Valentijn Driessen questions the physical condition of PSV’s selection. Trainer Roger Schmidt was unable to call on important forces such as Cody Gakpo and Noni Madueke in the Conference League match with AS Monaco (0-0) and several players were injured during the match against the Monegasques.
“With what has been shown in the Europa League and Conference League, it is every time you rehab after two days of Champions League football. After Borussia Dortmund-Ajax, the confrontation between big clubs such as AS Monaco and PSV was to cry,” writes the football chief of The Telegraph Friday in his column in the newspaper. Trainer Schmidt had to compete against AS Monaco without Cody Gakpo, Noni Madueke, Mario Götze, Ryan Thomas and Davy Pröpper, who were missing for various reasons. Moreover, Marco van Ginkel was not armpit fresh.
“How is it possible that Roger Schmidt’s players look so bad physically, despite his substitution policy?”, Driessen wonders. Against AS Monaco, the infirmary only got fuller. Yorbe Vertessen dropped out against AS Monaco on the stroke of half-time with a rib injury, while Carlos Vinicius also had to stop fighting after an hour of play due to cramp. “Jordan Teze and Philipp Max were also taken care of well before the end of the game because of cramp attacks”, the columnist noted.
“PSV had to play three European preliminary rounds, but they can never hide behind them at PSV. Simply because the technical framework knew in advance that this tax was coming”, Driessen believes. “It is clear that many players do not have enough content for the necessary physical load. This underload can be directly related to the amount of training work. An intensive investigation can do no harm. Especially because PSV claims to be a top sports organization in which the scientific approach plays a major role.” PSV will come into action again on Sunday afternoon (2.30 p.m.). In the Eredivisie, the number two in the ranking will visit Fortuna Sittard.
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