PSV visited Willem II on Saturday evening against a new zeperd in the Eredivisie. The team of trainer Roger Schmidt went down 2-1 due to an own goal by Eran Zahavi and a blunder by Joël Drommel. Despite this, PSV’s game satisfied the German trainer. Schmidt thought that his team played a better match against Willem II than against Ajax in the battle for the Johan Cruijff Scale, when his team triumphed 0-4.
PSV suffered its second loss of the season and has already lost six points this season. “I think we played a good game,” Schmidt said in front of the camera of ESPN. “We created a lot of chances, gave little away and still lost 2-1, that’s football. But I can hardly blame my players, because in my view they gave a good response to the last matches, in which we didn’t play well. What sticks, of course, is the result.”
Schmidt found his team dominating against Willem II. “In a different way than we usually do,” the German continued. “We played better football, were aggressive in the pressure and were well organised. In the first half they had one shot on target and it came in from a free kick. We were unhappy today. But okay, we also played offensively. We missed a bit, given the chances in the first twenty minutes. Willem II was defending a lot, then you have to be patient. We came often enough in the sixteen and were found, but the keeper got a few good balls.
Timon Wellenreuther took a leading role at Willem II and, among other things, had a wonderful save on a header by Marco van Ginkel from close range. “We will have to accept that we were not able to score more than once today.” His own goalkeeper, on the other hand, made a mistake at 2-1. “That’s part of football and part of his development. He is still young. We win together and we lose together. So far he has had a great season. His development has gone from zero to 100 in the last few weeks. He is playing now for PSV, is part of the the Dutch squad and plays European matches. Today he saw what can happen in football.”
Finally, Schmidt emphasized that he thought his team played better than against Ajax earlier this season. “We played a better game today than against Ajax for the Johan Cruijff Scale, when we won 0-4. We created many more chances. The only difference was that we were not able to score more often today . We defended well, played with good intensity and the players managed to find each other frequently. What can I say to the team?”