Yorbe Vertessen can be more important as a substitute at PSV in the away match against Ajax on Sunday afternoon than as a basic player, Roger Schmidt says before the game in front of the camera of ESPN. According to the trainer of the Eindhoven team, the twenty-year-old Belgian attacker ‘may not be able to play at the top level for ninety minutes’.
“He is important from the bench. In recent weeks, he has shown that he is a good substitute,” said Schmidt. “Maybe he won’t be able to play 90 minutes at top level. So I have to make a decision: do I want it at the beginning or at the end? My decision is that I need him in the end. He is a young player and he is fit, but it takes a lot of you to play at this level if you are not used to it. That is not strange.”
“Carlos can as a physical target man are important to us. Later we will bring Yorbe”, continues Schmidt. He appears to be returning to his 4-2-2-2 system, which he used last season, before the game in Amsterdam. “We played the same system this season, but we just had a slightly different type of shadow striker in the team. Mario is more of a midfielder, he has a more important role in the build-up. Now we play with two typical strikers, we are used to that after last season. It’s different on the ball and our playing style has changed a bit, but the formation means nothing. It’s just the order on the field.”
“I’m not afraid, but no match is the same. PSV is yet another opponent who can be very compact and who is good at switching”, Ajax coach Erik ten Hag looked ahead to the meeting with PSV. His team worked towards the top with a good feeling, as Borussia Dortmund won in the middle of the week. “Of course I enjoy it, but during such a match you are concentrated and you have to coach sharply. After the game, the eye quickly turned to PSV. Even though I’m in the focus, I still enjoy it. These are such beautiful evenings, I thoroughly enjoyed them. But especially from my team, in collaboration with the supporters.”