Twice Arnold Bruggink played in Thessaloniki with PSV against PAOK. In both away duels against the Greek opponent on Thursday night, the former PSV player was successful, but he also learned what playing in a pandemonium means. PSV can benefit from the lack of spectators tonight, he thinks.
Temperamental
"As a player, you are an experience richer when you play there," Bruggink says, referring to the fierce crowd. He can understand that Greek stadiums are frequently called "witches' kettles. Of the matches and especially his goals, he does not remember much, because it is precisely the crowd that sticks with him. "I remember having to take a corner kick and having fireworks thrown at my hand," the former PSV striker said.
Yet it was not all doom and gloom at Toumba Stadium. "When you prevent, the crowd turns against their own team. That's beautiful to witness." When Bruggink has to make a choice, he still believes it is better for PSV tonight that there is no crowd in the stadium. "PSV can benefit from that, by experiencing the match more calmly," he indicated.
Southern European
According to Bruggink, PSV has to watch out that the match against PAOK Saloniki does not resemble Granada at home. That teams from southern Europe play a different kind of football than we are used to in the Netherlands is clear, according to him: "It is all just a bit more theater, just a bit more posturing. In addition, those teams always try to influence the referee." For Roger Schmidt's team, it is therefore important not to be led by the game the opponent plays. Against Omonia Nicosia, the team proved they could execute their own game deep into the closing stages, which ultimately resulted in victory.
Quality
Bruggink believes that PSV has enormous quality especially up front. "With those dangerous forward players, combined with the lack of public presence, there is definitely something possible for PSV," he says. Although the season started somewhat stumblingly, the former midfielder sees that the team is getting more and more accustomed to each other. "You notice that the team is gaining confidence." The two-time international says it is important that key players such as Denzel Dumfries and Cody Gakpo return to the squad as soon as possible. The PSV captain has been at home for more than a week and a half because of Corona, while Gakpo has not trained with the team for two weeks.
Outside world
"Before the season, the outside world had sky-high expectations of PSV," Bruggink said. He does not go along with the media's tendency that football is not yet what it should be. "I think the bar has been set too high and people have not been realistic," Bruggink said. "The team has found the right mode and the results are good. Meanwhile, PSV is growing toward a good level."
PSV anno 2001
According to Bruggink, it was the same with the PSV of his time. The team he was part of experienced a successful UEFA Cup season, but was narrowly defeated in the quarterfinals in a Dutch clash with Feyenoord. Looking to the past, Bruggink thinks the UEFA Cup could have gone to Eindhoven as well. "We were ready for it as an eleven. We had such a nice group. As a team we had been together for a while and knew each other from representative youth teams."