Henk Spaan has handed out his ratings in Het Parool again. After Ajax v PSV (1-3), he singled out Ruben van Bommel for a harsh score. Peter Bosz also came in for criticism from the reviewer.
PSV won the first big clash of the season. Ricardo Pepi put them ahead at lightning speed, before Tolu Arokodare equalised. Lutsharel Geertruida then made it 1-2 before the end, and Esmir Bajraktarevic added the finishing touch in stoppage time.
Van Bommel's heavy challenge on Ajax defender Aaron Bouwman ultimately overshadowed the match, leaving him with a bruised lung and a bruised sternum.
"Van Bommel sat 'distressed in the dressing room', Bouwman had to go to hospital distressed," reads Spaan's review in Het Parool. "How a footballer managed to reduce the memory of an excellent match to ashes, to scatter them across the pitch at the ArenA."
Spaan gave the PSV winger a 4 for his display. The 77-year-old sports journalist calls father Mark van Bommel a cynic who first looked around him before planting an elbow. In doing so, he points to the World Cup semi-final Uruguay v the Netherlands (2-3), when Walter Gargano was on the receiving end.
"In the final he managed to entice Iniesta into an atypical act of revenge. What Ruben did had little to do with cynical results football," said Spaan, who also criticised Bosz's interview after the won match.
"Bosz was once again playing the village pastor with his soothing analysis: 'He wanted to protect himself.' Oh, do get lost, coach. The fuses blew as a result of a short circuit in his head."