Phillip Cocu spoke with praise afterwards about captain Luuk de Jong, who stood up in his eyes when PSV was down to ten men. "He was an example for the whole team today," the head coach said at the press conference after the 2-0 win over Willem II.
Reaction Phillip Cocu
Immediately after the match, Cocu already indicated to FOX Sports that he thought his team, after a good opening phase in the first half, used too little tempo. At the press conference, he spoke in similar terms. "We started the game well, immediately took the initiative but after the first 15 minutes it became a bit flat," Cocu said. Curiously, Arias' red card, which left the team with ten men, seemed to play into PSV's hands. "That has done us good before," Cocu referred to previous duels his team managed to win with one man less. "The most important thing is that you then start playing in a good organization. Very disciplined. We did that well. I think we also got a deserved victory in the end."
'De Jong stood up'
Big standout in that phase, as mentioned, was De Jong, in Cocu's opinion. "Our captain really stood up today," he felt. "Because of that we won the match. You can never blame him for his work ethic, but today he did that even more. He was an example for the whole team."
Jurgen Streppel balks at red
Fellow Willem II coach Jurgen Streppel also saw the red card as a turning point in the match. "It all seemed to be going the way we really wanted. Unfortunately, Nijhuis gave Arias a second yellow card. As a result, PSV started to play a little better. The spaces became bigger and PSV took advantage of that. I can't really call this win undeserved. Maybe we smelled too much of a big stunt," he sighed at the press conference.