB Cup victory of 1959 was the first and still is the highest achievement of the club ever, followed up by the partaking of the International Football Cup after they reached the third place in the Eredivisie in 1961. After this season, they relegated and in 1970 even sunk to the 16th position in the third division. After their promotion in 1972, VVV became an elevator team between the two highest Dutch divisions. They promoted to the Eredivisie seven more times ever since.
Famous
Some of the best known players who defended the colours of VVV are Dick Advocaat, Nordin Amrabat, Tijjani Babangida, Beb Bakhyus, Steven Berghuis, Bart Carlier, Keisuke Honda, Jan Klaassens, Niki Mäenpää, Ahmed Musa, Mink Peeters, Stan Valcks, Marcos Vampeta, Faas Wilkes, John de Wolf and Maya Yoshida. From 2010 until 2012 Daniëlle van de Donk, Kika van Es, Jeslynn Kuijpers, Vanity Lewerissa and Lieke Martens were all part of VVV’s women’s team.
Familiar faces
Dick Advocaat was not only a player of VVV-Venlo, he also trained PSV as a head coach during two periods. Nordin Amrabat, Sjef Blatter, Gerald Sibon and Patrick Paauwe played for the Venlo side, while Jason Bourdouxhe, Clint Leemans, Edward Linskens, Evert Linthorst, Funso Ojo and Peter van Ooijen are PSV youth exponents who later tried their luck at VVV. Marcos Vampeta played for ‘The Good Old’ on loan in 1995.
PSV stand-in goalkeeper Lars Unnerstall played two seasons in Venlo before he moved to Eindhoven. VVV’s technical manager, Stan Valckx, is a youth exponent from the Venlo club, and played 121 matches for PSV. He was also technical manager for the club in Eindhoven between 2004 and 2008.
Facts and figures
PSV played a total of 77 matches against VVV throughout history, of which they won 51 and lost only 11 times. PSV scored 195 and conceded 73 goals. PSV won 24 of the Eredivisie matches at home and lost only four times, scoring 83 and conceding only 28 goals.
PSV’s biggest home win dates from 1995-1996: 11-1. In 1951-1952 PSV suffered its biggest home defeat against VVV with 0-2. The greatest triumph was celebrated in 2012-2013, when PSV won 0-6. In 1926-1927 PSV went down 4-0 in an away game at VVV, a record. The last away game, on 19 January, resulted in a 1-1 draw. The last home match, on 6 October of 2019, resulted in a 4-1 victory for PSV. VVV’s last victory was on 12 September of 1976.
Current situation
Hans de Koning replaced Robert Maaskant as head coach on 11 November 2019 and managed to keep the VVV in the Eredivisie in his first season. Currently they are the number 15, after losing eight matches and conceding goals 38 already. The 0-13 home loss against Ajax on 24 October was obviously a shock for everyone with a yellow-and-black heart. Luckily the Limburgers regrouped and were successful in two KNVB Cup matches especially.
Last Saturday they lost against FC Twente at home. The last victory in the Eredivisie dates back to 7 November, when they sent Heracles back to Almelo with zero points. If they lose again, against PSV on Tuesday, and Willem II and ADO Den Haag win their matches coming Wednesday, VVV-Venlo will find themselves back in the relegation zone during Christmas.
Strengths and weaknesses
The absolute eye-catcher is Greek striker Giorgios Giakoumakis. The 26-year-old sharpshooter has already scored 10 goals; more than the rest of his team together. Wingers Jafar Arias and Vito van Crooij together are good for five goals and one assist only. Attacking midfielder Evert Linthorst is probably the most talented and motivated player in the selection. He scored two goals and gave three assists and surely wants to show Eindhoven he made the right decision, when he left the PSV Academy and went back to Venlo in 2018.
The 31-year-old defensive midfielder Danny Post is quite experienced. Most of the defenders are also between 25 and 36 years old, but apparently they haven’t been able to create stability in the last lines. It will be interesting to see how much cracks PSV can find on their wall on Tuesday. VVV surely doesn’t want to create another open house as they did against Ajax, but will they have enough power and self-confidence to keep it from happening again?
Situation PSV
Madueke is back from an injury, Ihattaren feels reborn and Gakpo keeps scoring goals and they all seem fit to play. Rosario Rosario was able to play the full match of last Saturday again but is suspended because of the yellow card he got. Maybe it was a smart move to make sure he can play the top match against Ajax on 10 January?
Gakpo and Malen were taken off the pitch in the 67th minute, and it seems logical that Schmidt did this to keep them fit for the match against VVV. For Mauro Júnior, Armando Obispo, Ryan Thomas and Eran Zahavi this match most likely comes too soon. Érick Gutiérrez has been training with the group again, but also probably won’t make his comeback until 2021.
Match information
Match: PSV – VVV-Venlo
Date: 22 December 2020
Time: 20:00 (8:00 PM)
Location: Philips Stadion, Eindhoven
Referee: Van der Eijk
VAR: Bas Nijhuis
Broadcast: Fox Sports
Article by Joey van der Hart for Eindhoven News
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