The second half of the season starts this weekend, and PSV has a lot in store for 2018. 50 percent of team LoLo moved to the Premier League, smoking will prohibited, the Philips Stadium got a new logo and… a new way of online gambling will be launched…by the club? Oh, and there’s football.
Satisfactory trainingcamp in Florida
PSV’s board and technical staff seems very satisfied about the trainingcamp in Orlando, Florida. The club got great exposure due to ambassador Ruud van Nistelrooij and Hirving Lozano. The team trained hard, played two matches against the reigning Brazilian champions Corinthians and, from the same country, Fluminense. Both matches were viewed by over 50 million people on TV. The response to PSV’s open and welcoming attitude was a surprise to most of the 200 journalists and 22 TV crews. On the other hand, managing director was surprised by the size of the organisation and overall reception. He hadn’t expected there to be live reports from training sessions, for example, but Chucky Lozano is as popular as the biggest singers and actors of Mexico. That was known, but confirmed only once again.
What has been good for the technical staff and selection was the fact that second match was performed by the substitutes: 9 talents were able to play almost an entire game on an international level and they brought it to a 1-1 draw and won the penalties. Nobody got seriously injured, only brand new signing Romero had some issues with an upper leg, but nothing serious. He will be fit again in a couple of weeks.
Plans for 2018
PSV organised a New Year’s Reception for 1500 supporters at the Philips Stadium, where they announced their plans for 2018 to all visitors and, ofcourse, the media. PSV Energie is the new back shirt sponsor for the rest of the season. This will bring up to 1 million euros into PSV’s wallet. Manager Toon Gerbrands said the plan is to have 30 to 40 million available to spend freely in the future. As of July 1st this year, smoking will be prohibited at Youth Training Complex De Herdgang, and a year later also at the Philips Stadium.
The new logo for this stadium was also presented. The management will start working with a children’s board consisting of 10 PSV fans between the age of 10 and 14, in order to keep creating ideas for the stadium of the future. The local authorities have decided to give the PSV Foundation 100.000 euros to launch the PSV Foundation Academy, in order to support their work for society. But the most attention obviously went to the presentation of Maxi Romero. Or maybe this:
Since Eindhoven, Philips, innovation and football are all intertwined as the core of PSV, the club also presented a new way of gambling: in the future, it might be possible to online gamble on a player who will take a penalty. At the same time, it is possible to hear his heartbeat through the speakers at the stadium. So…where the club is taking a moral standpoint to prohibit smoking because they don’t want to confront their youth with it at a professional sports location…they push abilities for online gambling in everyone’s face during a football match where all ages are welcome. Maybe they will have a very innovative way of defending this odd, contradictory way of thinking?
Transfers: outgoing
24-year old Jürgen Locadia unexpectedly transferred to the Premier League. The Emmen-born striker moves to Brighton & Hove Albion, who currently hold a 16th position on the ranking, and where his former PSV teammate Davy Pröpper is also active. Locadia came to Eindhoven in 2010 and made his debut on September 21st of 2011. In total, he scored 45 goals in 127 official matches and won two national titles, 1 national cup and 2 Johan Cruyff cups. His new employer pays 17 million Euro’s plus bonusses to PSV, which makes him the 7th best outgoing transfer for PSV in history.
Locadia’s transfer can be attributed the need to fill the financial gap that was caused by the exclusion of European football for the first time in 44 seasons. That problem is now solved, so Steven Bergwijn, Sam Lammers and Luuk de Jong not allowed to leave the club. Last summer Cocu kept Locadia from transferring to Wolverhampton Wonderers or Brighton, but now he willing to cooperate. Maybe this way he can finally get his desired left back from Brands?
Midfielder Adam Maher transferred to FC Twente, where he is reunited with the coach he knows from his succesfull period at AZ: Gertjan Verbeek. All parties have compromised to get the deal done. Maher scored 17 goals in 106 official matches for PSV, won two national titles and two Johan Cruyff cups.
Transfers: incoming
Except for Maximiliano Romero, PSV hasn’t attracked any new players. If TM Marcel Brands is going to come up with something, it will most likely be a left back. Hirving Lozano is doing great, Luuk de Jong is doing better than last season, Steven Bergwijn can play on Locadia’s position and Sam Lammers seems ready to make more minutes as striker as well. Brazilian winger Mauro Júnior signed last summer and is already knocking on the door, just like Donyell Malen, who came over from Arsenal and scored 8 goals in his last 6 matches for PSV U21, making him the best player of the second part of the first half of the Jupiler League season. Attacking midfielder Albert Guðmundssonfor scored 24 goals in 56 matches for the same team, and just scored a hattrick for the national team of Iceland.
In short: it seems unneccessary, and it is against the new policy – in which PSV has said to make more room for own talent – to sign any other players from outside the club to make up for the gap Locadia leaves with his departure.
Opponent Heracles loses captain
Coming sunday is the first match of the second half of the season, exactly one week after the return from the trainingcamp in Florida. According to Cocu everyone is completely fit again since last wednesday, so there are no such things as excuses when it comes to that. Just before the weekend, opponent Heracles Almelo saw its captain, Joey Pelupessy, leave to Sheffield Wednesday. Their greatest talent, Brandley Kuwas, has a knee injury, so it’s not very likely the black-and-whites will have an easy match.
Two of Heracles’ players have a history in Eindhoven: The Belgian Dries Wuytens was educated at PSV’s Youth Academy from 2001 until 2011, he but the 26-year-old defender never made his debut for PSV 1. 25-year-old midfielder Peter van Ooijen was part of PSV’s Youth Academy from 2003 until 2012, scored twice during his debut, but after that didn’t come further than 25 matches and 3 goals for PSV’s U21. Maybe the departure of Pelupessy will give him the possibility to become a strongholder in Almelo.
Statistics
Played against Heracles Almelo away 19 times, won 12 and lost 3 of those matches. Last time, it went like this. Heracles currently hold the 11th position on the ranking, with 26 goals scored and 37 conceded. From the 22 points they gathered, they took 16 of them at their home ground. PSV 16 points out of 6 away matches: only lost in Amsterdam against Ajax and spilled 2 points in Groningen against the local FC. On October 22nd PSV beat Heracles at home with 3-0, last year they took the 3 points from Almelo home after a 2-1 victory. PSV can do good business and increase their lead position from 5 to more points, if Ajax loses points against Feyenoord, like AZ did against Utrecht away on Friday. Let’s see what happens without 50 percent of team LoLo (Locadia & Lozano).
Match Information
Date: Sunday 21 January 2018
Time: 16:45 (4:45PM)
Location: Polman Stadion, Almelo
Referee: Ed Janssen
Broadcast: Fox Sports
Tickets: SOLD OUT, only tickets left for the Heracles section
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