Dutch professional footballers can be found in all corners of the world, from the spotlights of the major European leagues to the more adventurous jobs on other continents. In the Over de Grens section, Voetbalzone speaks weekly with a player who is active outside the national borders. This time, attention is paid to Joël Piroe, who made the switch from PSV to Swansea City last summer. The young striker is a true revelation in the Championship: after 21 matches, the counter stands at 11 hits and 4 assists.
By Jordi Tomasowa
“I think it has to do with several factors,” Piroe replied when asked if he could explain his great start at Swansea. “Form plays an important role, that you take advantage of your opportunities and with the game we want to play here, my qualities really come out. But above all, I really felt like I was ready now, it fits together perfectly.” It should not come as a total surprise, however, that Piroe manages to find it so easily at the Welsh club. The talent had a nose for the goal from an early age. Feyenoord knocked on the door after scoring more than 40 goals in his first and only season in NEC’s Under-14s.
Joël Piroe accurate on behalf of Swansea City against Blackpool.
Piroe also scored the goals in Rotterdam. However, a step to Feyenoord Under 17 was not possible, after which PSV managed to recruit him in 2014. In total, he played more than six seasons for the Eindhoven club. “Of course this was a very nice time. Our batch of youth was very good,” recalls Piroe. “I was in team with guys like Cody Gakpo, Armando Obispo, Jordan Teze, Justin Lonwijk and Leandro Fernandes. We always played for prizes back then. I have made great strides there, and I am very happy with that when I look back on it now.”
In 2018, Piroe joined the PSV first team, although he made his minutes with the promise team. There was no real chance with the main force, so a rental period to Sparta a year later had to offer a solution. “In terms of playing minutes, it was not what I expected, but it did me good in terms of the stadium experience, the atmosphere during Eredivisie matches. You also see the other side of the coin, because we really had to fight for our survival.”
When Piroe was told by Schmidt last summer that he would again have little prospect of playing time at PSV next season, he decided to embark on his first foreign adventure at Swansea. The club from Wales, playing at the second level of England, paid just under two million euros to PSV. “I felt it was the best choice, so I didn’t hesitate for a long time. Of course you want to consider everything carefully first. It’s not nothing, such a step abroad, that also played a part, of course. I’ve seen it often enough at PSV that someone comes from abroad and it doesn’t click at all. Then you see that someone is very unhappy. You don’t want that to happen to you.”
Piroe made inquiries from players with a history at Swansea, such as Luciano Narsingh. In his own words, he was really ready for a foreign adventure. “That may sound strange if you haven’t played very much in the Eredivisie, but I also had the feeling that I was not inferior to someone like Eran Zahavi. That’s why I also thought: I can take a step to a club that is reasonably close to PSV in terms of level, but where I would really get a chance.” Who thinks that in the Championship there is only kick and rush is played, according to Piroe, it is wrong. “Most teams in the Championship have a style of play in which a good build-up is important. Only when clubs feel such pressure, they are not afraid to handle the long ball. Then they will certainly come into their own, because most selections consist of large, physically strong players.”
What a signing this man has been for Swansea City. ?? Joel Piroe. ???????#swans pic.twitter.com/0Fb99hJ8ZO
— Football League World (@FootballLeagueW) Nov 22, 2021
Piroe soon had to deal with a new manager in his first weeks at Swansea after the sudden departure of Steve Cooper. “When Russell Martin was appointed as our new coach, he completely turned it around for us. He absolutely did not want to see just a long ball on the striker. That’s why I didn’t really experience defenders here. Our current playing style suits me very well.”, he refers to the 5-4-1 system that Swansea uses. He also has little to complain about the facilities at the Championship club. “It is comparable to PSV, the training complex also looks great. And the English fields, of course. Even if they don’t like it here in Wales when I use the word ‘English’, I get to hear it right away”, says Piroe with a laugh. “That’s really a certain hate. It also struck me when I arrived here in the middle of summer. The European Championship was of course in full swing and this part of Wales was really anti-England. If I had wanted to cheer for England, they would have looked at me strangely.”
Swansea wanted to give Piroe space if he needed time to adapt, but his goal was to be the first striker to score as many minutes as possible. He didn’t really feel pressure to perform at the same time. “I just had the feeling: it’s finally here. If you feel that you are ready, then of course you are eager to play so many matches.” Piroe got off to a strong start as he scored on his debut, in the EFL Cup against Reading, and scored his first goal in the Championship against Stoke City. The counter now stands at 11 goals and 4 assists in 21 matches. Piroe is currently involved in 56 percent of all goals: to say he is the big man at Swansea is an understatement.
