Prior to the first match of the new season, captain Gwyneth Hendriks looks ahead to the confrontation with Telstar. She talks about the preparation, the new reinforcements and her expectations for the upcoming season, in which PSV Women is confident to compete for the title.
What do you expect from this season?
"Some nice reinforcements have been brought in. Last season we started a new process and we would like to continue that this season."
What do you expect from Telstar this season, with the new purchases they have made?
"I think they are a lot stronger than last year. I still played with their striker at ADO Den Haag, so that's nice, seeing old friends again. But in the end I think we are the favorites. Then it's up to us to live up to that favorite role."
Were you able to prepare well? For example, four players were absent for the O20 World Cup. Isn't it awkward that they only join the team after the season has already started?
"Of course that is not optimal; you want to prepare with the entire selection, but that was not possible. Nevertheless, they do have match rhythm, because they played almost everything at the World Cup, so of course that's good. For them it was also a super experience, so I don't think they are worse off. Next week they'll join again, then we'll see."
The last two practice matches were won big, but before that the results might have been disappointing. Did you learn anything from that, and what do you take away from those matches?
"RC Lens is of course also a lesser opponent than for example AS Roma or Paris FC. We were expected to win, and we did, so that's positive. In other matches we were the underdog. Against AS Roma we nevertheless competed for a very long time, but lost in the last minutes. We can get good things out of that too. All in all, I think the preparation was very good."
What do you expect from rivals FC Twente and Ajax?
"I hope we can compete for the title all season. They seem strong at the moment, but we also started well and are going into the battle with all confidence."
