de Rood-Witten

Ernesto Valverde is confident. Very confident. Porto’s manager has been telling anyone willing to listen, or put him on TV, that he’s confident they can overturn the 2-0 hole they find themselves in. Considering that PSV have allowed more than a single goal only twice all season, in a friendly with Bayer Leverkusen (5-2) and against Ajax (6-2) last August, it didn’t look good for Porto.

Porto had a chance very early in the game when Arthur forced Jack Butland to make a great save, and then they wilted under the heat of PSV’s crushing defense. Putting your only shot of the game on goal in the first five minutes is a great way to lose and Valverde had 85’ to stand quietly in the technical area to let that sink in. After 25’ of weathering the storm Bruno Henrique scored and four minutes later Guilherme Miguel easily slotted one in from around the penalty spot off a cheeky pass by Ryan Gravenberch. Down 4-0 on aggregate, Porto was essentially finished.

Antonio Marin would score early in the second half, because budding legends score on the biggest stage, and the game was basically over. With a ticket to the next round in hand PSV got some great news about their biggest rival as Ajax would lose 5-3 to Liverpool and be eliminated 7-3 on aggregate. If that wasn’t good enough Vincenzo Montella would resign in order to take the open position at Roma and assistant coach Alfred Schreuder would be appointed interim manager. Nothing puts a smile on your face like a hated rival spiraling out of control.



The Football Gods are cruel, never forget. At first they give, as PSV romped across Feyenoord 4-0 and FC Twente 5-0 after eliminating Porto in the Champions League. Johan Bastyanus would score another hat trick against FC Twente, bringing his league goal total to (20) for best in the Eredivisie. Then Pelayo Morilla would return to training, some of the best news van Bommel could possibly get. Then they take away, as Morilla would break his foot in a rehab game with Jong PSV against vv Katwijk and be ruled out for at least (3) months to end his season. Then they handed PSV a date with Tottenham for the next round of the Champions League, although that might count as a “give” considering some of the teams left in the draw. Spurs are right about in the middle of the difficulty spectrum of remaining teams, but they are still the best team PSV will have faced so far.



All of the drama and Champions League draw obscured the fact that PSV was a point away from clinching the league against ADO den Haag. Based on the way they have been scoring and shutting everyone out, it didn’t seem like the hosts could do much to prevent the league trophy from being presented. ADO den Haag actually managed to hasten the inevitable by putting Antonio Marin on the penalty spot after 11’ for his 30th goal of the season and a 1-0 lead PSV would never surrender. It would be 3-0 by halftime and it wouldn’t take long after the break for Marin to make it 4-0 for his 31st goal. ADO den Haag would fail to put a single shot on goal, in fact they scored more goals than shots on target when Tom Beugelsdijk scored an own goal at 75’ to complete their humiliation.



The title win would be PSV’s fourth in a row, their sixth in (7) years, and now the momentum would shift to putting up the best season in the history of the Eredivisie. With (6) games left PSV could best their incredible point total from last season by (2) as long as they win out. Ajax, a full (23) points back of PSV in second, wouldn’t take this lying down and announced that Frank de Boer had been hired to be their new manager. Perhaps Ajax are trying to emulate PSV by hiring a former player, or perhaps they are just finding a coach that won’t leave for Roma and has an extensive amount of experience at Ajax as a former player and manager.

Absolutely dominant in the league and even in that Champions League tie against Porto. You have certainly improved this PSV side a lot since taking over, to a point in which I didn't think was possible at such an early stage. Well done.

I can see the Eredivisie being PSV's for a very long time now with this legacy. Now onto Europe!

2019-05-31 11:19#257048 ScottT : Absolutely dominant in the league and even in that Champions League tie against Porto. You have certainly improved this PSV side a lot since taking over, to a point in which I didn't think was possible at such an early stage. Well done.

