PSV were crowned champions on Sunday, becoming the earliest champions in history. This came after second-placed Feyenoord drew 0-0 away at FC Volendam. Journalist Willem Vissers believes PSV are the deserved leaders and dismisses the criticism that the Eindhoven side are ‘champions of mediocrity’.
Feyenoord and Ajax, among others, trail Peter Bosz’s side by a considerable margin. “But PSV can’t help it if the rest are so poor. I think they are the champions of superiority,” Vissers concluded in Voetbalpraat the day after the league title was secured.
Vissers also highlights a major area for improvement. PSV concede quite a lot of goals, such as at home against FC Utrecht, who were eventually beaten 4-3 after trailing 0-2. “Two things were clearly evident. The defensive vulnerability. They’ve conceded forty goals; even Ajax have conceded fewer (37, ed.). On the other hand, it’s been very easy to score against them.”
Kenneth Perez is also surprised by the defensive weakness in Eindhoven. “Very often, it just isn’t working at all. I think it’s an extremely high number of goals conceded for a league that isn’t all that strong,” sighs the former PSV midfielder.
Fellow pundit Maarten Wijffels finds it interesting to see what PSV will do in the summer transfer window. “I think PSV would do well to go back to the Latin American market. That Latin American flair is in their DNA. Name them, the Héctor Morenos.”
“Why shouldn’t PSV be able to sign a Héctor Moreno? I think that’s still possible. The question is, will they go for it or not? I think they might be doing that again now,” says Wijffels, briefly stepping into the shoes of technical director Earnest Stewart.
Perez has his reservations. “Back then, they had coaches from defensive-minded organisations. We don’t know many South Americans who enjoy running forward and standing on their own.”