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In the eye of the storm: Roger Schmidt is approaching dismissal from PSV Eindhoven
Zehavi's miss cost dearly, the painful defeats came against the wrong rivals, and just before the crisis turns into a catastrophe, the German coach knows that another stumble against Monaco (19:45, Sport 2) will surpass the backing he still gets from management
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PSV Eindhoven
Roger Schmidt
Eran Zehavi
Michael Yochin
Thursday, 04 November 2021, 14:00
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Summary: PSV Eindhoven - Twente 2: 5 (Sport 1)
"We have two main goals this season, and a win would be critical to achieve one of them," Eindhoven coach Roger Schmidt stated ahead of his home game against Monaco in the Europa League two weeks ago. The intentions were good, but the result is disappointing, and a 2: 1 loss questioned the Dutch's chances of surviving the home stage, because the home battle against Real Sociedad in the first round also ended in a 2: 2 draw, and now the team is only ranked third, while The two tough away games are still ahead of her.
Just 3 days later, came a much more powerful blow that greatly hurt the ability to achieve the most important goal of the season.
Ajax dismantled Eindhoven unconditionally 0: 5 in Amsterdam, and strengthened its position as a clear favorite to retain the championship title.
For Schmidt and his trainees, it was already a second humiliation against a top rival in the Dutch league, because in mid-September it was crushed 4-0 by Feyenoord.
It was Eindhoven's highest home defeat to Feyenoord, and one has to go as far back as 1965 to recall the same result.
Schmidt is already 54 years old, but even he was not born then.
Indeed, despite the two catastrophic setbacks, Eindhoven is only two points away from the summit, but the trend of the season is quite clear.
The professional team fails to take control of extreme instability, and the failures in the home front only get sharper as time goes on.
More on Walla!
Thursday in the Europa League: Zehavi and PSV are seeking revenge against Monaco
To the full article
The omissions are only getting worse.
Roger Schmidt (Photo: GettyImages)
Offensively, PSV is able to demonstrate very fine football, with high and intense pressure, excellent movement of the players without a ball, lots of passion and aggression.
Schmidt's team has the ability to crush rivalry, and the summer was very promising.
The 1: 5 performance over Glatsray in the Champions League qualifiers with a hat-trick by Eran Zehavi was breathtaking, as was the insane celebration against Ajax in the Dutch Super Cup that ended with a crushing 0: 4.
The Israeli striker is not always glamorous in the meantime, but his young friends are especially exciting.
19-year-old Noni Madwaka and 22-year-old Cody Gakpo are players worth buying tickets to watch their performances, which are upgraded thanks to Schmidt's method, and 20-year-old striker Yorba Vertsen is also making promising progress.
On the other hand, defensively the business is collapsing. Schmidt's tactic is to snatch balls as far as possible from Eindhoven's goal, and when that fails, large holes open up. Last Saturday, for example, Eindhoven defeated Twente 2: 5, but special attention was drawn to the absorption of both goals in the first half, because here too a negative record was set. For the first time since 1969, Eindhoven have failed to keep a clean sheet in eight consecutive league games at home - that includes even late last season. Thus, the edge players should always be at their best in order to compensate for the distress at the back. So far, in the really important games, it just doesn’t work, and the biggest failure was back in the summer.
Eindhoven strongly believed in its chances of beating Benfica in the Champions League qualifiers, but despite a quality game in Lisbon lost 2: 1, and failed to correct in return.
Her control was so absolute that she did not even absorb then, but big misses - including Zehavi's mythological miss in front of an empty net - resulted in a relegation at the end of a zero-sum draw.
Already then pressure began to form, but at least a new goal was set, because in the Europa League the Dutch have on paper the possibility of winning the title, or at least going far.
Mythological miss.
Eran Zehavi (Photo: GettyImages, ANP Sport)
Right now, that's not happening.
Schmidt's team was dominant against Real Sociedad and Monaco, but found the net only 3 times in those two meetings, and at the same time took out 4 balls from the net.
In the major league games in the Netherlands, it has been much more embarrassing with a cumulative 9-0 draw against Ajax and Feyenoord.
The mental breaking threshold turned out to be low, and the patience in the audience ran out.
Last season, after being appointed in the summer of 2020, Schmidt struggled to win the trust of fans due to a long and mediated conflict with the club's most beloved young star, Muhammad Ihtarn.
The conduct of the promising relationship was extremely problematic, and he found it difficult to recover psychologically after his father's death, but the arrows were mostly pointed at Schmidt who had not been able to integrate him properly.
In retrospect, some fans realize that the German's task was very difficult, because Ihtarn is reportedly considering ending his career right now.
The move to Juventus, who loaned him to Sampdoria, failed - and to this day he does not have a minute of play in the Italian league.
Therefore, the rage towards Schmidt over the affair fades with fishing, but in the meantime a new anger develops due to a series of omissions in the most vital games.
One makes a living, the other on the grill.
Tan Brother with Schmidt (Photo: GettyImages, Peter Lous / BSR Agency)
Following the defeat against Ajax, a fan club called PSV Fans United came out with an extraordinary statement calling on the management to fire Schmidt immediately. "We have informed the club that we do not trust the coach. We are witnessing that the ability is only deteriorating, and that Schmidt is responsible for it. We have been defeated by the big rivals, and victories over inferior rivals are hardly achieved. We will continue like this, the championship will only remain a distant dream, "it said. And maybe PSV Fans United is not the biggest group of fans, but many share its message. Even if Schmidt's Eindhoven can be very exciting at times, the bottom line is definitely bleak.
Ajax's goal difference at the end of 11 league rounds is 2:39, and it also makes a crazy living in the Champions League.
Eindhoven's goal difference is 19:27, most teams in the Netherlands have suffered less than it, and in the Europa League it is on the way to an embarrassing relegation - unless it manages to beat Monaco tonight in the challenging away game (19:45, Sport 2).
About a thousand fans have made their way to the princesses, and they may make their voices heard well, while Zahavi and his friends are trying to get the 3 points they eluded at home two weeks ago.
For Schmidt, it could be a fateful game - currently management support is on his side, but another defeat could change that.
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