Vitesse coach Phillip Cocu had a bad feeling about his return to the Philips stadium on Saturday, where he experienced many successes as a player and trainer. “A draw would certainly have been possible,” he said after the 1-0 defeat. “We missed an opportunity. I am disappointed about that.”
There were no goals in Eindhoven in the first half. “Defensively we did well,” said Cocu, who saw goalkeeper Kjell Scherpen stop a penalty kick from Luuk de Jong. “Kjell kept very well and dominated the sixteen-meter area.”
Shortly after the break, Scherpen looked less good with the goal of Guus Til, who scored with a shot from just outside the sixteen-meter area. Cocu: “It seems that it should have been a ball for the keeper. But I think he saw the ball late because there were three players in front of him. I don’t want to call it a mistake, but a crucial moment.”
Cocu found the reception at PSV warm. “It was great to be back. It is a place where you have experienced many successes yourself, as a player and trainer. That is special. And of course I know Ruud van Nistelrooij well, we played and worked together.”
The Vitesse coach also talked to Van Nistelrooij about the current situation at PSV, which recently lost attackers Cody Gakpo and Noni Madueke. “As a coach you are not happy if you lose two players like this,” said Cocu. “Sometimes you have to accept that a club needs certain things to stay healthy. I have also run into that.”
Source: ANP
