PSV were crowned champions of the Netherlands for the first time since 2018 on Sunday afternoon thanks to a 4-2 victory over Sparta Rotterdam and there is a good basis to remain at the top in the coming years. But then the Eindhoven team must do better than Ajax, says Valentijn Driessen. According to the reporter from The Telegraph The past two years in Amsterdam must have been ‘the specter of how quickly things can change at the top’ for PSV.
Ajax was crowned champion of the Netherlands in 2019, 2021 and 2022, which quickly made comparisons with the then unapproachable Bayern Munich. Not least because the club from Amsterdam also had a large financial advantage compared to competitors Feyenoord and PSV. But two years later, little or nothing remains of both the sporting and financial advantage. Two years of chaos, both inside and outside the lines, proved fatal for Ajax this season. In the meantime, PSV continued to move forward. “With the championship, the insurance of tens of millions of euros from the Champions League next season and enormously increased transfer values, PSV, after Feyenoord earlier, is taking over the role of the imploded Ajax,” Driessen writes in his column.
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“Was Marc Overmars’ Ajax the example for Van der Wallen (chairman of the supervisory board of PSV, ed.) & co – even Overmars’ favorite trainer Bosz was brought to PSV – the Ajax of the last two seasons must be the specter of how quickly things can change at the top,” Driessen continues. While the difference between Ajax and PSV last season was ‘only’ six points in Eindhoven’s favor, the gap between the two top clubs is no less than 35 points this year. “It will be important for PSV next summer to keep things together as much as possible, no matter how tempting it is to cash in,” Driessen writes. After its last national title in 2022, Ajax sold almost all of its key players, which PSV must try to prevent, according to Driessen.
However, that is easier said than done, because the players from coach Peter Bosz’s successful team are being pulled from all angles. “Architect Veerman and Bakayoko are eyeing a transfer and the future of mercenaries Dest and Tillman at PSV is uncertain. At the top, it should remain that way if Bosz does not want to have to form half a new team. At the same time, PSV needs to continue selecting at the bottom,” says Driessen, who believes that André Ramalho has no place in the starting eleven. “Although two seasons late, there is finally a belief in Eindhoven that central defender Ramalho is not helping the club, but is actually blocking growth. This is the only way the 25 can worke national title will be the start of more good things for PSV.”
Things can be even better in Eindhoven
In an interview with it Eindhovens Dagblad PSV technical director Earnest Stewart comments on what people in Eindhoven can learn from the implosion in Amsterdam. “You can learn from what others are going through and how quickly things can sometimes go in football. The most important thing is that we do not make mistakes and that we must guard against them. We cannot let things deteriorate so quickly,” says Stewart. According to the American, PSV can do even better. “We were in the lead with PSV from the first to the last day, so in that sense I think the title is fully deserved. I am convinced that it can be even better than this season. We still need a number of transfer periods to take the next step.”
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