Pepi Fit But Benched: Til-Saibari Partnership Thrives

This should have been Ricardo Pepi’s season at PSV, but for now it is mainly the season of the Ismael Saibari-Guus Til couple. Since they alternated in the striker position, the Eindhoven team have not lost again and have scored 21 times in six games.

Pepi, who was PSV’s intended first striker before this season, has been doing it for a number of weeks with short substitute appearances of up to thirty minutes. The American took longer than hoped to return from a serious knee injury and now seems to be paying the price.

“Pepi is fit again and is a great striker. We can also play with him again, but I have to make choices,” said PSV coach Peter Bosz in the run-up to the away match against Olympiakos in the Champions League this evening.

Pepi was the first choice at PSV in September, but was (slightly) injured while visiting Excelsior. Since then, Til has been a striker at PSV on paper, where he often leaves to make room for Saibari. He thrives on that collaboration and has scored seven goals in his last six matches for PSV.

“They’re always moving contra from each other: when Til leaves the rush hour, Saibari appears there,” Ibrahim Afellay concluded on Sunday Studio Football. “Til is a very underrated player. People are now saying: Pepi should be in the team. But why is that? Things are going very well at PSV now.”

The man who has to make the decisions seems to agree with Afellay for the time being. Last Friday, Bosz said, almost cryptically: “Pepi is my first striker, but it is so good now.”

Yet, behind Saibari’s impressive production, it appears that not much has changed in PSV’s attacking game without Pepi. There are no more shots (on target), no more creation and PSV does not enter the enemy box more often.

The biggest difference appears to be the sharpness of star Saibari, who has performed optimally behind Til in the last eight games. He shoots more often and above all more accurately than in the first seven matches this season. In addition to his goals, his dribbling, capturing the ball high on the field and creating chances are also notable.

“Before he started scoring, he often found himself in that position in previous matches,” Bosz also knows. “He always did that, and still does. But you know, sometimes you have those periods when everything goes smoothly. Ismael will soon have another period in which they don’t go in for a while. Then he shouldn’t get confused. That’s how it goes in football.”

Bosz did not want to reveal who will start as striker against Olympiacos tonight, a day before the match. Yet it is easy to guess. Bosz knows his boat is on course. Although he fully understands Pepi, who was accurate as a substitute against Napoli and Fortuna Sittard and is eager to start again.

“Every player wants to play. It would be a strange mentality if he did not want to start. It is up to me to explain clearly to my players why I make certain choices. And I do that every week.”

“It is not that we are less important because Pepi joins the team,” Bosz continued. “I have read that in some media, but that is nonsense. I did not say it that way. I did indicate that Pepi is a very good striker and last Friday he proved that again by scoring.”

The American must therefore be patient and, where possible, make a difference as a substitute to change his trainer’s mind. For the time being, Bosz is building on the Saibari-Til tandem, and above all on the strength of PSV in its current composition.

Because, Bosz says: “If Olympiacos plays against Saibairi, Saibari is not going to win. We have to do it as a team.”