PSV Eindhoven manager Peter Bosz reacted angrily to questions about his tactics after Fortuna Sittard scored a stoppage-time equaliser to deny the champions victory.
Peter Bosz was left frustrated after PSV Eindhoven surrendered a late lead in a 2-2 draw with Fortuna Sittard, with the PSV manager strongly defending his tactical decisions during a tense post-match exchange.
PSV recovered from 0-1 down to lead 2-1, only for Édouard Michut to rescue a point for Fortuna with a superb strike in the 92nd minute.
Bosz had selected a strong starting XI despite several players returning late from World Cup duty. Ivan Perišić, Ricardo Pepi and Paul Wanner all started alongside Ruben van Bommel, although questions remained over whether they could last the full 90 minutes.
ESPN reporter Wouter Bouwman asked whether Bosz had taken a risk with his selection before the beginning of the match.
“The advantage is that you are allowed to make five substitutions these days,” Bosz replied as relayed by Goal.
“So we're on the safe side. Those are, of course, considerations you make in advance. And what you say is true, those boys joined up later and in all likelihood won't play ninety minutes, but it also depends on the match. The intensity of the match.”
Despite PSV's eventual comeback, Bosz was unhappy with the overall performance.
“This was not how we like to see it,” he told ESPN.
The Dutch champions had enjoyed plenty of possession but struggled to break down Fortuna's deep defensive block.
“We knew beforehand exactly what they were going to do. They were all going to stand in front of the box and you have to play through that. We did not do that well, because we created few chances.”
Bosz was particularly critical of PSV's execution, saying the word 'sloppy' did not accurately describe what he had seen.
“I would replace the word sloppy with poor.”
PSV's first-half problems worsened when Ryan Flamingo made a poor backpass that allowed Fortuna to take a 1-0 lead.
Bosz Refuses To Blame Formation
Bouwman then questioned Bosz about the altered shape PSV had used from the beginning. The coach insisted the tactical decision itself had worked.
“We put something up against that which may have been very bold, but which functioned perfectly well in my view, because they did not create any chances themselves. We gave those to them in the first half.”
When asked whether the unfamiliar approach could have confused his players, Bosz rejected the suggestion.
“It should not have done, because this is exactly what we explained and what we trained.”
He also refused to change his assessment simply because PSV failed to win.
“I'm not going to set it up differently because we have not won this match now. That would be ridiculous. That really would be talking according to the result.”
The exchange became increasingly tense when Bouwman suggested the shape could have contributed to PSV's mistakes.
Bosz pointed instead to individual errors, as relayed by Goal.
“If you head a ball back like that, or if you play a ball through the middle twice like Ruben did... That has nothing to do with the system or anything else, does it? You agree with me on that, I assume?”
When Bouwman maintained that such mistakes could potentially be linked to the different shape, Bosz finally snapped.
“Oh, come on. I find what you're saying now so strange, I really mean that. I understand that you want a discussion with me, but this has nothing to do with a system. No.”
