Cocu: Victory on character

Cocu: Victory on character
2 min

Phillip Cocu saw PSV play one good and one bad half against Feyenoord in the battle for the Johan Cruijff Schaal, but praised his team's attitude in the second half in particular. "When the football was not quite going well, we dragged the victory in on character. I am very satisfied with that," the coach said at the press conference after the 1-0 win.

'Beautiful victory'
"Surely this is another nice victory. We are happy with this," Cocu concluded at the press conference, after which he analyzed the match. "I thought the first half was good. We played constructively well, were always able to find an extra man and because of that Feyenoord had to go back. We deservedly got the lead." After halftime, he saw his team sink a bit. "The second half was a different story. We made too hasty an impression, I thought, and wanted to force the counter too quickly. Then you don't play dominant anymore. What I did see was that on character, when the football was not quite going well, we managed to get the victory. I am very satisfied with that."

'To beat PSV you have to be good for 90 minutes'
Fellow Feyenoord coach Giovanni van Bronckhorst blamed the loss on his team's first 45 minutes. "To beat PSV you have to be good for 90 minutes. We weren't. In the first half we didn't play the way we can and should. It was a world of difference from the second half. Before halftime it was much too rushed, we had no rest and difficulty putting pressure on PSV," said van Bronckhorst who did look back on the second half with satisfaction. "The first twenty minutes after half-time I saw the Feyenoord I want to see. Unfortunately, we couldn't do that for ninety minutes. We have to do that against a PSV that is so good."