PSV are adrift

Monday 10 November 2008

After 90 minutes of hapless and lackluster football against NEC dismay hit full force in the PSV camp.

When coach Huub Stevens was asked for an explanation after the 1-0 defeat at the hands of NEC Nijmegen he was silent and then said: "I do not know."

After PSV's fourth defeat in ten league games more and more people are starting to point their fingers at Stevens, the man who is after all responsible for the performances of his team.

Of course the football teacher has to do it with a squad that is not abundant with talent, but it seems evident that the correlation between him and his players is far from optimal.

Many PSV players are having difficulties with the many changes Stevens makes to the team.

Without saying so much there are players who now prefer to be on the bench so they don't have to play with the nagging uncertainty of whether they are allowed to stay on.

And then there is the unpredictable character of Stevens that caused some frowns in Eindhoven.

"You will have to ask the players whether they still believe in me," he said after Saturday's defeat.

"I have not picked up any signals that the players are troubled by their coach," said director of football Jan Reker.

"And I can not say that he and the squad don't fit together."

And Wednesday PSV travel to Alkmaar to play AZ in a third round KNVB Cup tie and on Sunday Ajax await them in Amsterdam.

New calamities could poke up the discussion about his position even more as the laws of top football are relentless.

An eventual dismissal of Stevens could have far stretching consequences for the club's management as they were all very much in favor of his appointment.

After a third of the league almost behind them there is no other possible conclusion than that PSV are adrift.

With a track record of four defeats from ten games - defeats that were all without room for debate - Stevens Saturday remarked that his team had played 'stunningly poor'.

And he was right as PSV performance in Nijmegen was abominable.

Not able to create a single chance in 90 minutes and their efforts resembling a computer game played by a beginner it was hard to detect a plan in PSV's tactics.

In the first weeks of the new season Ibrahim Afellay was able to disguise PSV's poor form with some fine solo displays, but now that he is also suffering from the same lack of confidence as his team mates PSV's shortcomings are painfully obvious.

There is a grave lack of quality compared to previous seasons when class acts like Alex, Cocu, Gomes and Farfán were the corner stones of a team that ruled in the Eredivisie and that at times was able to challenge Europe's top sides in the Champions League.

Now that they are all gone it's PSV's second choice that have to carry the load and they seem unable.

At the moment any side in the Eredivisie seem able to beat them.