de Rood-Witten

Doing really well as usual, dominating home and abroad.

The Allianz Stadium would be pack with stripes, numerous jokes have been made over the previous weeks about Juventus’ home kit and PSV’s new third kit, much to everyone’s dismay they didn’t even bring their third kit. After a 5-1 win over FC Groningen in the league and an 8-0 beating of KVV Quick ‘20 in the second round of the KNVB Cup everyone would turn their attention to Turin. This game would also be the focal point of a now fully formed roster controversy with fans clamoring for Wim de Boom to be the first choice CAM. Local fans and media would continue pushing for the Dutch de Boom to move back to the first team and bump Garrinchinha back to the second squad, but Garrinchinha has looked like the better player while avoiding injuries.

“Garrinchinha is going to keep playing” responded van Bommel, with an aura of exhaustion on the subject “he’s playing well and de Boom hasn’t shown me that he should be in the first team yet. I don’t care where my players are born, Dutch or Brazilian doesn’t matter to me, only on the field.”

While this game looked to be in Juventus’ favor on paper they would have a first year coach in Igor Stimac with little big club experience. After a spell at West Ham he floated around football for a bit, including a spell as Croatia manager, until he took over at Benfica for a year and then moved to Juventus. Mark van Bommel definitely has the advantage of consistency, and PSV have shown that can be enough to fell giants.

It didn’t take long for this game to become a continental stage for what looks to be Maximiliano Romero taking his career to another level. Just 16’ in Garrinchinha played a deft through ball that threaded four Juventus players to find Romero between the central defenders who quickly fired it past Wojciech Szczesny for his first goal of the game. Romero came in with (12) goals in (9) appearances so far and wouldn’t stop with his 13th of the season. Juventus struggled to take control of the game as Garrinchinha and Romero took over the middle of the field, Garrinchinha would finish with (4) key passes and a solid 8.1 rating. Romero would make it 2-0 at 25’ and Stimac became visibly frustrated with his side.



PSV would hold down Juventus for the rest of the game, embarrassing the hosts, and Romero would complete his hattrick late in the game to make it (15) goals in (10) games. The 3-0 victory would put PSV (3) points in 1st in the group with Juventus now in 2nd.



The win over Juventus only helped PSV’s confidence and a 5-0 win over sc Heerenveen a few days later showed they are able to keep up their high level of play game after game. Feyenoord managed to discover that the hard way when they welcomed PSV to De Kuip. After the Juventus game the CAM position was firmly in Garrinchinha’s hands with de Boom now settling into his role on the second squad. This game wouldn’t require him to have the game of his life, but he still provided the attack management van Bommel has been looking for.

Feyenoord helped keep PSV streak of shut outs going, but they didn’t make it easy on the visitors. Jack Butland needed to summon some of his heroics as Mimoun Mahi found some gaps in PSV’s defense and had two solid chances to score that were sent back by Butland.

Aside from the few chances this was a standard PSV performance with the defense crushing the opponent and allowing the offense to grind them down. A penalty at 15’ gave them the lead and they added two more over the course of the game with Johan Bastyanus scoring twice and Ryan Gravenberch adding one of his own. An odd quirk of the game seems to be Gravenberch getting more scoring opportunities than Tonny Vilhena, who added (3) key passes, the box to box midfielder role is not providing the goals most expected. This isn’t a Vilhena problem, Marco der Meyde is also having a similar issue although the season is young and things may change.

You're too good at this point!

A 6-0 win over Vitesse on the road closed out October as PSV got ready to host Juventus in a game that could decide who wins the group. A win over Juventus would clinch a ticket to the next round and if Bayer Leverkusen lost or drew against Beşiktaş as well it would lock in PSV as group winners. Most of the media attention would be centered around the arrival of Christiano Ronaldo even though he was rather quiet in their first meeting.

Unfortunately for Igor Stimac and Ronaldo, Juventus fell flat on their face almost right out of the gate and looked like they were more focused on mitigating the score than winning. PSV dominated possession as Juventus were content to try to score on counter attacks that never developed. Anyone who bought tickets waiting for fireworks would have been disappointed as a whole but they got to see a stunning goal from Garrinchinha at 20’ which ended up deciding the game. After deflecting a few attacks from PSV Tonny Vilhena found Garrinchinha standing right at the top of the arc and he unleashed a nuclear blast of a shot that Wojciech Szczesny dove to stop but couldn’t get a hand on.

On some level it’s unfortunate that Juventus lost as it invalidated the great game Szczesny had. The highlight of his day came when he managed to block a shot from Maximiliano Romero and the subsequent rebound that Romero tried to put in. Even the home crowd was impressed by the effort, but the one he let in decided it for PSV.



