PSV Form Guide: The Lowdown from the Lowlands

As regular readers will know, Mik's a Mag in Eindhoven. So, of course we asked him for some extra local knowledge ahead of tomorrow's crunch match

As I am sure we are all aware - apart from the class dunce currently occupying Naughty Corner - this upcoming match against PSV is our final group-phase home game of this season’s Champions League. It is imperative that we win this one, bearing in mind how difficult it will be to pick up points in Paris.

Eddie and Mad Dog will no doubt be studying videos of recent PSV Champions League and Eredivisie performances, in order to formulate a tactical plan and to select the best starting eleven, before naming the same side as in the previous match, lined up in a 4-3-3 formation. Always willing to lend a hand, as a guide for Eddie, and to enlighten those of you with patience enough to read this bollocks, I provide here my [cough, splutter] expert guide to PSV, the squad and tactics.

PSV kicked off the second half of the league campaign with a routine 5-1 home win against Excelsior shortly after our penalty shootout heroics against Bournemouth. However star striker Ricardo Pepi managed to break an arm while scoring PSV’s second, and is likely to be absent for some weeks. Also absent will be long term injury victims, Alassane Pléa and Ruben van Bommel. The availability of Anass Salah-Eddine and Ismael Saibari is yet to be determined as they were both involved in the AFCON final this coming Sunday, a fact that has me now furiously rewriting what I had penned so far. Frankly, I’ll be surprised if they even make the trip.

Head Coach (or Trainer in NL) Peter Bosz has over 20 years of top level coaching experience, and has so far done well at PSV. He was appointed at the beginning of the 2023/24 season, and has won both Eredivisie titles since. He generally prefers a flexible 4-3-3 attacking, high press style of play. Remind you of anyone?

First choice keeper is Matej Kovár (#32), and he is just the sort of keeper NUFC have been crying out for. He combines the best qualities of Nick Pope and Aaron Ramsdale. Tall, box-commanding shot-stopper with great footwork and distribution. Sign him, Eddie! Having said that, watch him have a stinker just to make me look an idiot.

In front of him, the back four will likely consist of super fast Dutch/USA wing-back Sergiño Dest (#8 RB), Ryan Flamingo (#6 RCB), Yarek Gasiorowski (#3 LCB, Spanish U21 international, despite the name), and Brazilian jack-of-all-trades Mauro Junior (#17 LB).

The most common variant of the midfield so far this season has consisted of Joey Veernan (#23 DM, Dutch international), Mauro Junior (#17 RAM), and Ismael Saibari (#34 DM/RAM, Moroccan international). However, again due to AFCON, changes will be necessary. Captain Jerdy Schouten (#22 DM, Dutch international) will probably play as a six, alongside Joey Veerman (#23, Dutch international), with Paul Wanner (#10, AM) likely playing as the eight.

Just a quick word about Schouten: he is one of the calmest players I have ever seen in a PSV shirt. Physically, he is not much to look at, and he moves around the field like the spindly kid at school who really doesn’t want to be playing in the cold and wet. However, he always seems to be in the right place at the right time.

Veerman is the dead-ball specialist, and is pretty handy lurking on the edge of the box, waiting for lay-backs. He will operate as a box-to-box midfielder so we will need to track him coming in from deep positions.

Up front, due to the absence of both main centre forwards (Pepi and Pléa), Gus Til (#20, Dutch international), will again take on the number nine position, supported on the right wing by Denis Man (#27), and octogenarian Ivan Perišić (#5) on the left. Additional attacking options could come in the form of Couhaib Driouech (#11), and Esmir Bajraktarevic (#19).

As mentioned earlier, Peter Bosz prefers a 4-3-3 formation and generally employs an attacking/high-press style of play. With the ball in advanced areas of the pitch, they become more flexible: they will either just leave two at the back, or sometimes it even looks like just one.

For example, when Sergiño Dest nashes-off up the wing à la Steve Watson, the LCB may move left and forward to cover the vacant channel. RCB will then correspondingly take up the centre position, but further back, while LB will cover the other channel.

Sometimes LB decides he wants to join the party too, either by attacking up the left wing, or just lending more support to left midfield. In either of these scenarios, the back 4 becomes a back 2, and this is when PSV are at their most vulnerable and will provide opportunities for the likes of Elanga to use his pace to our advantage. In general, PSV are pretty good defensively at corners and free kicks, although how they handle the height of our big lads is anyone’s guess.

Bosz will on occasions do what I wish Eddie would do; i.e. switch to a different formation. The PSV 4-3-3 can become a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-4-2 before you even notice. Eddie will need to be on full alert for this.

PSV have played 26 matches in all competitions so far this season. They have won 20, losing just 3 against SC Telstar at home (a real shock), Union SG at home (a real shocker!), and Atlético Madrid at home (a travesty!). Their 3 draws have come at home against Ajax (a ‘Desmond’), away at both Bayer Leverkusen and Olympiakos (with the same ‘Spaniards’ scoreline). Best results so far in the Champions League were the spanking of Napoli 6 - 2 in the Philips Stadion, and of course the absolutely scrumptious 1 - 4 at Anfield [the Vee household was full of mirth, I can tell you!].

PSV are currently ‘Winter Champions’, having finished the first half of the Eredivisie season 11 points clear of Feyenoord in 2nd, and 16 points clear of Ajax (Aaaw, don’t laugh! Oh, go on then!). Last night they went through to the quarter-finals of the KNVB Beker, winning 1 - 4 at FC Den Bosch.

PSV were allocated just under 2500 tickets for this match and I expect them to take up their full allocation. Expect the pubs to be doing a roaring trade (when do they not when there’s a match on). PSV fans will include a few hundred ‘Ultras’, but they’re not really the type that go looking for aggro, so expect them to be respectful and well-behaved [If they’re not, I’ll give them a clip around the ear when they get yem]. They will bring some colourful flags and will make plenty of noise in the ground (regardless of the scoreline), especially if they are allowed in with their drums.

This is likely to be a very tough game against the Dutch champions. We have a threadbare, knackered squad, compared to PSV who are still relatively fresh after the winter break. Where we create pressure, we need to make it count. PSV are very resilient as their match at Anfield proved (they could/should have been 5 down at half time). Even without star man Ismael Saibari, PSV are quite capable of hurting us, and they are as hungry for the three points as we are.

At the risk of getting a splinter in my arse, and because I’m too scared of jinxing us, I will leave score predictions to the on-duty preview writer. Whoever that is, I’m sure they will be much better at it than I.

HTL

Mik Vee

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