PSV hero says his side couldn’t cope with four ‘dangerous’ Arsenal stars

Follow us on Google Discover

PSV Eindhoven could not cope with the positioning of Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Jesus and co as Arsenal’s ‘most dangerous players’ found the net during Wednesday’s 4-0 Champions League thumping. 

Peter Bosz has never been known for his ability to set up a defence. His Borussia Dortmund side were torn apart like wet tissue paper again and again during the Dutchman’s short-lived spell in the Bundesliga, while Bosz’s Lyon team conceded 51 goals in 38 Ligue 1 games during the 2021/22 season, laying the foundations for his departure a few months later. 

The likes of Odegaard, Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz would have been licking their lips in anticipation, then, ahead of PSV’s trip to the Emirates Stadium. And, predictably enough, Arsenal carved through Bosz’s disjointed backline again and again.

An eventual 4-0 scoreline flattering the visitors far more than it did the hosts. 

Arsenal run riot against PSV Eindhoven

“The midfielders and Bosz (are to blame),” Marciano Vink, the former Netherlands and PSV ace, tells Voetbal Praat.  

“If you see those gaps arise after five to ten minutes because (Oleksandr) Zinchenko goes into midfield and Havertz plays a little deeper, make sure you maintain a good positional position. But there was such a big hole for their most dangerous players to come into, like Jesus and Odegaard.”

Both Jesus and Odegaard found the net, scoring Arsenal’s third and fourth goals after Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard had got the party started.  

And the biggest frustration, as far as Vink is concerned, is that PSV did not do anything to change the direction of travel, Arsenal picking up three rather easy points during their first Champions League outing in six years. 

Three points on the board already

“You have to flag it up earlier. Don’t wait and think; ‘there will come a time when we will have the upper hand’. Then you are 2-0 down in no time and they have had eight more chances to extend the score before half time,” Vink adds. 

“I think (Bosz) should have intervened earlier. Move the midfield a little closer and maybe sacrifice (Ismail) Saibari or send (Jerdy) Schouten on. Something should have been done, because almost every attack was a copy of the previous one.”