I'm starting to regret it a bit, but Jamie's Attacking Catenaccio tactic is just too good. This is the third time this has happened, a few years of running the tactic on all levels and the team turns into a remorseless winning machine. I thought starting with a lesser squad (instead of Borussia Dortmund or Man United) would make it harder, but it hasn't.

For the first time in Mark van Bommel’s tenure PSV hasn’t been able to announce a very strong class of youngsters. They swapped elite talent for depth, especially when it comes to Dutch players, and don’t appear to have any future superstars. The youth coaching staff will try to do their magic on this group, but it doesn’t look like this class has an Antônio Carlos or Boudewijn Dembélé lurking. The weirdest thing about this group is that three Croatians look to be their best signings, hopefully the next Antonio Marin will emerge.



Dražan Rakitić (CM / CAM, Croatia) - A somewhat polarizing player who will likely stay in the CAM role based on system depth and the crowded deep lying central midfielder positions at PSV. He has tremendous speed and physical ability with a decent balance of skills with the ball at his feet. He’s also a decent shooter, especially from range, and he has enough flair to be a headache on the attack in midfield. He needs to work on his technique and improve his passing, but there is a foundation here for a potential first team starter or at least a second team regular. The fact that he has a few other Croatians at the club with him likely means his transition to life in the Netherlands will be a little easier.

Miroslav Barić (CD, Croatia) - If anyone can fit into the “Next” tag it’s Barić as he is close to Dembélé in physique. He’s tall, great in the air, and a generally solid player across the board. He’s a decent passer and could improve to fit well into the ball playing defender role. He has a lot of other young CB to go through as well, he’s going to start out buried in a deep position but definitely has a chance to rise to the top.

Luca Marković (RW, Croatia) - Marković is going to be haunted by comparisons to Antonio Marin as long as he’s at PSV, fair or not, but most scouts believe he has the upside to be a very good first team player. It’s more likely he will be haunted by the continued presence of Johan Bastyanus as it’s more than likely Marin won’t be around by the time Marković is ready to start for the senior squad. He’s a very pacey inside forward with plenty of flair and technical ability so he fits right in with PSV’s scheme, he feels like a high-floor low-ceiling prospect but people said that about Bastyanus too.

Jesús Nascimento (CAM, Brazil) - It wouldn’t be youth intake at PSV without a Brazilian, this time it’s a Brazilian national. Nascimento gets a boost from being perfect for van Bommel’s tactics, fitting right in at the attacking midfielder role in the middle. He’s technically sound, good with the ball at his feet, and a decent scorer. The lack of depth and rash of injuries at CAM could give him a boost, but at this point it’s hard to see him as more than a bench regular with second team upside.

An interesting intake! Good luck to them all, hopefully a few can make the grade.

Very interesting indeed with the amount of Croatians coming through the ranks in a Dutch youth system! I wonder how long it may take for them to be introduced into the first-team from here.

2019-06-02 15:44#257122 Jack : Very interesting indeed with the amount of Croatians coming through the ranks in a Dutch youth system! I wonder how long it may take for them to be introduced into the first-team from here.

I forgot I have two others from previous classes. I wish I knew what I was doing that was bringing them in, unless it's just totally random? I've had a few Dutch newgens instantly declare for other nations, mostly African ones, so I don't know what that's about.

The rollercoaster of emotions PSV fans rode in the past week managed to take over the news as Antônio Carlos suffered yet another injury in training. Just before beating PEC Zwolle 3-0 Antônio Carlos went down with a hamstring injury that was said to keep him out for (2) weeks and sent PSV fans into a panic spiral. To everyone’s surprise Antônio Carlos managed to make it back and be cleared for the game against Spurs.

“I was surprised, but he has been cleared, he looks good” said van Bommel when asked about Antônio Carlos’ recovery. “I wouldn’t push him, but he is ready to play, and we need him against Spurs.”

