Joey Veerman thinks it is ‘not difficult to do’ about his match visits at his old clubs. The 23-year-old midfielder appeared on Friday at the game between VVV-Venlo and FC Volendam (0-0) and was also a spectator a day later at Willem II – sc Heerenveen (0-0). Veerman was asked about these trips after PSV’s 3-1 home game against Heracles Almelo, in which he scored a goal.
“Volendam finished in Venlo, which is a 25-minute drive for me. And Tilburg is also a 25-minute drive away. So it’s not such a problem for me to go and see my former teammates,” says Veerman in conversation with ESPN† He can do little with the criticism that sounded here and there on those match visits, of which trainer Roger Schmidt would not have been aware. “They shouldn’t be so difficult, it’s no problem if I go to watch a football match?”
Joey Veerman shows it again @PSV† † After a nice action by Noni Madueke, the midfielder puts the ball neatly in the corner: PSV at 1-0 against Heracles!#psvher pic.twitter.com/N6S0ilfaCW
— ESPN NL (@ESPNnl) March 6, 2022
“It doesn’t matter who makes it difficult, but I think that’s nonsense. I didn’t enjoy it (both matches ended in 0-0, ed.), but I did see my old mates again. That was fine,” Veerman continues. The midfielder played another excellent game against Heracles on Sunday and signed for the opening goal after twenty minutes of play.
“I got the ball to the left of Noni (Madueke, ed.) and I could take it with me or shoot it in one go. I thought: just do it in one go. I think he was good at it. A pass in the goal is always nice. Great goal”, says Veerman with a grin about his goal. “We missed a lot of opportunities. We train a lot on target shooting. They are flying well in training, now they are still in the competition. I think we had quite a bit of time to pick a corner a few times. Maybe then we will think and then things will go wrong.”
Veerman can count on praise from his trainer afterwards. “Joey was good, especially on the ball. He is reliable on the ball and in the pressing. He has adapted quickly and has been doing well in recent games,” Schmidt said in front of the camera. ESPN† “We played very well. The score is okay, but it could have been higher. The only thing that was not great was our efficiency. Now we missed them, next time they will go in. We have already played more than 60 times this season scored.”
“The players know. It is not a matter of experience, because Zahavi also missed opportunities. It is normal that opportunities are sometimes missed,” continues the PSV coach. His team has relieved Ajax – which will play against RKC Waalwijk later in the afternoon – at least for a while as the leader of the Eredivisie. “I don’t know exactly when they (Ajax, ed.) “We are moving towards our top form. Many players are in good condition. That is why we are positive about the future.”