Friday, October 22, 2021 at 7:59 PM• Mart van Mourik

Wim Kieft looked with astonishment at the way PSV played against AS Monaco. In his column in The Telegraph he questions the energetic playing style of the Eindhoven residents, who, according to Kieft, do not have the qualities to ‘Vollgasfussball‘ to play. The team of trainer Roger Schmidt lost 1-2 on Thursday evening in the Europa League match with the Monegasques.

Myron Boadu received a basic place from trainer Niko Kovac, who crowned the former AZ striker with a goal. According to Kieft, Schmidt’s choices helped Boadu to excel on behalf of his team. “Defending PSV didn’t look like anything, by the way. They were defending with the whole line across the halfway line. With a lightning-fast striker like Boadu you are asking for trouble. With his type of game, he does need space in depth,” the columnist notes.

“PSV’s way of playing is unsustainable,” Kieft continues. “It is real Vollgasfussball from the first to the last minute. Only things are going way too fast for the qualities of the PSV players. Messi and Xavi remained accurate in combination, passing and making the right choices at the highest pace, but this is PSV, with Carlos Vinicius at the center. With possession of the ball, there is no moment of rest in PSV’s game. Everyone starts running and most don’t know where to go. You never see the team temporize.”

According to Kieft, Vinicius in particular has major problems with the playing style that Schmidt wants to use. “That is not someone who can easily pass a ball and keep it with him to join the team. Vinicius also doesn’t have it easy with two wingers like Cody Gakpo and Noni Madueke, who are very focused on making their own action. Every time they come in from outside to look for the target. Sometimes they opt for the combination, but that’s not where Vinícius’ strength lies. If you then hear Roger Schmidt and some players afterwards, PSV seems to have played very well despite the loss and Vinicius did fine. While everyone sees that his level is not sufficient for PSV. Eran Zahavi is much smarter, but he was spared for the top match against Ajax”, concludes Kieft.