The Antônio Carlos injury only heightened the stress oozing from PSV’s fan base and the media wasn’t helping. Aside from the players and the most die hard fans there was a sense of dread surrounding their match up against Tottenham. The last team of this caliber, Manchester United, easily beat PSV 3-1 and there wasn’t much indication that Spurs wouldn’t be just as tough. Despite all the teeth gnashing the Philips Stadion was raucous and the Antonio Marin jerseys were out in force, they would not be disappointed.

It would only take 11’ before this game would be elevated to legendary status as a Spurs attack in PSV’s end would rapidly turn into a PSV counterattack. Breaking quickly Bruno Henrique would bring the ball forward down the left and send a looping cross to the far side of the goal area to be picked out of the air, just before it would have hit the ground, and slotted into the right side of the goal by Marin. That seemed to break Spurs, one might even call it “Spursy” of them, but they seemed to fold immediately as Marin took over the game. Bruno Henrique scored at 26’ and Marin again at 33’ to make it obvious that Tottenham could not contain PSV’s wings. It became more obvious when Marin would make it a hat trick before halftime to set the home crowd to singing his songs.

Zinedine Zidane could do little but stare as his side melted before his eyes, and the halftime whistle wouldn’t save him from further humiliation. Their halftime adjustments would do a good job for most of the second half until PSV managed to grind them down and force a penalty. Marin easily converted the penalty to give him his fourth goal of the game. Bruno Henrique made it 6-0 at 84’ on a through ball from Guilherme Miguel and finally the bloodbath came to an end.



Being shut out on the road is bad enough, but getting battered 6-0 put Spurs in a hole they would probably not be able to climb out of. Marin put in just about the perfect game with a 9.9 rating that wasn’t just about his (4) goals. Marin also contributed (5) key passes and (1) chance created for one of the best performances PSV has seen under van Bommel.



After months of horrible luck things seemed to be turning a corner for van Bommel. The constant winning helped cover up the non-stop injuries that have ravaged his roster, the 6-0 advantage PSV had coming into this game was a perfect example, but things were starting to look better as Wim de Boom started his rehab phase. PSV would also continue their stunning streak in the Eredivisie with a 4-0 win over FC Utrecht to bring them closer to a record breaking season. Wembley would be one of the last places PSV would want to play this week, the home crowd was a mix of passion and rage with a 6-0 loss hanging over their heads, but van Bommel handled this game expertly.

Zidane looked like a broken man almost right out of the gate as PSV rushed to a 2-0 lead by 3’ and Spurs closed up shop. Guilherme Miguel and Maximiliano Romero poured salt into the 6-0 would and surely killed off the hosts by scoring before most fans were able to take their seats. The whistling started in earnest when Antonio Marin broke free on a counter attack and slotted the ball to his left to find Romero for his second goal, easily knocking it into the left side of the goal as Hugo Lloris lined up to stop Marin from shooting.

Marin would score himself later in the game, his fifth against Tottenham, and the home fans started to file out with heads hung low. The mood rapidly shifted for PSV as a seemingly innocent collision between Tonny Vilhena and Fernandinho resulted in Vilhena holding his ankle on the ground. It was business as usual as van Bommel watched one of his starters get taken off the field on a stretcher, but even that couldn’t hide the fact that Tottenham was sitting in a 10-0 hole. Quincy Promes would score on a great exchanges of passes at 87’, but all that would do for Spurs was break PSV’s streak of shutouts.

PSV fans got to ride a good news / bad news rollercoaster as the final whistle blew. Good news, they handily beat the best team they have faced in months. Bad news, Vilhena’s twisted ankle would cost him (3) weeks right in the most critical part of the season. Good news, PSV would draw Bayer Leverkusen in the semifinal after they beat Arsenal 2-1 on aggregate to avoid Manchester United and Real Madrid.





