Football Season Guide

Even though they finished second in the Eredivisie and triumphed in both the Johan Cruijff Schaal and the KNVB Cup, the past season represented a disappointment for PSV. With Ajax stuttering, they were expected to grab the Dutch title again after a 5-year drought but the management made the impossible to fail. In fact, coach Van Nistelrooy, who also had to deal with an injury-prone squad, saw key players sold mid-way through the season but not replaced. Despite that, he did an excellent job with PSV scoring aplenty, although they simply conceded way too much. Fed up with the management attitude, Van Nistelrooy eventually resigned before the last game of the season. PSV decided to hand the team to 59-year-old Peter Bosz, who led Ajax to a second-place finish in 2016/2017 but then managed German and French sides without leaving any mark. The transfer campaign was an unspectacular one for PSV. They lack depth in defence and in the midfield as they lost starting centre-back Branthwaite, who returned to Everton, his parent club, with Boscagli, who spent last season injured, set to regain a key role atthe back, while Guti, a reliable alternative in the midfield, left for Mexico. Bad news comes from 19-year-old Xavi, by far their best player in the past campaign with 22 goals scored and 12 assists overall, as he left for Paris Saint Germain, while loanees Savio and Fabio Silva should not be missed. Lang, who had an excellent past season at Club Bruges, will be asked to replace Xavi while 20-year-old Pepi should provide a prolific alternative to De Jong up-front, together with returning Vertessen.