GettyIsmael Saibari and Luuk de Jong celebrate PSV’s goal
NOS Voetbal•zaterdag, 08:12
Earnest Stewart sounded quite cheerful in September when he took stock of the first transfer summer under his leadership as PSV’s director of football affairs. But that the people of Eindhoven would be in such a good sporting position months later? “No,” he says very honestly. Stewart didn’t expect that.
After the departure of coach Ruud van Nistelrooij in May, PSV took a new path by recruiting Peter Bosz. The experienced trainer immediately made his mark and transformed PSV in recent months into an attacking machine the likes of which have not often been seen in Eindhoven.
It ensured that PSV presented an excellent Christmas report: no loss of points after sixteen Premier League rounds, the first wintering in the Champions League since 2015/2016 and players who have demonstrably improved this season.
‘We shouldn’t have had that winter break’
“It is clear that we are very satisfied with what is currently happening with us. It is now winter break, but for us it was not necessary,” says Stewart, laughing.
The 54-year-old American, who joined PSV in March, previously said that he gave himself three transfer periods to put together his ideal selection.
Stewart must conclude that he is now well on his way. “You naturally have an idea in advance of how you would like to play, but then it all comes to fruition… These are things you dream about. When you see how we play the matches and how we win them, you can you will certainly be satisfied.”
Stewart saw excellent PSV in the first half of the season: ‘You dream about this in advance’
The reason for the success in Eindhoven is mainly a mix of quality and experience that is now present in the selection, with the equally experienced Bosz as a great architect.
To start with the first: PSV signed Noa Lang, Jerdy Schouten, Sergiño Dest, Hirving Lozano and Malik Tillman players this summer who have clearly made the team stronger, as their performances during the first half of the season have shown.
In addition to this injection of quality, talented players such as Ismael Saibari, Johan Bakayoko and Yorbe Vertessen also experienced enormous development and were sometimes decisive for coach Bosz’s team. All three scored in the Champions League.
In every line of experience
Secondly, and just as importantly, PSV has a lot of experience in every line. Take, for example, goalkeeper Walter Benítez, defender André Ramalho, midfielder Schouten and striker Luuk de Jong, all football players who have experienced a lot, including in other major football competitions.
The latter certainly also applies to Bosz. The trainer constantly tries to keep his selection with both feet on the ground and is far from wanting to talk about a national title, although there is a huge gap of ten points between the leader and pursuer Feyenoord.
“From the start, the feeling with Peter was good and for us there was only one candidate who had to do it. With everything he has already shown and what we would like to see, you can certainly say that it is an excellent match” , says Stewart.
In short, everything seems to be coming together at the right time at PSV, which is why the club is now in such a good position.
Pro SchoutenJerdy Schouten appears to be a bull’s eye for PSV this season in terms of transfer
Is there time for Stewart to slow down during the winter break? Certainly not. Where there is performance, the interest of top European clubs in players is also growing. In Eindhoven they remember all too well how things went twelve months ago, when Cody Gakpo (Liverpool) and Noni Madueke (Chelsea) were sold during the winter break.
The transfer of Gakpo in particular was necessary to keep PSV’s financial house in order. The club is no longer in such an undesirable situation, partly thanks to the Champions League income.
‘Keeping the group together’
Stewart currently has no concrete indications that a club is interested in one of his players. “You hear in the corridors that our players are in demand, but our approach is to keep this group together,” he says.
‘Interested here and there in PSV players, but want to keep the group together’
Stewart also has other projects underway. For example, he intends to exercise the options in the rental contracts of Dest and Tillman, who are currently owned by FC Barcelona and Bayern Munich respectively.
The good performances of Dest and Tillman give PSV reason to sign them permanently, but it remains to be seen under what conditions this is possible. “Bayern is a big club,” Stewart recently said significantly on the television program Rondo about the possible signing of Tillman. To be continued no doubt.
For the time being, PSV is concentrating on continuing its current success towards the big goal: the 25th national title in the club’s history. Bosz’s selection hopes to lay the foundation for this at a training camp from January 2 to 8 under the Spanish sun in Estepona, near Marbella.
