Willem II is last in the Eredivisie and has three games left to avoid relegation. Driess Saddiki is still confident in a good ending to the season, although, according to him, the players of Willem II must be on the field ‘as men’ in the three matches that it now completes in eight days.
‘In the corner where the blows fall’. It’s a statement you often hear when clubs fight against relegation. A cliché, but they are there for a reason. Willem II also notices it, it often falls just the wrong way for the Tricolores. There were also moments of bad luck in the previous match, against PSV. From an offside goal to an unfortunate own goal.
“Of course you can feel that,” Saddiki says honestly. “You want it to go well, that an opponent has moments like that. We are taking the blows now, but we have to make sure we bounce the ball back quickly.”
“We can no longer afford to give away the goals like that.”
Willem II scored twice against PSV, twice PSV quickly brought the margin back to two. A few weeks ago, those had been moments when heads would go down. Now that is something else, the realization that the sporting future of the club is at stake has penetrated well in everyone. “We really want to give everything, put a lot of energy into the games. We are ultimately short of ourselves against PSV. Twice a quick goal against, that is very sour. We just have to get rid of that. can’t afford matches, giving away the goals so easily, that’s not allowed.”
Saddiki didn’t want to dwell on that for too long last week. “It shouldn’t get in your head. I’m mentally very strong at that, so are the other guys. That’s what you’re footballer for. You know it can happen,” says Saddiki, who then throws out another cliché. “The ball is round.”
“It’s about intrinsic motivation, I call that passion and playing from your heart.”
The midfielder is not looking at the rankings now either. He looks at his own team, like trainer Kevin Hofland does. “Every match has to come from within yourself. Nicely said, it is about intrinsic motivation. I call it passion and playing from your heart. I see that reflected in training sessions, in halftime in the dressing room, in how they rage against each other “I missed that here in the beginning. Now it is there. In the end it should yield points.”
Saddiki would have liked to have raged at PSV’s 4-2. There was a miscommunication between Timon Wellenreuther and Wessel Dammers, so the defender worked the ball into his own goal. Those are frustrating moments. “Of course you want to cry out at such a moment. It is a very bad moment. For us, but certainly also for Wessel and Timon. Such miscommunication is sour. But you have to put it behind you very quickly. “We can learn from it. In that regard, it is important that we take something positive from every game. But certainly also the negatives, that we know what we have to do better.”
“If we are not there as men, we will get the goals.”
An important point that should be better against Heracles on Saturday evening is very clear, according to Saddiki. “We have to make sure that we are there as men. Against PSV we were partly there as men, but also partly not. And if we are not, then we get the goals around the ears. You have to be there the whole game “The focus must remain. We must ensure that we keep each other awake. With the energy of the last few weeks. And then the assignment is clear: we have to win matches.”
Hofland agrees with those words. “We have a lot of guys who are still young, with less experience. At PSV you saw guys, we miss that. We still have to grow in the physical part and the tactically smart part. And you have to be able to handle the pressure. It’s now up to us and the boys: show that you want to and that you can!”