Haddaway would enjoy a brief burst of popularity in the time between closing out Spurs and facing Bayer Leverkusen, the lyrics “Baby don’t hurt me, don’t hurt me, no more…” would become a popular joke among PSV fans. Yes, more players managed to get injured in the week before this game. The 3-0 win over Vitesse was more notable for the two players headed for the medical center as Ibrahim Diomandé and Rinus Bakayoko would all leave the game hobbling. Diomandé would suffer a sports hernia and be ruled out for 4-5 weeks and Bakayoko would suffer a knee injury that would sideline him for a week.

Fans and the media were very confident coming into this game, PSV had beaten Bayer Leverkusen 5-2 in the preseason with their second squad so another win was expected. The fact that both teams eliminated London clubs, PSV did it 10-1 while Bayer Leverkusen did it 2-1, further added to the confidence. Early on PSV got a wake up call while simultaneously being reminded that Jack Butland is a God. Fiete Arp would break free beyond the back line on a long ball, a familiar situation that often resulted in a goal during van Bommel’s first year, and his shot would be swatted away by Butland. He made it look easy, but Arp couldn’t believe he hadn’t scored. Just a few minutes later at 7’ Bruno Henrique would draw first blood. A Ryan Gravenberch free kick into the box would be headed sideways by Bruno Viana to find Bruno Henrique lurking on the right side of the goal for an easy 1-0 lead.

Bayer Leverkusen put up a solid fight with Kai Havertz bossing the midfield and orchestrating their offense. The visitors would hold the advantage in possession, but they just could find the edge in the final third and couldn’t convert much into shots. Bruno Henrique would score again at 24’ and that would be it for the scoring, but the drama didn’t end there. Late in the game an audible gasp from the home crowd marked Antonio Marin pulling up lame after trying to take on Wendell and he was quickly taken off after 70’ of making Heiko Herrlich nervously pace up and down the technical area. At 81’ Marco der Meyde would also pull up lame and fall to the turf clutching his calf. Once again and important win would be marred by injuries.

Der Meyde would be ruled out for (2) weeks with a calf strain as Manchester United beat Real Madrid 3-1 in their first game. At least the PSV U-19 squad would be living it up as they beat PAOK 7-0 to win the UEFA Youth League, the win combined with a dominant league run would be their second double in a row. With all of the injuries coming at the worst possible time, the UEFA Youth League might be the only continental trophy returning to Eindhoven.

Complete domination against Spurs. You have embarrassed them, to say the least! Reaching double figures over two-legs is some achievement. Excellent start against Leverkusen also, taking a precious two-goal lead into the away leg, with no threat of away goals.

With the second leg against Bayer Leverkusen in a few days and their solid performances throughout the season Mark van Bommel selected the second squad to play in the KNVB Cup final. The fact that PSV thrashed ADO Den Haag 4-0 and 5-0 during the season made it an easy call, but things would quickly go in ADO Den Haag’s favor.

The heavy underdogs would score first at 26’ on a goal reminiscent of van Bommel’s early troubles. Crislan would receive a long ball from PSV’s third and get in behind the defense to slip one by Jack Butland, a previously unthinkable result. Just four minutes later Johan Bastyanus found himself on the penalty spot after a poorly timed tackle brought Rinus Bakayoko down in the box. The unthinkable happened again as Marko Maric would block the kick, keeping the Eredivisie’s leading scorer from pulling PSV even.

PSV were pouring it on ADO Den Haag, but nothing was going in and it didn’t change van Bommel’s mood at the half. A substantial hairdryer treatment sent the team back out to finish the game with ADO Den Haag content to sit back or force penalties. At 58’ a battered Bakayoko scored to make it 1-1, but he was clearly struggling to go on as defenders took to fouling him to slow him down. All of it finally added up and Bakayoko needed to be taken off at 77’ holding his left shin.

Despite an avalanche of shots ADO Den Haag got their wish and two scoreless periods of extra time sent the game into penalties. Tensions were high as the underdogs were now on equal footing, but PSV managed to calmly put them away. Wallenius olde Heuvel blocked Florent Hanin’s attempt and when Prince Diomandé scored next, making it 5/5 for PSV, it clinched a 5-3 victory. This was easily PSV’s worst performance of the year, the fact that Ivanildo Wennemars took home the Player of the Match award with a 7.4 rating was an excellent indication of how poorly both sides played.



