Ledezma starting today. Karsdorp not yet on the bench. (Tillman also starting at LWF and Pepi on bench.)
Mmm, we were close to take over the 5th spot of France in the UEFA-ranking. We were so much a threat to that position, that French sportsmagazine was writing and complaining about it for over a year. So how huge is that gap with nr 5 exactly, if we were that close to swap places?
Yeah, cause no fan has ever used a first person-plural pronoun in referring to their league or team. You showed him wut's wut! Good job!
Bosz very complimentary of Ledezma after NEC game: https://www.psv.nl/en/media/artikel...ijkt-misschien-makkelijk-maar-dat-is-het-niet Do you get satisfaction from him (Dams) and Richy Ledezma doing well in a different position than they are used to? "Not necessarily satisfaction, because you prefer to put them in their natural position. But when it works it's nice. I thought both Richy and Matteo played very well today. Then you can say, 'it was against ten men,' but even teams with ten men regularly come out dangerous. But N.E.C. didn't get that chance." Do you think Matteo Dams and Richy Ledezma can also compete at UCL level? "Yes definitely. I see them every day at training and then you see the potential. They don't do everything well yet, but you see they can do it. Against Heracles Almelo Richy fell out with cramp, then you see how quickly they make steps conditionally and also in terms of football level."
That second question is extremely relevant at the moment given that PSV face Juventus in two days. If Ledezma gets meaningful playing time in that one, I believe it would be the first time in his European career that he's received anything more than injury-time/garbage minutes against a side above the level of a midtable Eredivisie club.
I can't imagine what Bosz does beside start Ledezma. Karsdorp from all accounts is not game-fit, Junior was not in the squad yesterday... I think he's going with Ritchie and Dams, which is a great test for Ledezma.
His confidence is strong. Did you see how assured he was to shoot at the goal from outside the box to force the NEC goalie to a great save?
The important thing for Ritchie is that PB knows (and most likely told him) he will make mistakes and it's calculated into him being on that back spot. So he doesnot have to play with the handbrakes pulled up.
The gap between France and the Netherlands is minimal and far less than the gap between La Liga and BL1. One caveat however is that the Eredivisie's Top 5 would do pretty well in Ligue 1 and a vintage side like the 2020 edition of Ajax would be serious title contenders, but Holland's bottom 5 would mostly be curb-stomped. The UEFA coefficient has the leagues at 1) England 85.874 points 2) Italy 75.481 3) Spain 70.846 4) Germany 68.160 5) France 55.665 6) Netherlands 52.900 7) Portugal 48.216 8) Belgium 43.400 https://www.uefa.com/nationalassociations/uefarankings/country/?year=2025
Big game for Ledezma (and PSV in general) tomorrow. It's likely Bosz will have to run out the same makeshift defensive line as he did on Saturday. (I've not seen anything more on Junior, but if he didn't even make the bench, unless he was out for some other reason it's likely the same pair of FBs.) It's too bad Dest is injured, we could have the possibility of a 6 yanks tussle! Still, there's a chance we see all 5 at some point tomorrow. Ritchie will have his work cut out for him. If he can keep doing what he's been doing, it will be a big step for him.
Ledezma starting on the right. Junior is on the bench - was he just travelling this weekend? Or maybe still dealing with the injury - anyway. Big test for Ledezma. He's likely to see a bit of Wes who the Webz has starting in a 2-man DM set up on the left side. Ritchie will face wunderkind Yildiz quite a bit as he's at LAM in the 4-2-3-1 according to the line-up I saw. Really a good chance to see what Ledezma is up for. Game starting as a 3 Yank affair, still could see all 5.
I have the worst memory of any human around, but I can't think of any time we've even had 5 on the combined rosters, off hand.
He got fried on the first goal. Yildiz cut in on him and scored. Happens to every fullback but he got toasted.
He got physically stronger the past 2 years, but he can't improve his recovery speed. He is, what it is.
Richie was defended by Peter Bosz after the match. Peter Bosz sees that several things have gone wrong defensively at PSV, visiting Juventus. The coach of the Eindhoven team admits that Richard Ledezma was let down by his teammates at times. At the post-match press conference, it is concluded that Ledezma sometimes seemed to think what the hell he was 'supposed to do there', when he faced two or three opponents on his own. "And rightly so!", responds Bosz, who doesn't want to say too much about his team's defensive mistakes. "Of course, I can now tell you something about Juventus, because they have done that very well: the moment Jerdy picks up Koopmeiners, Koopmeiners immediately goes to the sidelines. As a result, Jerdy thinks: should I end up on the sidelines? Those are all patterns that we went through before the game."
Richard Ledezma left to drown by PSV PSV has started the Champions League adventure with two inexperienced full-backs. After the 3-1 defeat against Juventus, one of the most important conclusions is that Richard Ledezma (24) has been left to his own devices. Richard Ledezma will have had a different idea of his debut in the Champions League. The American, who has been retrained as a right back, sees his direct opponent open the score. Kenan Yildiz always outsmarts him at decisive moments. Although Ledezma is still pure in his passing, he doesn't make his mark as much in that area as he did in the Eredivisie. The easiest conclusion is that the away game against Juventus proves that Ledezma is not at Champions League level defensively as a right-back. That is precisely why it is so remarkable that PSV has let him drown, by hardly offering him any support.
That's funny as I had the same thing happen to me when I resumed playing after years of not playing at over 40. At first I kept thinking I was doing something wrong and then realized I should have to be constantly covering two or three opponents by myself.
When a coach goes out of his way to exonerate a player, especially a green one, after bad result with the opposition having a lot of joy on his flank it usually means that the the team played badly but he had a stinker and needs extra defending. Since Richie wasn't taken off until the 85th minute and was the final substitution made, that seems highly unlikely. From the highlights only, my untutored eye says he was significantly at fault for Yildiz's goal - stood too close to Vlahovic, giving Yildiz far too much time and space to set himself. Still, the overlapping Cambiaso's marker, Veerman, going completely AWOL is inexcusable. If he hadn't, Yildiz's job would have been a whole lot harder and Richie's far, far easier. On Wes' goal, Richie was too far up the pitch and didn't track Wes enough. OTOH more than enough PSV guys were there to stop the ball getting to Wes in the first place. In both cases that could have been because of tactical instructions given to him. On the other goal and the hitting the post incident on half time, he might as well have been a leper for all the cover he had from his team mates. Since he's a No. 10 who's been played out of/learning a new position, that's criminal negligence on their part. I'd imagine he starts at the weekend and in the next CL game.
I felt bad for Richie yesterday... First season ever as a RB and finds himself having to cover Yildiz on his own. Yildiz is going to be a star and PSV lined up like they were playing Heracles. He will live and learn.