Since Ruud van Nistelrooij wears a cap, PSV has been unbeaten for eleven games in a row. That does not necessarily mean anything, but Van Nistelrooij is not going to tempt fate and will put the cap back on on Sunday. Then PSV will play against Ajax at home. It is a crucial match for the team from Eindhoven in the battle for second place in the competition. “My cap is ready.”
Ruud van Nistelrooij’s statistics against Ajax as a player and trainer are great. He has never lost to the team from Amsterdam with PSV. But that statistic went in one ear and out the other.
“That is nice for you as press and you can use it in the preview. But I’m preparing my team for Sunday. We want to show the best game of this season. Sunday half past three is the only moment that counts.”
“Sometimes you have to conclude that the best thing is not to lose.”
He tries to reduce the pressure on the game by tempering expectations. “Of course you try to win, that is the starting point. But you never know how a game will go. Maybe you should conclude on Sunday that the best thing is not to lose.”
Van Nistelrooij continues: “There are also four more games to come in the competition, in which there are still twelve points to be earned. So we shouldn’t make the competition bigger than it is.”
But the lucky hat, it goes back on anyway. To be sure. Since Van Nistelrooij has been wearing a cap, PSV has been on an eleven-game unbeaten run. “The cap is ready. It will open again on Sunday.” Because if it doesn’t help, it won’t hurt.
“It must be a folk festival.”
The former striker has an almost fit selection. Only the long-term injured players Armando Obispo and Mauro Júnior are not there.
Furthermore, the eyes are on the public on Sunday. NAC – Willem II was stopped last week because of the new guidelines. The PSV trainer expects football to be celebrated as a folk festival. “There is a certain standard to experience football. It must be a folk festival. Everyone in Eindhoven has been looking forward to this for weeks. It is important that you support your club in the right way.”