Now officially through to the next round PSV would basically have 1st clinched. A +13 goal differential and wins over Juventus and Bayer Leverkusen, who have a -2 goal differential, would but all of the tiebreakers in their favor unless something unthinkable happened. Dutch football would take a bit of a hit as Ajax would be eliminated already with only a single point through (4) games, Liverpool (9) and Real Madrid (8) would have an insurmountable lead at this point.



PSV would celebrate their win over Juventus by lighting the Eredivisie on fire while they waited for a visit from Beşiktaş. Maximiliano Romero would score (4) in a 9-0 win over Sparta to take his season total to (19), he now leads the Champions League and Eredivisie in scoring. They would follow that up with a 6-1 whipping of AZ Alkmaar with the lone goal against coming on a corner.

Beşiktaş would prove to be a real disappointment and would not relish their trip to Eindhoven. Just 16’ in Romero would score and the visitors would hold a 1-0 deficit while failing to take a single shot the entire first half. Being dead last in the group seems to have seriously damaged morale and they showed it on the field.

Neither team had any particularly spectacular individual displays as PSV just put Beşiktaş away. Romero kicked his rating up at 90’ with a second goal and the group was officially PSV’s. Juventus would beat Bayern Leverkusen 2-0 as well and clinch second place in the group.

Romero seems to be on fire. A great set of results, as we have come to expect!

The month of December started out much like November ended as PSV beat up N.E.C. Nijmegen 5-0 at home. The regular return of the Lichtstad Derby has been a delight for everyone but FC Eindhoven, and today would be no different. FC Eindhoven is more concerned with relegation than anything else and a visit from PSV wouldn’t change that, even with Prince Diomandé out for a week with the flu PSV would be heavy favorites.

FC Eindhoven did their best but the game was out of their hands almost immediately after it started. They impressed by holding PSV scoreless until 21’ when Asier Martin, starting at LW for Diomandé, scored his first senior goal. Johan Bastyanus scored at 23’ and again in stoppage time with a penalty, now it was 3-0 at the half and FC Eindhoven hadn’t taken a single shot.

The second half was more of the same, FC Eindhoven finished without being allowed to take a single shot while PSV rained them down. Maximiliano Romero scored while Martin added his second and Bastyanus got his hat trick that could have been four as he missed his second penalty attempy late in the game. The Antônio Carlos-Bastyanus connection on the right side of the field really clicked today as Antônio Carlos provided both assists on Bastyanus’ goals from open play.



Groups were drawn for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and things look good for the Dutch. The Netherlands head into this tournament ranked 4th after reaching the Euro Cup final in 2020 and losing to France. Holland find themselves in Group H with Croatia, Nigeria, and China. An incredible (14) PSV players are on the Dutch roster which will make things awkward against Croatia as Antonio Marin will be facing a number of his former teammates.



With the group decided this game was the deadest of rubbers, but things were personal as these two have met a number of times recently. Bayern Leverkusen were not going to make this easy on van Bommel, but PSV were more than up to the trip to the BayArena.

Prince Diomandé returned to the lineup and scored first at 30’ on a cross from Johan Bastyanus from a counter attack he started himself. He mugged Kevin Volland in their own third and passed the ball to Garrinchinha before rushing down the field, Garrinchinha hit Bastyanus who sent the ball back low across the face of goal. Despite being caught on their back foot Bayer Leverkusen didn’t give up. PSV just managed to make their chances count as things got a little testy between the two. The animosity hit its peak after Felix Passlack was booked just before the half, a foul on Bastyanus brought both sides to finger pointing and some theatrical chest beating.

Tonny Vilhena’s double in the second half would seal his Player of the Match award as he also created (2) chances and (2) key passes to go with his goals. His 9.4 rating was easily the best of the game and put PSV in a great position heading into the next round.


PSV headed in two draws in the best possible mood. After the Bayer Leverkusen game PSV obliterated VVV-Venlo 8-0 in a game that featured (53) shots and Roberto Loor logged a hat trick and (3) assists. Loor has really been pouring it on lately and anyone pining for Antonio Marin has probably forgotten about him with Johan Bastyanus and Loor scoring so regularly.

The draw itself was quite eventful as PSV landed Atlético Madrid and sent the local media and fans into a frenzy. In a bizarre twist of managerial musical chairs Pep Guardiola is now at Atlético Madrid and Diego Simeone is at Liverpool, two managers van Bommel has faced a number of times since taking over at PSV.



If getting Atlético Madrid wasn’t enough to make fans froth at the mouth PSV would be paired with Ajax in the KNVB Cup Quarter Final. Ajax is currently (16) points behind PSV in the Eredivisie but that won’t stop either fanbase from treating this De Topper Derby like the Champions League final.