PSV took the field today with the knowledge that Manchester United had beaten Real Madrid 2-0 to head for the final 5-1 on aggregate. Knowing who they would play in the final wasn’t going to help them close this one out, but nobody could have predicted the back-to-back collapse of a team that had been so dominant all season.

The entire first half was just about all PSV, but they just couldn’t get one to go in. With the half approaching PSV seemed comfortable with a scoreless draw, after all they were already up 2-0 and made it a habit of shutting out their opponents. Despite their lead, van Bommel could be seen walking up and down the technical area shouting at his players. He didn’t looked pleased going into the half, and you couldn’t blame him. A single away goal would be huge as Bayer Leverkusen failed to score in Eindhoven.

The second half was rather similar, with PSV seeming more urgent in their desire to snag that away goal. At 60’ Jacob Bruun Larsen fired a shot from the back of the box that hit the right goal post just to Jack Butland’s left before bouncing off and hitting the back of Butland’s calf before going in. The goal was called an own goal on Butland, but Bruun Larsen made a great shot through traffic to get it there. It would also be a black mark on what was an incredible performance by Butland, he was keeping PSV in this game. The BayArena exploded with the goal, the hosts were now a goal away from forcing extra time and PSV didn’t really look like forcing them to score (3) to win outright. Bayer Leverkusen were pushing even harder, but PSV started to lock them down and with 90’ approaching it looked like the defending champions were going to salt this one away. César Montes would boot a ball into the other end, much to van Bommel’s disapproval, and Bayer Leverkusen got the ball back and started an attack that would shatter PSV’s hopes of making this easy. At 88’ Bruun Larsen managed to get around Antônio Carlos and send a low cross into the goal area just behind three PSV defenders so Fiete Arp could easily tap it in. The BayArena turned into a raucous mess that lasted until the whistle blew of extra time.



Both teams were utterly out of gas in extra time, neither looked like they were going to score and the hosts were more than comfortable taking it into penalties. The first (3) turns were straight forward, everyone did their job and Kai Havertz did his to put the hosts up 4-3. Philippe Wiltord would show is age and kick the ball halfway to Berlin, Lukás Hradecký didn’t even need to move and the defending champions were in trouble. As if needing things to be truly difficult, Butland stepped up and firmly blocked Dennis Man’s attempt to keep PSV alive. Montes scored and it was 4-4 with Bayer Leverkusen’s last taker, Tin Jedvaj, ready to close it out. Jedvaj tried a hesitation in his run up but Butland didn’t budge, he guessed correctly and Jedvaj’s shot wasn’t far enough to the left of the goal and Butland sent the ball back with a firm two handed punch. You could hear the air being sucked out of the BayArena, PSV hadn’t won yet but back-to-back missed penalties were a guy punch for fans and players alike. Stanislov Shopov, the 18-year old midseason transfer, would step up to decide it. Hradecký spent some time with his glove over his mouth discussing strategy with Havertz and captain Kevin Volland before heading out to decide their Champions League run. In the end it was very simple, Hradecký dove left and Shopov sent it right. The PSV bench emptied as everyone jumped on Butland, PSV had gutted out a win when it seemed like their season was over. This was only the second time PSV had been held scoreless all season, this kind of performance wouldn’t do in the final.



After the extreme drama of the KNVB Cup and Champions League semi-final the completion of the greatest season in Eredivisie history seemed like a bore. PSV would beat sc Heerenveen 2-0 at home to close out a 33-1-0 season to set a new record points total (100), tie the win record they set last year, set a new goals scored record (138), and goals allowed record (4). None of that mattered in Vienna, with Manchester United ready to duplicate their 3-1 win over PSV in the European Super Cup from September.

