PSV: Back to Glory Days

Hello everybody, I'm Arnold de Wit (not my real name, this is my managers name). Arnold was born in the Netherlands, in Amsterdam.
Arnold de Wit


My goal is very simple: bring PSV Eindhoven back to the glory days. I'm talking about the days where PSV was one of Europe's top teams, winning the Europa Cup (1988), winning the Eredivsie 4 times in a row (2004-2008):
PSV Europa Cup winners 1988


My goals are:
- Win the Eredivisie
- Win the KNVB Beker (Dutch FA Cup).
- Win the Johan Cruijff Schaal (Dutch Community Shield).
- Win the Champions League.
- Have a stadium with at least 50,000 seats
- Have a lot of South-Americans. This was a big part of PSV, we used to have the likes of fat Ronaldo, Romario, Gomes, Farfan and many more!
- Have state of the art training and youth facilities.


I am goning to write mostly in the Newspaper-Article (3rd) form, but when I've played matches, I will often use the Diary (1st) form.
Sorry in advance for any grammar mistakes, I'm from Holland.

PSV appoint Arnold de Wit as manager
EINDHOVEN - PSV Eindhoven have just annouced that they have appointed young, inexperienced manager Arnold de Wit (33 years old) as their new manager.


The new PSV Boss, Arnold de Wit

The PSV board have expressed full faith in the new manager. They say that he has been given time and money to develop a good squad. The money De Wit has been given is rumoured to be 15 million. Fans have already said that, as long as the results are good, they will have full confidence in De Wit.

The job given to De Wit is a hard one, he has to keep the board and the fans happy by bringing in results, and eventually winning the championship. Something that his predecessors haven't been able to do for 6 years now.

De Wit's ultimate goal is to win the Champions League with PSV, something the Boeren have only done once, in 1988. To reach this objective, De WIt will have to be strategic in all aspects. But for now this is a long ways away for PSV, they will have to focus on the championship first.

Later today De Wit will give his first official press conference as PSV boss.

Love the youth PSV have, guaranteed lots of success, and/or lot's of money! Good luck!

tallery1164: Thanks! PSV really have some good talents, like Bakkali, Depay, Paal, etc. I'll try to incorporate them as much as possible. And I will try to keep them as long as possible, so that the club actually makes some progress. Now they just seem to sell everybody after a season or two.

Tie them down on long term contracts, then put a £20m - £40m release clause on them depending on how much potential they have, and then in the first few years, they will be tied down to the club and then in the future, you can get a good amount of money from them, also put optional extensions on them, so if they get close to the end of their contracts and don't want to sign a new deal, you can activate it and keep them!

New PSV manager gives his first press conference
EINDHOVEN - Today new man Arnold de Wit gave his first official press conference. The press room in the Philips Stadium was packed full. Here's a short summary of the press conference:

Do you feel your ambitions are matched by the chairman?
"Absolutely. PSV has given me a great opportunity to make my debut as a manager. I have been given a talented squad, with the likes of Depay, Maher, Wijnaldum, and many more. My budget is high enough to bring in some players that we will need to compete in the league."

Do you feel the expectations asked of you are fair and realistic?
"Yes, I feel that we can definitely put up a challenge this season with the players we have. In the league and in the cup as well. I know it will be tough, but we have the quality to do it."

Will there be changes in the squad, and/or staff?
"Everybody here will get a chance to prove themselves. But I won't deny that I will try to bring in some more quality into this team. Especially on the midfield, I would like to bring in a defensive midfielder. Before I can make decisions about the staff, I will need to assess if there are any areas with lack of specialisation."

What sort of approach do you have? More hands-on, or more reserved?
"I try to speak to my players on a regular basis. They can also come to me with any questions they have."

On what competition will you be focussing?
"Primarily the Eredivisie, because my objective for this season is to put up a real challenge. But of course I also want to have a good run in the KNVB Beker and in Europe."

Pre-Season 2013/2014: an introduction
PSV's pre-seasons matches have been announced today. The match that stands out most, is the one against Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb.

This is PSV's pre-season tour:


Recently appointed manager Arnold de Wit has said: "Our pre-season tour is nothing special, it's just a means to get fitness levels up. We might try to organize some friendlies with bigger teams, so that I can see what the team is capable of. The hardest match will undoubtably be the one against Dinamo Zagreb."

2 in, 1 out at PSV
EINDHOVEN - PSV have officially announced the signing of 2 new players: Rohan Ince and Markus Henriksen. Meanwhile, Mathias Zanka Jorgensen has left the club.

Arnold de Wit, PSV's manager, has said that he wanted extra quality in the midfield area. By signing these two players he has certainly done just that. Rohan Ince is a 20-year old defensive midfielder, coming over from Brighton & Hove Albion. De Wit: "Ince is a signing for the future, not somebody that will immediately play every single match for us. But he will certainly feature in the squad this season."

Later that day, the board announced another signing: Markus Henriksen, he transfers from AZ, a fellow Eredivisie-club. Also 20 years old, this player is more of a creative, attacking player than Ince. De Wit: "Markus will certainly play a big role in this squad from the get go. He is a great addition to the squad, and I believe that he has more than enough quality to make aninstant impact."

