Excelsior away is a very tough match. Phillip Cocu said so in his weekly press conference. "Excelsior is defensively very strong. You can see that coach Van der Gaag experienced part of his career in Portugal. He translates that and brings it into the team."
Motivation
Cocu continued: "In addition, they have some good footballers in the team, with three fast guys up front. In the changeover they are very dangerous." PSV can break the Eredivisie record of most consecutive away wins against Excelsior, but Cocu is not concerned with that. "You don't have to use something like that as motivation to players either. We know how important that match is, especially since we lost to Feyenoord. Then you have to do everything to win, from that you have to get enough motivation."
Choices
Cocu does not want to say anything about the lineup yet. In any case, he has plenty to choose from. In midfield, for example, there is a choice between Ramselaar, Guardado, Hendrix, Pröpper and Siem de Jong. Not all of them can play, but Cocu doesn't mind such choices: "A number of guys are close to each other. Who I choose depends on several factors, such as form, fitness, qualities, or a certain opponent. If a player is not in shape or not training optimally, the choice becomes easier. Now everyone is training super sharp. I hope I have to make that choice all season."
Press
Excelsior is impressing and is currently in the left-hand row, but that doesn't tell Cocu anything. "I don't care which row they are in, we have to win to keep Feyenoord under pressure. The pressure is always there. If you are at the top there is also pressure. You have to deal with that as a top club player. That's not bad, that pressure is necessary. We've shown that we actually play stronger under pressure than without pressure."