Marcelino had already won his second Premier League title in a row and was quite keen on finishing this season with a double. This was going to prove to be an absolutely brutal test for PSV as Manchester United had elite superstars all over the field. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Paul Pogba have formed a midfield dream team with Marcus Rashford and Romelu Lukaku forming a deadly attack, and Manchester United would have a marked advantage in goal with David De Gea having a stellar season.

“[Laughing] They have a lot of big names, but so did Liverpool” replied van Bommel when asked about PSV’s chances of repeating “we aren’t backing down. This game isn’t played on paper.”

As things turned out, both teams played a fairly even game despite the substantial disadvantage in talent. It could even be argued that PSV played a better game, but Marcelino’s 4-4-2 was successful in slowing down van Bommel’s attack. He had taken a more balanced approach, as he has done in the past against big teams, but this time it resulted in a fairly level exchange between our David and Goliath. A 0-0 first half favored PSV, the longer they could keep Manchester United from scoring the more thinks tipped in their favor.

The second half is when things really tipped against the favorites. After a decent period of slight PSV dominance the unthinkable happened and PSV scored. At 69’ Philippe Wiltord launched a free kick into the goal area from far outside the box and the arching cross went beyond De Gea’s reach to find Antonio Marin at the far side of the area. He got a head on it but De Gea reacted with his lightning reflexes and got a hand up to deflected it into the crossbar. The rebound came back at Marin, who had been released by Raphaël Guerreiro, and he was able to quickly put it in goal before De Gea could recover. The PSV fans went wild, and just a minute later it would be van Bommel’s turn. A quick PSV attacked managed to catch Manchester United off guard and Marco der Meyde would slip a through ball to Marin as the defense tried to get set and he would slot it into the far side of the goal for a 2-0 lead. It would have been 2-0 if the offside flag had not been up, and van Bommel lost it as Eric Dier appeared to be playing Marin onside. An animated exchange between van Bommel and the officiating staff did little to alter their decision and he needed to get back to holding the 1-0 lead.

After the goal it was Manchester United’s turn to land in the book, after (3) PSV players were booked in the first half Paul Pogba and Alexis Sánchez had their names added. As Marcelino pushed his players on, time ticked away and PSV became stiffer on defense while managing to retain possession for longer. PSV would salt the game away and Marin would be fêted as a hero and the Player of the Match. The improbable was now real as PSV would defend their title and cap of a better season than last year, the future seems bright in Eindhoven.

Congratulations. To retain your crown on the biggest stage of club football once again is a remarkable achievement. You are well on your way to securing an era of dominance.

Competitions
Eredivisie - Winner (23 Points over Ajax)
KNVB Cup - Winner
Champions League - Winner

Roster & Awards
Antonio Marin - Young Croatian Of The Year
Antonio Marin - Champions League Golden Boot (14 Goals / 12 Games)
Antonio Marin - Champions League average ratings record (8.20 / 12 Games)
Antonio Marin - Champions League Midfielder Of The Year
Johan Bastyanus - Dutch Young Player Of The Year
Johan Bastyanus - Eredivisie Golden Boot
Jack Butland - Dutch Goalkeeper Of The Year
Jack Butland - Champions League GK Of The Year
Cesar Montes - Champions League Defender Of The Year
Mark van Bommel - Head Coach Of The Year (Eredivisie)


It isn’t all that surprising based on the results but PSV dominated the Champions League Dream Team with 8/11 slots going to de Rood-Witten. Maximiliano Romero finished second in Champions League Forward Of The Year behind Robert Lewandowski and ahead of Harry Kane.

