These are turbulent weeks for PSV. They lost twice in a row and a goalkeeper change turned out to be dramatic. The road up should be resumed on Tuesday. First of all, in the quarterfinals of the cup tournament, NAC has to be settled, precisely the fear gegner of the Eindhoven number two in the Eredivisie. It is still unclear who is under the bar.
The good news: NAC hasn’t won in Eindhoven since 2004. But less hopeful: in the cup, the last four mutual encounters against NAC were lost.
“You make sure that I immediately get some more tension in my legs,” said Schmidt after hearing that statistic. Of course the German trainer said it with a smile.
Ralf Seuntjens had said earlier in the afternoon that NAC must be 90 percent lucky to be able to beat PSV. The PSV trainer does not believe in that. Because after hearing that statement, the smile went away for a while and he took a more serious tone.
“We have already lost so many games this year unnecessarily. We couldn’t lose the game against Willem II, but it happened. In Heerenveen we also give away a certain victory. It’s good to hear all this again, because this is what I’m going to do.” quote in a moment.”
And so it happened. Even before a ball was kicked in training, Schmidt gathered his entire squad and set the players on edge with the statistics and statements just heard.
Although the pressure on the trainer has increased after the defeats against Ajax and AZ, he was relaxed. Schmidt knows better than anyone that there is no excuse to lose on Tuesday. Still, he is happy that the match will not be played in Breda. “The first PSV match I watched was NAC – PSV two years ago. The atmosphere there impressed me then. I’m glad we’re playing at home.”
In addition to the two defeats in the competition, there was also the wrong goalkeeper change in Eindhoven. Yvon Mvogo was suddenly preferred over Joël Drommel on Saturday. The Swiss goalkeeper made a big mistake and PSV lost. However, Schmidt did not want to let us know who will be preferred under the bar on Tuesday evening. He remained secretive, but was clear about the level of his goalkeepers.
“Normally you don’t change goalkeepers much. But I expect good performances in this position. We are not in amateur football. If players can’t live up to expectations and I have other options, I switch them. The keepers know what to do to They have to show that now.”
At PSV, Noni Madueke and Carlos Vinícius will return to the selection on Tuesday. Moreno Rutten is available again at NAC. Danny Bakker, Roy Kortsmit and Pjotr Kestens are still at home with corona.