Aad de Mos is not pleased with the behavior of PSV coach Roger Schmidt. In particular, the substitution policy of the German coach is being questioned by De Mos. He points to last Sunday’s game against Feyenoord (0-4), in which Cody Gakpo was quickly substituted and Noni Madueke started on the bench.
After 45 minutes of play, Schmidt pulled Mario Götze, Davy Pröpper and Eran Zahavi to the side. When he also replaced Gakpo after an hour of play, the trainer was whistled by the home crowd. “He probably does that on the basis of data,” said De Mos in conversation with the Eindhovens Dagblad. “I’ve always done it based on feeling. I switched to make a team better. If someone is not feeling well or is outclassed by their opponent, you intervene. He often changes dates and he proves it.”
Schmidt on critical substitution policy: ‘It’s impossible to always draft the same players!’
Schmidt also made several substitutions against AZ and that worked out well. Substitutes Yorbe Vertessen and Ritsu Don were accurate, meaning PSV won the match in Alkmaar 0-3. “But then they were leading 0-1. That indicates that he has thought of it beforehand, it is not spontaneous and does not come from his gut. I noticed that against Benfica as well. That is a weakness of this trainer,” said De Mos, who believes that Schmidt should let his base play for ninety minutes. “I can’t imagine these players who are so well trained are tired or can only play for sixty minutes.”
Next Wednesday, PSV will want to recover in the away match against Go Ahead Eagles. De Mos expects a 1-2 victory for the Eindhoven team, but thinks that PSV will have a hard time in Deventer. “I’m convinced of that. Kees van Wonderen is a tactically very strong coach. He also saw the match against Feyenoord and many teams will adopt that tactic. I saw them yesterday for ninety minutes against PEC Zwolle, there is a lot of football and speed in that team. PSV don’t like to make the game. They want to avoid quickly, then sit back and play from the switch. So PSV will also have problems in the small games if they don’t switch well and Ibrahim Sangaré is not there,” said De Mos, referring to the injured Ivorian midfielder.
After the midweek round, PSV will play the away match against Willem II next Saturday. De Mos expects that Schmidt’s team will not take the three points from Tilburg. “That will be a draw”, said the former trainer, who sees Willem II as a ‘difficult opponent’. “Fred Grim is also a smart trainer. But it also all depends on the results during the week. It is RKC Waalwijk – Willem II, a derby. That is not easy for Willem II either.”