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Kenneth Perez was taken aback by a question posed by ESPN colleague and reporter Milan van Dongen to Peter Bosz. Following the match against FC Utrecht (4-3), the PSV manager was asked about the tactical performance of players including Jerdy Schouten, who sustained what appeared to be a serious knee injury in the second half. Perez described it as ‘painful’.
“A lot went wrong in the first twenty minutes, if you’re talking about not marking your man,” Bosz said in his interview with ESPN. The manager saw his team concede two goals during that period. The 0-2 deficit was later overturned thanks to Couhaib Driouech’s late winning goal.
"We play very attacking football. We always do that. Then you know the opposition will look to counter-attack. We knew that. So you have to organise your defensive cover. We play man-to-man marking, so you have to stick with your man. And be in the right positions."
"And if you don’t do that, you get into trouble, because then you’re outnumbered at the back. That’s obviously not acceptable. We didn’t do that well ourselves. We lost possession; that always happens in football. So that’s not the point, but it’s simply a matter of: how are you organised?"
Van Dongen then asks a follow-up question. "But is it feasible for Schouten and Veerman – and it was particularly about Schouten – to cover so many metres at high speed?" Bosz responds: "Yes, aren’t you up front on the pitch? Of course."
And if the opponent is faster? "Then you have to position yourself differently. I was slow too and sometimes had to face players who were faster; in that case, you need to be in the right position. Then you drop back ten metres, or you anticipate earlier."
"But make no mistake about Jerdy – he’s quick. Jerdy is really quick. But slower players develop that aspect better. If you’re not that quick, you have to anticipate. What’s going to happen? And then you have to position yourself well," said Bosz, who later said he feared "the worst" for Schouten.
After the interview, Van Dongen asks his colleague Perez how he envisages a repositioning in PSV’s midfield. “The stupidest thing you can do is drop back ten metres, because then you make the spaces absolutely huge.”
"Now you mention Schouten. I find that a bit... hmm. Awkward." Van Dongen admits he finds it 'annoying' that he put a tactical question about Schouten to Bosz. "But well, that’s just how it was," said Van Dongen.