PSV secured a narrow victory over Sparta Rotterdam on Saturday night. Peter Bosz had a clear explanation for the rough start, but showed his satisfaction with his team's mentality and series of victories.
Can you share what you think went wrong?
"Sparta Rotterdam was better and more dangerous than us in the beginning of the match. We couldn't get the pressure on, were not on the pitch well and it was syrupy. Then again it's very clever to come back with an absolute world goal by Luuk, which was not normal. And also a very clever cross from Ollie; how he crossed it is insane."
What did you do to turn it around at halftime?
"I completely turned the pressure setting around because nothing was right there. I hadn't put it right so we started putting pressure in a different way. Instead of through the side we started putting pressure through the axis, then it went better."
Then when you are down to ten men, what substitutions do you think of?
"You come into survival mode with a 2-1 lead. We then actually started playing in the 4-4-1, which I like when you're down to ten men. If you keep the spaces small, you can still play some football. That didn't work out, but defensively I thought we were pretty good. Despite it getting even more intense with ten men."
What feeling prevails with you now?
"Absolute relief. When you come up with ten men and see the final phase, I am very happy that you still get the win with those ten men. We got away very well from that late goal by Sparta Rotterdam, although I did think they had better chances at the beginning of the game than when we were down to ten men. Except for the end of the game. I do think the boys did very well together, after an intense game three days ago. I'm just really happy, because again in this block in the league we haven't surrendered anything."
You substituted Perišić at halftime, why was that?
"He had received quite a kick and it was very blue at halftime. He was hit just above his ankle, so he had to come off at halftime."
How do you look back on Walter's game?
"I would like to draw it a little wider; if you see Walter's last few games, I think it's very clever what he performs then. He became a father, didn't play against Juventus FC, comes back and is so focused. He usually doesn't get much to do with us and for those few balls he has to be there. That was also the case today with that ball from the Sparta Rotterdam striker that he got into the five-yard area. Or just before time the header by Adamo, which he also calmly took. The concentration he has in matches I think is really clever."