Managers build teams for a season at a time, football clubs try to build a staff and squad that last for a longer period. But once in a while, when a football club as a whole fails to perform in any way possible, an overhaul is needed. In the case of PSV Eindhoven, they went overboard. Their board changed everything after a season that was supposed to be full of celebrations. Instead it was a season of tears and despair. please log in to view this image Because in 1910, The Philips Factory Football Team was founded by employees of Philips, but the team went under three years later due to financial turmoil. On August 31, 1913 the Philips Sports Vereniging(PSV) was it's successor, started by the company itself. So in a month time the club exists exactly a 100 years. Unfortunately for PSV, there are no trophies to give the centennial birthday colour. A second place in the Eredivisie, losing to AZ Alkmaar in the League Cup final and a disastrous streak in the Europa League(knocked out in the group stage in third place), it all summed up in a season that the fans and players want to forget. World class manager Dick Advocaat and the return of PSV legend, Mark van Bommel made some impact but the rest of the team, the defence in particular, were everything but gelled. The star players were already looking ahead, to new clubs and new leagues, they forgot to think about the present. And this led to the disassembly of the 'dream team' of the Eredivisie. please log in to view this image please log in to view this image out and in It started a week before the season ended, right after the lost league cup final Mark van Bommel was booed off the pitch, and in his last game for PSV he got sent off, and during his walk to the locker rooms he got grief from the fans a second time. Van Bommel promptly ended his career. A week after the last game of the season defenders Wilfried Bouma and Atiba Hutchinson, midfielder Orlando Engelaar and goalie Boy Waterman were told their contracts, which all ended at July 1st, were not going to be extended. And centre back Timothy Derijck is loaned out this season to FC Utrecht. The complete overhaul of the defence was further finalized when Erik Pieters was sold to Stoke City. Seven players out, but the club didn't stop. Manager Dick Advocaat did not extend his contract, another PSV legend is stepping up to help the club: Philip Cocu. The assistant manager of Louis van Gaal for the Dutch national team is now the manager for the next two seasons. The former FC Barcelona midfielder is back at his old club and has to build not only a new squad but also a new youth academy. The youth system at PSV was regarded as one of the best in the Eredivisie, delivering players like Afellay, Zenden, Huntelaar, Bouma, Labyad, Depay and Zoet was not enough, the board appointed a new head of the academy: Art Langeler, who was the manager of newly promoted PEC Zwolle last season and led them to a very impressive 11th place on the table. The board had done everything it could had possibly done to restructure the club and the team. The rest was up to the players. Which unsurprisingly took the first chance to leave a sinking ship. First was Jeremaine Lens. With interests from many clubs in the EPL and the Bundesliga, the striker had a plenty of options but out of the blue he signed a contract with Dynamo Kiev from the Ukraine. Two weeks later Dries Mertens took off to Napoli and a week ago Kevin Strootman transferred to AS Roma for 17 million euro's. Now with nine players out, the complete first squad is gone. The only two remaining are Ola Toivonen and Marcelo. Toivonen is in negotiations with several clubs, including Norwich, and Marcelo seems set to go to the French Ligue 1. And for all these departures, some new, young blood had to be brought in to compensate. PSV bought Chelsea defender Jeffrey Bruma, loans defender Karim Rekik from Manchester City. They bought 19 year old super talent Adam Maher from AZ Alkmaar for a whopping 9 million euro's and Stijn Schaars is coming in from Sporting Lisbon along with Arias on a cheap dual transfer to rebuild their midfield and attack. To complete the squad they bought former Ajax winger Jozefzoon from RKC Waalwijk. please log in to view this image Adam Maher and PSV Technical Director Marcel Brands at the press-conference for the presentation of Maher. By the time this transfer period ends PSV will likely only have Matavz, Wijnaldum, Narsingh and Willems from the 2012-2013 squad remaining at the club. The 2013-2014 will be the start of a new era at PSV. The massive debts are paid, the wages are cut, the team is overhauled and a new staff to support it all. PSV will be the team to watch in the next season in the Eredivisie. please log in to view this image
Well that much remains to be seen, they gained over 35 million on transfer fees and lowering wage expenditure but they still have a debt of 46 million euro's with the local county that was ruled illegal by European Court. They still have to get that money together, else they will have to sell the stadium grounds.
Had a dreadful season, and got overshadowed by Dries Mertens and Ola Toivonen. When Toivonen got injured he was the one that had to step up, and failed. He'll get a new chance this season to prove his worth.
Disappointed we never made moves for Mertens or Lens. Both players I feel could've added something. Never realised the huge shake up though. 4 players left from the previous season is crazy. Cheers for the read Cove, always an interesting piece, especially for me as I'm a follower of the Eredivisie, though Ajax is my main focus "SuperJoden".
Great technique and vision. He is a similar player like Dembele but a bit less physical but more tactical. His free kicks and corner kicks were top notch in the Eredivisie and he scored a couple of amazing goals. Main problem is that he is injury prone. Was knocked out a couple of times in the past two seasons, think it was his knee and ankle. Other than that he is very consistent, very mature on the pitch. However, he tends to go along with the mood of the team and usually does little to be better than the team. When others let their head down he usually follows. His work rate and his endurance are okay, his pace is decent but what stands out is his agility. He is so quick and fast in his movement that he can score when there are 2 or 3 defenders on him. And I've never seen him headbut a ball come to think of it. When it comes to form, he always needs a couple of games to gel into the squad. He never really makes a difference in the first couple of matches but when he gets his regular games and the manager sticks with him, he can have great impact on the team and the game.