Swansea fans immediately embraced him. “Yesterday someone sent me a tweet, that boy had turned 19 and had a cake on which I read: ‘No Piroe, no party’. Pretty bizarre, right? Piroe can also count on the support of his trainer Martin, who praised the striker for his attitude on the Swansea official site at the end of November. “He has adapted to a new country and a new competition. I must say he exceeded our expectations. He has no fear, he came in with no idea what it’s like to play in the Championship. You can be impressed and sink in or you can grab the opportunity and the challenge with both hands, that second he did. We love Joel, he is a confident boy, but he is humble and eager to learn.”
A goal by teammate Jamie Paterson is celebrated by Joël Piroe.
Where Piroe flourishes, the achievements of the Swans against, however. With a ninth place, they occupy a place in the gray middle of the Championship, which is not good enough, given that the club still played the play-off final for promotion to the Premier League against Brentford at the end of May.
Is Swansea not too dependent on your goals this season?
“As a striker, that’s never a negative thing, of course, but I also think my teammates know that I can’t do it on my own. You start to notice that opponents are starting to tune in to me and that brings new challenges with it. In my view, that’s just fun. You really play against defender trees here.
Do you have a concrete example of this?
Against Bournemouth, for example, Gary Cahill was my direct opponent. I was very curious how I would fare against him. He is a very experienced player, not the most agile, but he knows all the tricks of the trade.”
Can you compare the Eredivisie and the Championship in terms of level?
“No, I don’t think you can compare it. Apart from the fact that it is of course a very physical competition, it is also different because you almost always play three games a week here. You often see that the third match is a lot less qualitative, but the high intensity is still there. In the Netherlands you often only play a match every week, that is really the big difference.”
Have you gotten used to that load of three games a week?
Actually not yet, I now also notice that the third game of the week is really the hardest. In the past few weeks you often saw that the coach replaced me around the seventieth minute when we had a lead. Then I personally don’t have a lot of problems with it, because you’re already looking at the next game. Then you are happy when you have completed your task, when you have scored or are involved in a goal.”
Both on and off the pitch, Piroe feels very much at home in Swansea. “It is a city where the club is very central. You can see that almost everyone here sympathizes with the football club, otherwise it is very quiet. It is not comparable to Eindhoven or a large city in England.” The striker can fully focus on football, because there are few distractions. Despite this, Piroe knows how to spend his free time. “I play a lot and regularly call relatives and my girlfriend, who are simply in the Netherlands. Of course I sometimes go to the city or do something fun with teammates. Then we go to an arcade or a game of bowling.”
Due to his good performances in the first half at Swansea, Piroe also dares to look further, although it would be a dream to promote with the club. “Then you play in the Premier League, that would certainly be a great step. Of course you also hope to perform as well as possible and to develop yourself, so that you can really take that step to another top competition, such as the Premier League, Bundesliga, LaLiga or Ligue 1. It can safely be concluded that Piroe has made great strides in his career. Whether the Dutch national team is still a dream for him? “I have always played in the youth teams until the Under 20s. I know what the feeling is, so to speak. Back then, it was always a goal to make it to ‘the big the Dutch’. If I come into the picture, I’m definitely open to it.”
Piroe, son of a Surinamese father and Dutch mother, does not rule out a call-up for the Surinamese team in advance. “Coincidentally, I recently had a conversation with them. Why not? It is always nice to be able to represent your country. I think you should keep both options open.” When talking about Suriname, a smile appears on the face of the attacker, who can’t wait for his parents to visit Swansea again. “They don’t know Surinamese food here. If my mom comes by, she’ll make sure I have the ingredients at home. Then she cooks Surinamese for me, or I prepare something myself when my parents are gone.”
He certainly doesn’t feel like cooking an elaborate dinner tonight. “I’m going to sleep in. We had an away game against Barnsley yesterday. Fortunately we did go by plane, but we only landed in Cardiff one o’clock in the morning, then we still had 45 minutes to get to Swansea by bus. I finally got to bed around two o’clock. Although this kind of thing happens often. Swansea is located in the very south of Wales. For example, if we’re playing Millwall, you’re just four or five hours on the bus to London. You will notice that especially if you play three games a week and there are, for example, two away games against London clubs.”