The most incredible statistical nugget from this season was the utter dominance of the RW position. Not to belittle the season Marin had, but it seemed like whoever lined up at RW was going to score. In (56) games between Marin and Bastyanus they scored (65) goals with (18) assists and an average rating of 8.32, the two of them accounted for the vast majority of PSV’s goals in all competitions. It’s hard to argue that performance didn’t fuel PSV’s record domestic goal total, it also didn’t hurt that PSV’s fullbacks had a banner year feeding the wings. Philippe Wiltord and Ivanildo Wennemars were tied for most domestic assists (10) and Wim Havekotte finished 2nd in average rating behind Bastyanus. It’s incredible to think about how much more PSV could have scored if their strikers had better seasons, both Maximiliano Romero and Rinus Bakayoko failed to reach double digits while having good seasons. There is no doubt van Bommel will be motivated to improve that area of the team, but it’s unlikely you will do it with a checkbook. As a team the only place van Bommel can go is a perfect season, 34-0-0, and based on what they did this year they might be closer than people think.

2021-22 Season Expectations
It’s still hard to expect PSV to three-peat in the Champions League, but van Bommel has himself in a position where anything less than the Quarter Final is a serious disappointment and the Semi-Final seems like a decent goal. Of course he will push to win it a third time, after all nobody thought they could do it twice. The Eredivisie is a different matter, people are really going to wonder if PSV fail to win their 5th title in a row and expectations are they will do it by a wide margin. For once van Bommel has the advantage of knowing this team isn’t going to be blown up like last year, there will likely be some departures but it won’t be an outright purge.

The European giants will almost certainly splash out in an attempt to bring in the elite players to pip you to the Champions League title next year. But as you've demonstrated the past two years - you have the ability to go all the way, nonetheless.

Absolutely dominant in the awards and in the Team of the Tournament!

Where does Mark van Bommel go from here? It’s hard to think he can take PSV much higher with a Champions League trophy now the bar he has set for himself and the organization. Unseating Ajax is really the only goal left other than winning the Champions League again. With one very notable departure and a slew of players returning from loans it’s hard to say PSV can’t come close to the incredible success of last year.


Very little has changed since last season and with Toon Gerbrans locking up players to (5) year deals as soon as possible it looks like there won’t be any large scale changes for a few years. After putting up an unbeaten season in the Eredivisie and just barely repeating as Champions League winners there isn’t a great argument to make any drastic moves like last season. That being said, Gerbrands and van Bommel will always be on the lookout for bargains.

Goalkeepers
No changes here other than Jack Butland ascending to a God like level of play aided by van Bommel’s stiff defense. Wallenius olde Heuvel has been excellent at such a young age, but he’s being blocked by Butland who is not just a great player but a team leader. This is a somewhat ideal situation for PSV as both are under contract for some time and Butland can help mentor olde Heuvel until he is sold or his contract expires. There are murmurs that losing Butland wouldn’t be so bad with olde Heuvel around, but the level of Butland’s play has been so high that it’s foolish to think losing him wouldn’t hurt the team.

Best Player : Jack Butland (Captain)



Defenders
The only change here is the sale of Bruno Viana who was dying to leave for Barcelona. After struggling with depth issues last season everyone is a year older and better, there shouldn’t be any depth issues unless literally everyone gets injured for months. After what happened last year this could easily happen, but PSV can’t afford to carry three teams of first team players. César Montes (24) stays as the veteran central defender with Boudewijn Dembélé (18) moving to the first team, some scouts feel he’s their best central defender and may supplant Montes as the focal point of the defense. Danilo Boldewijn (18) will be joined by Jong PSV / bench regular Thierry Okoye (18) in the second team, this was a tough choice as PSV enjoys an incredible amount of depth at central defense in the Jong PSV and U-19 roster. Anatolie Ţugui (18), Andrés Morales (18), and Sasan Nouri (19) were all in the running for that last spot but will likely either be loaned our or double as a Jong PSV starter and PSV bench regular. An injury or two at CD won’t kill PSV, but there isn’t anyone nearly as good as Dembélé.

