PSV wants to end the successful year of 2023 with a cup victory over FC Twente. Peter Bosz chooses second goalkeeper Joël Drommel under the crossbar in the cup confrontation. The former FC Twente goalkeeper also played last year’s cup tournament, which was won by PSV, and now has the opportunity to defend that prize. Other players could also get a new chance in the starting line-up tomorrow.
Ever since Roger Schmidt took over at PSV, the cup in Eindhoven has been seen as a serious prize. In the past two years, the cup win was also celebrated exuberantly by the club and its supporters. Is the cup also a serious prize for Peter Bosz?
“That’s a strange question. Of course it is a serious price. You can only win four prizes in a year. The cup is one of them. You have to go all out for that,” says Bosz.
“A few players took their chances against Arsenal.”
Yet this was not always the case in Eindhoven. In 2018, the champion had to bow to RKC in the second round because it fielded a B team. A season later, NAC, which was already playing in the First Division at that time, collapsed with shame.
There will not be a complete B team on the field tomorrow, but Bosz left it open a day before the match whether some players will get the chance. “A few players took their chances against Arsenal. If they play tomorrow it won’t be because I wouldn’t take the cup tournament seriously. We have more than eleven players who deserve to play in the starting line-up. Then the line-up can change every week.”
“I want to give Joël the opportunity to defend the cup win.”
Peter Bosz already revealed one name on Wednesday. “Joël Drommel is our cup keeper this year.” Just like last season, PSV’s second goalkeeper will keep track of the cup tournament. “I have not done that in my entire coaching career, but I want to give Joël the opportunity to defend the cup win. So I communicated that very early in the season.”
Last season, Joël Drommel became the hero in the cup tournament. PSV won against Ajax in the final after a blood-curdling penalty series. The PSV goalie ultimately saved Ajax player Alvarez’s penalty, after which PSV won the cup for the second year in a row.