Ahead of Sunday afternoon's (2:30 p.m.) topper, head coach Phillip Cocu took ample time Friday afternoon to speak to the media during the weekly press interview and look ahead to Ajax - PSV. "We go to Amsterdam to get a maximum result," he said.
Cocu: Second half Moscow to take to Amsterdam
PSV starts Sunday's match with the knowledge that the team is five points behind the Amsterdammers, who are also leaders. A win is therefore desirable, but Cocu did not want to talk about panic in case of defeat. "It is a similar match to the one against Feyenoord. I would like to see us take home the three points, but even if we lose, there are still a lot of games to play. But we go to Amsterdam to get a maximum result," agreed Cocu, who characterized Ajax as a team that plays from a slightly more closed organization compared to last season. The loss against CSKA Moscow, meanwhile, no longer plays a role in the minds of his selection players, Cocu expected. "We have put Moscow behind us. As always, we looked back at the analyses and then focused on Sunday. A lot went wrong, but we showed in the second half how well we can play as well. We played a very good, even excellent half. We have to take that with us."
Lots of media attention at Phillip Cocu's press conference ahead of Ajax - PSV | © PSV Media
Reaction Andrés Guardado awaits
Andrés Guardado's quick return to the training field was also discussed on Friday. The midfielder trained fully in the morning and thus seems fit for Sunday's game. "Things are going very well," Cocu explained. "He trained with us and that went well. We'll have to wait and see what the reaction is tomorrow, but if training with the group doesn't cause any problems, he will be deployable against Ajax." Cocu also does not consider the risk of a relapse after the match against Ajax, should he be able to play, to be very high. "Fortunately, there are examples of players who recover a little faster than others. He has had the conviction from the first moment that he would make it to this match and, of course, he knows his body himself best out of everyone. Andrés has been working on it day and night and at the same time we took all the steps that we normally take with injured players. That all went well."