Markus Henriksen, PSV's new midfielder

Going the opposite way: away from Eindhoven, is Mathias Jorgensen. Zanka is a player that never really made an impact for PSV. Now the 23-year-old will get another chance to prove himself at Vitesse. De Wit has said that he will not sign a replacement for him, but that Menno Koch, a youth player, will get a chance to prove himself worthy of a spot in PSV's team.

Contract news at PSV
EINDHOVEN - PSV announced the contract extension of 12 players today. Also, Rai Vloet (18-year-old midfielder) has joined SC Cambuur, one of two promoted teams, on loan.

A busy day for Arnold de Wit, as 12 players were offered a new contract, all of those players signed the extension. None of these players are real first-team players. The most notable that have signed an extension are young starlet Marcel Ritzmaier and Aleksandar Boljevic, many tip him as the next big thing.

[imghttps://fmshots.com/bk/TvwaGCK.jpg[/img] Aleksandar Boljevic, who has signed a contract extension

Great signing, and good idea tying him down, he has such potential! Good luck with preseason!

Pre-Season Recap
It has been a pretty normal pre-season, no spectacular results, no real slip-ups. Here are the final pre-season results for PSV:


De Wit said this about their pre-season: "The first result is the one bothering me the most, at home against Dinamo Zagreb, you should be winning by 1 or 2 goals. The other results against Dutch amateur teams were just as expected: solid victory's without a single goal against.

Star player for me was Georgino Wijnaldum (7.27), picking up 1 goal and 2 assists. Sadly, Adam Maher got an injury for 3 months in the last pre-season game, but this will open up opportunities for some of our youth players."

tallery1164: yeah, I just looked through the youth squad, and then this guy popped up! I realised he had only 1 year left, so I gave him an extended deal with an improved salary. When he starts playing more often I'll give him a really good, long contract with a high release clause.

PSV draw Grasshoppers Zurich in Champions League
NYON - Today the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League was drawn. PSV got lucky, and drew Grasshoppers Zurich.



Last season, PSV finished 2nd in the Dutch Eredivisie, because of this, they have to play 2 qualifying rounds to get into the group stage of the Champions League, together with Ajax. In the 3rd qualifying round, PSV could have drawn the likes of Olympique Lyonnais and Zenit Saint-Petersburg. But they drew a much easier opponent, at least, on paper: Grasshoppers have only reached the group stage of the Champions League once, while PSV have managed to win the competition once. The first leg will be played in Zurich, on wednesday the 31st. On the next wednesday, the return match in Eindhoven will be played.

The Dawn of a new Era
31st of July, the dawn of a new era in Eindhoven. Coach De Wit has expressed his faith in the youngsters, mixed together with a few experienced players.

De Wit today makes his official debut as PSV manager, and what a way to start: in the Champions League "a place where PSV belongs", De Wit has said. They start against Swiss record-champions (27 times) Grasshoppers Zürich. With two signings made, De Wit hasn't made that much of an impact. But De Wit can show how he wants PSV to play.

PSV has already had a big blow: Adam Maher, a key asset to De Wit's team, is injured for 3 months. In this first leg against Zürich, Luciano Narsingh can't play either. He has also got an inury, albeit a small one. Zakaria Bakkali, another young starlet from the PSV academy, has also got a small injury. The rest of PSV's team is fully fit, and this is how the 2 teams will play in this first competitive match for both sides:



Live coverage:
1': You would expect a sell-out, but the Letzigrund is about half-full here in Zürich!

2': PSV start the match brightly and almost open the score through Georgino Wijnaldum.

20': Brilliant through ball to Ruiz, but Bürki just manages to save it.

23': Great save by Zoet to prevent a goal form Grasshoppers.

45': Half-time subs: Brenet replaces Arias, Bruma repleaces Hendrix.

54': GOAL! PSV open the score via Memphis Depay! Following a throw in, the ball reaches Depay, and he fires it home!

57': GOAL! Hartmeier equalizes for Zürich! It doesn't count, the linesman has raised his flag. The score remains 0-1.

70':Sub: Ruiz goes of injured and is replaced by Ji-Sung Park

72': GOAL! Wijnaldum makes it 0-2, following a great lobed pass by Locadia! Surely PSV have got it now.

87': Hartmeier has proven to be a real threat, but his shot just goes over the bar.

89': GOAL! Dennis Hartmeier scores! He makes it 1-2 through a penalty.

90': Full time. PSV have got themselves 2 important away goals. The late goal they conceded could prove vital in the return in Eindhoven, but it isn't likely, considering PSV were a class above the opponents today.

90': Star man today was Depay, getting an 8.3. He got himself one goal. Another vital player was Georgino Wijnaldum, getting a goal and an assist.

Note:This whole live commentary thing isn't something that I will be doing very often, I'm just using it for important matches (like this one).

https://fmshots.com/bk/78kn6kr.jpg

First Match of the Season

FC Twente-PSV, the line-ups:


The match:


After the game:
We didn't play like PSV is supposed to play, we let them come to us, we didn't bring the game to them. I wasn't happy in that dressing room, we could have easily lost here, but luckily we're taking a point home. They had 13 shots, we had only 1! That's not good enough, in the next match, I might make some changes to our line-up, and I might use another, more attacking tactic.

Star man:
According to the rating system, it was Rekik, with a 7.2. For me, however, it was Zoet. He made 7 saves and saved 1 point for us, in a difficult match.