Nice to see Asier Martin score on his professional debut! An exciting tie in the UCL awaits against Pep's Atletico. Good luck.

As usual the January break presented a series of headaches Mark van Bommel and Toon Gerbrands could have gone without. A series of positive returns before the end of the year put everyone in good spirits, but the transfer window has a way of undoing that. PSV strolled to the Club World Championship again with a 4-1 win over Minnesota United FC and a 7-1 victory over Saitama United in the final. PSV closed out the Eredivisie with a 6-0 win over Fortuna Sittard before heading off to warm weather training in Spain.

While the team was basking in the Spanish climate Antônio Carlos was named to the World Team of the Year along with former PSV forward Antonio Marin. Maximiliano Romero was also awarded the Argentinian World Player of the Year, the last bit of adulation before Wim Havekotte was diagnosed with a hernia that would keep him out up to (4) weeks. All of the good news was forgotten with that last bit of information, the fans and media still haven’t recovered from the tidal wave of injuries that struck the team last year. Despite losing a very good player for a solid chunk of time this year PSV haven’t suffered nearly as many long term injuries as last season.


With a massive lead in the league and no signs of slowing down PSV wasn’t looking to buy anyone despite their sizeable transfer purse, the whole period was spent fending off laughable lowball offers that couldn’t possible sway PSV into a sale. Many teams decided to come calling for the second squad starters or unsettling younger players into demanding a move.


For the most part the headaches were familiar. Manchester United offered £30M for Ryan Gravenberch with a £112M buy back clause. Manchester City offered £29M for Boudewijn Dembélé which only helped make him upset and demand a sale. Manchester United came back for Prince Diomandé and offered £23M with an £84M buy back which was followed by a second bid for £88M that was matched by Real Madrid. Bayern Munich came sniffing around for Johan Bastyanus (£30M, £103M buy back) and Roberto Loor (£52M). Manchester United and Real Madrid came back again for Marco der Meyde with matching £69M offers that ended up being increased to £87M and £96M with add ons. The final insult came when Liverpool put in a £17.5M bid on Tonny Vilhena that only succeeded in extracting a promise to be sold after the season that settle Vilhena’s temper.

Final Transfer List (Impact Signings)
Bebeto Rexha (ST, Coritiba - Brazil) £10,000
Lucas Veríssimo (CB, Serra Reserves - Brazil) £115,000
Duván Méxica (CM, Palmeiras - Brazil) £2.1M
Gaston Esmerio (CAM, River Plate - Argentina) £6.5M

PSV made a few signings for the future, spending quite a bit on Gaston Esmerio. Scouts agree that Esmerio is a future star so PSV decided to gamble on grabbing him early, but the time he is 18 he could go for three times what they paid for him. Duván Méxica is probably the player PSV is most excited about as he’s already very good and only 15, it will be a while before he can come to Eindhoven but when he does he could be the next Garrinchinha.

Two friendlies, a 3-1 win over Motherwell and a 6-0 win over Burghausen, managed to open the emotional scars of last year with two long term injuries. Ryan Gravenberch would be out up to (4) weeks with sprained ankle ligaments and Ivanildo Wennemars would break a toe and be ruled out for (3) weeks. They should be back for Atlético Madrid so it isn’t time to panic yet, but being without Gravenberch is something van Bommel is not used to.



The KNVB Cup version of the De Topper Derby would continue a weird trend of winning 4-0. PSV would record 4-0 wins in the two previous games against FC Twente and NAC Breda to keep the pressure on Ajax in the Eredivisie, but after the performance put in by Ajax PSV might not have much to worry about.

It only took 4’ for PSV to open the game up 1-0 on a Johan Bastyanus goal, but even by then Ajax looked resigned to defeat. Frank de Boer could only do his best van Bommel impression and direct death stares at his players, even the Ajax fans started to whistle at their careless efforts to advance the ball. From start to finish Ajax killed themselves with aimless balls forward that found PSV over and over again, this trend was made worse by Ajax rushing to make these passes when gaining possession in their own third. Ajax’s careless passes were basically the equivalent of PSV passing back to their central defenders to restart an attack.

In the end Ajax went through the motions while PSV at them alive. Everyone but Zico and Erwin de Winter, in for a slightly injured Maximiliano Romero, rated above an 8.0 with Bastyanus’ two goals fueling a 9.3 and Player of the Match award. Ajax would practically gift PSV a ticket to the semi-finals and drawing FC Eindhoven in that game would basically put them into the final.

Well done on celebrating success in the Club World Cup. It seems that despite all the European and now continental success, your players heads are turned to play in more-improved domestic leagues, like England. It's a shame, but something you're contending with well. Hopefully you can continue an amazing season in the league - maybe even win every single game?