PSV will have an almost fit squad for Friday night's game against Excelsior. Besides the long-term injured Ryan Thomas, only Cody Gakpo will not be there. "He had a tap on his ankle," head coach Mark van Bommel said at the press conference.
Retrospective
Van Bommel first looked back at the game four days ago at De Kuip, where PSV lost 2-1. "Feyenoord did very well in the first half-hour. They put us under so much pressure. We had the opportunity to play football under that, but we didn't succeed. In the second half we had the best of the game, but then you fall behind that 2-0. Pretty soon after that 2-1 from Steven, we still had chances for the 2-2."
Details
Not for the first time, Van Bommel called the details of decisive importance. "I've played games like that myself. It's not that I was always top. Sometimes you want very badly and then it doesn't work out. That is sometimes elusive, you don't always have any influence on it. Then it's often the little things, the details, that determine a match. It can just be the wrong throw or pass. Those are moments you have to look for. As a player I was always very keen on that, but it also went wrong sometimes."
Reaction
And then Excelsior. The game was moved to Friday night because of PSV's European match next week in Milan. Van Bommel does not want to talk about a "reaction" because PSV lost once in the Eredivisie after a whole series of victories. "No, we are not going to show a reaction, but just do the same as we always do. It's not that after thirteen wins and one loss you're going to turn everything around." PSV's head coach already gave a tentative foray into the lineup. It probably won't differ from Sunday's. "No, probably not. I'm a coach who always lines up the team I think we can win with. It's as simple as that."