The outside defenders continue to be one of PSV’s strengths and van Bommel may have two world class players at RB. Antônio Carlos (18) continues to be a world class player who won’t move off the first team unless he’s injured, and Ivanildo Wennemars (18) proved he’s world class as well by putting up a better season than Antônio Carlos last year. In less games Wennemars scored (6) goals with (11) assists and a 8.21 average rating, all of these were better than Antônio Carlos who missed time due to injuries. On the opposite side Philippe Wiltord (18) and Wim Havekotte (18) return after putting up great seasons, recent transfer Florian Richard (17) earned a senior squad spot but will likely come off the bench regularly unless injuries open up a starting spot.

Best Player : Antônio Carlos

Midfielders
Where were these guys last year? After a brutal run of injuries forced van Bommel to dip into the U-19 roster it looks like he has too many to pick from this year. Ryan Gravenberch (19) and Tonny Vilhena (26) return to man the central midfield roles, Vilhena was injured a bit list year but Gravenberch was an absolute rock and only missed time for a cold. Jaap Danso (18) and Marco der Meyde (18) return to pair up on the second team squad with recent addition Zico (18) primed to come off the bench. Zico played immediately after being eligible to move from Brazil last year and looks exceedingly ready to handle the deep lying playmaker role for years to come. Aleksandar Kolorav (18), Henny ten Bos (17), and Jelmer van Velde (17) are all lurking at Jong PSV in the event everyone gets hurt (again).

The CAM position was hardest hit by injuries and it never got better as PSV lost their first and second choice starters for the season when Pelayo Morilla and Wim de Boom went down. This was where van Bommel had to dig deepest to field a full team, but this year he has so many players that Morilla (20) basically found himself being pushed out the door. One of PSV’s best signings, Garrinchinha (18), is old enough to move from Brazil and impressed coaches so much that Morilla started to become expendable. Add in the return of Jahir Hurtado (20) from a loan spell at Werder Bremen and de Boom (18) coming back from injury and van Bommel can rest easier that his roster won’t be eviscerated again. Guilherme Miguel (18) and Stanislov Shopov (19), who both got decent first team minutes last year, are at Jong PSV and more than capable of filling in.

Best Player : Tonny Vilhena (Vice Captain)



Forwards
Talk about an embarrassment of riches, van Bommel has a serious log jam at RW. The problem is so serious that selling Antonio Marin was starting to look like a good idea and Toon Gerbrands finally pulled the trigger on a record transfer fee (more on that later). Even with Marin gone, van Bommel might have one of the best rights sides of the field in Europe. Johan Bastyanus (18) gets promoted to the first team and takes over Marin’s role while Roberto Loor (20), one of van Bommel’s first big prospect signings, returns for a loan spell at Eintracht Frankfurt looking like the next great RW at PSV. Some scouts have (quietly) said they think Loor might be better than Bastyanus and could continue to improve, he’ll get the chance this year. At LW Prince Diomandé (18) moves into the first team with Andrès Senkye (18) getting a shot on the second squad, he came off the bench a bit but now will be given a chance to show his potential. The LW is the place where a serious injury could be a problem, after Senkye there is a steep drop off to Gijs van Loon (17), Asier Martin (17), and Patrick Kiefer (17) that could really hurt van Bommel’s squad. While many believe Martin and Kiefer and potential superstars, they are barely suited for Jong PSV right now.

The center forward / striker position is in a really odd place this year. PSV have been stockpiling high potential center forwards that can play the advanced forward role very well and now have way too many of them. PSV have (13) players listed as a striker with a system that only plays (1). While (8) have been loaned out, it still seems a little odd to have so many and even more odd that none of them have really owned the position. Maximiliano Romero (22) returns as the first team starter with Rinus Bakayoko (18) as the second, but neither of them had impressive seasons last year. Guillaume Cantona (16), who looks like the future of PSV’s striker position, has just recently signed and likely needs a little longer to be ready for the senior squad. Erwin de Winter (18) played quite a bit last year as an injury call up and he will likely be van Bommel’s first choice if it happens again.

Best Player : Johan Bastyanus