PSV became national champion for the 26th time with a victory over Sparta Rotterdam on Sunday. With radio reporters Mark Versteden and Yannick Eling, Studio040 looks back on the second season under Peter Bosz.
“This was an insane development.”
Yannick Eling saw that Sparta—PSV reflected the Eindhoven season. “You get ahead, play really well, and then you get caught up for a while,” says Eling, referring to Sparta’s equaliser, which put PSV virtually in second place for a while.
“Then, luckily, Luuk de Jong stands up and scores. And with that, PSV still pulls the game to itself. But it wasn’t easy. Sparta was tough.”
“I’ve never experienced a roller coaster like this before,” says Versteden. “It has also literally never happened before. Not only in the Eredivisie, but I don’t think they do in the other larger European leagues. If you are ahead by 9 points, you are 9 points behind, and eventually conquer the leading position one game before the end.”
Unusual
Versteden says it also caused an unusual championship party on Sunday. “This season was a roller coaster, and you noticed an unusual unloading at the championship party that arose after the game.”
“You often have seasons where it remains exciting until the end. But the top teams usually stay closer together. Now there was a huge points backlog on top of that. For a long time, no one took this title into account and did not live up to it. Which only increased the joy of the party”, Versteden explains.
Mentality
What remains of this championship is both the mental strength and the mental weakness of this team, Eling thinks. “You gave it away almost completely after the winter break. At the same time, you stayed in the race until the end of the ride, climbed out of a deep valley just in time, so you are now standing on the scale.”
“You still have lost matches drawn to you. Think of Shakhtar where PSV fought from a 2-0 deficit to a 2-3 victory and the same against Feyenoord. But on the other hand, there was the ease that makes you fly out of the cup tournament in the months after the winter break, suffer a historic 7-0 defeat against Arsenal and almost lose the championship.”
Trust
“If necessary, PSV was on this season”, Versteden says. “But when there was no pressure on the kettle for a while, the intrehensibility disappeared like snow in the sun. And in the months after the winter break, you also saw the confidence disappear.”
“With the football Bosz wants to play, everything on the field must be 100 percent right. That last 10 per cent was missing in that period, also because important players dropped out with Tillman and Pepi and Schouten and Veerman were not completely fit.”
“If there is one assignment for Stewart next season (the technical director, ed.) it is to put together a hungry selection”, says Eling.
Figures
Nevertheless, according to both radio commentators, PSV deserves more than enough for the season. “If you have to judge football throughout the season, that has been very good. The tension was high. There was wintering in the Champions League, and the team even made it to the last round of 16. That’s all, just very good. Then it’s a shame that you were kicked out of the cup tournament by Go Ahead Eagles. I still give PSV an 8.5 this season.”
Eling thinks that’s too high. “A lot went well, but you should have won the KNVB cup too. That you got this far in the Champions League is very good, but if you were beaten 0-7 by Arsenal, I also think that is a serious mishap. But PSV climbed out of the valley in time in the league. Therefore, still wide enough, but I’ll keep it at a 7.”
