PSV is working on a historic sporting achievement. One more win and there is no club in the Netherlands that has won more times in a row from the start of the season. Well, sort of. Because the previous record, which the current PSV now equals, is also held by the Eindhoven club. And from the PSV in the 87/88 season. “What we did then was much more difficult,” says club icon Willy van de Kerkhof.
Van de Kerkhof should know. The former international played in that team at the time. “Don’t get me wrong,” says Willy on Sunday afternoon. “What the current PSV is doing is very impressive. And of course it is nice that my own club now equals this record. But what we did in 87/88 was more difficult,” he says.
The team of coach Peter Bosz won its seventeenth match in a row since the start of the Eredivisie season on Saturday evening. The team has not yet lost a competition point. And that equals PSV’s record in the successful season of 1988. This weekend, the club can wipe out the 35-year-old record for good with a win against FC Utrecht.
More opposition
However, the sports performance cannot be compared with the situation in 1988, says Willy. “In our time there was more opposition, especially because more international players played in the Netherlands. In the current competition there are also seven or eight teams that are not Eredivisie worthy. You cannot compare that with then.”
Former PSV player Berry van Aerle admits that he actually did not remember the previous record with the Eindhoven club. “At that time, as a team we didn’t think about records. We just tried to win as many games as possible,” says Berry soberly, who started working as a football scout after his career.
The former defender saw ‘his’ PSV record an easy victory in the Phillips Stadium on Saturday evening, but warns the team against complacency. “They have to keep playing at the cutting edge to break the record. Playing as poorly as they did in the last fifteen minutes against Excelsior is not allowed. But records are there to be broken, so I think they can win all 34 games!” , says Berry.
Breaking a record
According to Willy, it is certain that PSV will break the club record next Sunday. “PSV in this form is almost unbeatable. After that, it should be possible to increase the record to 22 or 23 games. You don’t have such a difficult program after the away match against Utrecht,” he knows.
It remains a great sporting achievement, the club icon acknowledges: “You have to be sharp in every match. That’s a huge challenge, but it’s worth it. If a new record is set, I wish the current selection for the next 35 years, or more, as much fun as we have had,” he concludes with a laugh.
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