If Luuk wants to sit, he'll sit. If he insists on playing, I doubt Bosz fights him hard. In some ways this season may be ideal for Pepi. No pressure, a coach/front office that clearly likes him and some minutes in a range of games from low-level league to European elite. And he's producing at a decent (and in this week's case critical and dramatic) fashion. If he was 25 it would be a frustrating situation, but for his second year in the Ered, on a team that going into the record books, with some silverware for the mantle piece? Not as bad as it looks on paper. And the odds of LdJ getting through the whole year without breaking for a least a few games, is fairly low. Pepi is in a better place to step in if/when LdJ goes down because he's had some time to integrate without heavy pressure on him.
I think he's in pretty much a perfect position, and you can see the result of that in his game. It's awfully good for PSV too.
Looking ahead, we have five matches before the winter break, which lasts about three weeks. Sun 12/3 @ Feyenoord (2nd) Thu 12/7 v Heerenveen (7th) Tue 12/12 v Arsenal (Match 6 of 6) Sun 12/17 @ AZ Alkmaar (3rd) Thu 12/21 v Twente (KNVB Cup, 2nd round) *** Winter Break *** Jan 13 v Excelsior The spacing isn’t terrible, so LdJ could start all five, but imo the Arsenal match cries out for young players/second-teamers, allowing the first-teamers to concentrate their efforts on the league matches.
Esp that 12/7 game! Enjoy the snow this weekend - and your last month in a liberal democracy! If you see a gal in a puffer jacket biking around Delft with her fat uncle this weekend, say hi to my wife.
Yeah, former Feyenoord player Sven van Beek will stop LdJ in his tracks and when Luuk is subbed, do the same to Pepi, while on the other side of the pitch loanie Wålemark from Feyenoord will run circles around Rahmalho and Dest to score a hattrick.
He's right where he needs to be. They're going to have to get him more minutes. He's earning them. Don't forget that Earnie Stewart is running his team and that he won't be overlooked.
It's not a bad situation, still. Fans are quick to call for loans. They can be a little patient before that starts. I just don't understand the criteria for playing time there. He scores their biggest goal of the season, and then sits the entire next match. That's utterly ridiculous. It would apply to the surrounding games that actually matter. Not in a meaningless match. That's where youngsters should play, if you want to keep developing and building the depth chart.
It sure seems to me like Luc’s form is dropping, especially WRT his hold up play. He is just playing too many minutes. I thought Pepi would get more minutes this week after the game winning goal, but to get none? Aside from the overhead attempt, Luc didn’t have a very good game. Really poor decision from the coach not to bring him in in this one.
Looks like PSV won 2-1 away at their biggest rival this season so I don’t think we can say the coach made a “really poor decision” when you realize his job is to win matches not maximize Pepe’s playing time. PSV is 14-0-0 so yeah I don’t think complaints about the coach is warranted.
Which is why I would rather see Pepi be loaned out, instead of warming the bench for a season. Let Pepi get playing time at another club and a striker from their reserve team, can make cameos off the bench.
Only time will tell. It isn't just about this game. They have leaned so heavily on LdJ and he is often playing late into games when PSV are ahead by multiple goals. Sometimes it seems like the coach is hesitant to pull him off if he hasn't got on the score sheet yet. But in today's case I think LdJ wasn't having his best game AND Pepi earned an appearance based on his CL heroics. AAR... yes, if you only focus on this game and the result then maybe my language was too harsh... because it was certainly a huge win. But if LdJ breaks down physically then perhaps it would have been better to give Pepi more minutes... especially in games that were already out of hand from a score perspective.
Happily, there are few of us here still capable of taking a common-sense, middle position. I wish I were one of them. I think because PSV has a perfect record and is way ahead in the league, somewhat incredibly with a greater GD (50 GF - 6 GA = +44) than number of points (14 x 3 = 42), and has now advanced to the KO rounds in the Champions League, and because injuries robbed Bosz today of his normal substitution patterns, I think he can be given some leeway. I might even be persuaded that given this dream start to the PSV season, Bosz ‘must be doing something right.’ But on YA, we like to dig beneath the surface. I think today can be Bosz’s one-time immunity from our scorn and intolerance, given the unfortunate injuries to multiple players. But this is a one-time offer only - it can’t be repeated. I need to see Pepi play on Thursday and start v Arsenal a week from Tuesday, or Bosz will feel my wrath - yes, with the dreaded, fearsome ! If I extol Bosz’s virtues on the Dest thread, but rail against Bosz here, does that make me insane? In a clinical sense, perhaps, but not on YA. This is Pepi we’re talking about, in the Pepi thread, remember. “Must play Pepi!” is the prime directive.
He's not gonna get loaned. But his performances in limited mins for this club at this age will catch the attention of other clubs. And they might try to come in and entice him with the sweet offer of more playing time if this goes thru the season.
This is pretty much the way I see it, and Bosz’s current approach - a lot of LdJ, a little of Pepi - seems short-sighted. Life often doesn’t give us all the information we need to be certain, but the odds have to favor pacing LdJ a bit better for the long haul. There have been many little or no-risk opportunities missed this season already, where LdJ should have come off before he did. The Arsenal game will give us an important additional data point, as Pepi without question should start. Presumably, LdJ would prefer to start every game, including that one, so it should be a good test of wills.
Pepi this season has scored 3 goals in 155 minutes. That's one every 52'. Last season he scored 12 in 2457'. That's only one goal every 205'. So now he's scoring at a faster rate. Last season scoring 12 for a relegation-bound club got him some interest, though. Hopefully scouts are keeping a tally of his goals per minute this season.
Do I have this right? Pepi went to Augsburg and stand-off-tantrumed his way into a loan because he had been planted on the bench (a bit unfairly). He then played very well on loan but didn't want to try again at Augsburg (who already established themselves as not really willing to give him a fair shake) and stand-off-tantrumed his way into another loan, with PSV. ...where he's been planted on the bench... ...but where he is NOT throwing fits - rather, he is saying all the right things about learning from the vets / De Jong / etc... If that's right, then I'd guess that he is in a decent spot. When he wasn't given a chance at Augsburg, he fussed and left. At PSV, I haven't heard the fussing. Maybe there is a long-term plan for him? Maybe the communication is good? Maybe the training is quality? (Or maybe he sees that he has more to work on in training?). Maybe the situation is one where he knows he'll get his chance? Long story short: he doesn't seem to be in a state of panic about it. So I'm not going to be in a state of panic about it. I bet he gets more and more time as the season goes on.