Marked for Sergiño Dest
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match24 Feb 2029
8 unbeaten for Utrecht
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 8 matches without defeat is a foundation Utrecht did not have in the autumn.
Squad26 Feb 2029
A falling-out at Utrecht
Ringo Meerveld and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings26 Feb 2029
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout26 Feb 2029
Kaj Sierhuis gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match24 Feb 2029
Three points for Utrecht, 1‑0 the final word against Go Ahead Eagles in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings26 Feb 2029
Ninety minutes of Arthur Zagré at his very best
Marked 8.09. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Utrecht.
Squad26 Feb 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Bryan De Jongh and Utrecht agree another 4 years.
Loan watch26 Feb 2029
25 appearances at Torreense and the goals keep coming. Utrecht are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
The dugout26 Feb 2029
Sergiño Dest has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Utrecht will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings1 Jan 2029
Two goals and a mark of 8.16 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market1 Jan 2029
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad1 Jan 2029
A falling-out at Utrecht
Ringo Meerveld and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Jan 2029
A row about effort at Utrecht
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wassim Bouziane was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match30 Dec 2028
A 2‑1 win over Fortuna Sittard, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Loan watch1 Jan 2029
12 goals on loan for David Min
19 appearances at FC Eindhoven and the goals keep coming. Utrecht are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
The dugout1 Jan 2029
The manager makes an example of Matyáš Havelka
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Market1 Jan 2029
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Squad1 Jan 2029
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Kasper Boogaard has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout30 Oct 2028
Diego Rosales: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Utrecht have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad30 Oct 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Utrecht this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match28 Oct 2028
Feyenoord made Utrecht work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad30 Oct 2028
A row about effort at Utrecht
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wassim Bouziane was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matyáš Havelka, and the manager let it.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
A promise honoured at Utrecht
Something was said to Sergiño Dest and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Player ratings30 Oct 2028
A mark of 7.72, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Jasper Klaassen, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Looking ahead30 Oct 2028
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against AZ in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout4 Sep 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Utrecht may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Window shuts: 17 in, 24 out at Utrecht
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 17 arrived, 24 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad4 Sep 2028
A falling-out at Utrecht
Ringo Meerveld and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets4 Sep 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ajax have kept their man, and Utrecht go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout4 Sep 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match2 Sep 2028
Excelsior left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Wassim Bouziane falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Doors closed at Utrecht
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout4 Sep 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Jasper Klaassen left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets28 Aug 2028
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Atalanta keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Market28 Aug 2028
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
The dugout28 Aug 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Utrecht may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Transfer targets28 Aug 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Twente have kept their man, and Utrecht go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout28 Aug 2028
This is not rotation. Jaygo van Ommeren has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Utrecht is pretending otherwise.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Words exchanged at Utrecht
Ringo Meerveld and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Player ratings28 Aug 2028
Successful dribbles: 22. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Transfer targets28 Aug 2028
Heerenveen wanted more than $210.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad28 Aug 2028
A row about effort at Utrecht
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wassim Bouziane was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Jun 2028
The knee: Noël Beulens out for 43 days
43 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Utrecht lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market19 Jun 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market19 Jun 2028
Ajax pay $4.6M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Transfer targets19 Jun 2028
Utrecht asked and Feyenoord said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad19 Jun 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Utrecht this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market19 Jun 2028
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Utrecht have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Words at Utrecht training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wassim Bouziane is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
Noah Ohio gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Noah Ohio is on it.
Market19 Jun 2028
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Utrecht, another week without a signature from Oualid Agougil.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 May 2028
32 days out for Mauro Júnior after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. PSV will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Boardroom15 May 2028
PSV book their European place
Done, and with games to spare. Next season has floodlit nights against clubs from other countries in it, and the accounts have a line they did not have last year.
Squad15 May 2028
Words exchanged at PSV
Kiliann Sildillia and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout15 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sergiño Dest, and the manager let it.
The dugout15 May 2028
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Jerdy Schouten is on it.
Squad15 May 2028
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and PSV will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
Squad15 May 2028
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at PSV would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Loan watch15 May 2028
Sami Ouaissa would rather not come back
“For the first time in years I am picked because somebody wants me in the team.” Vitesse suits him; the awkward conversation belongs to PSV, and the summer will force it.
Loan watch15 May 2028
16 appearances at Arminia Bielefeld and the goals keep coming. PSV are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market20 Mar 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what PSV can pretend not to have heard.
Match18 Mar 2028
No mercy from PSV
Sparta Rotterdam will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. PSV were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Match14 Mar 2028
PSV come up short in Europe
0‑1 away to the standard of Ajax. Nobody will pretend this was a scandal; the gap is real, it is measurable, and closing it is a project rather than a team talk.
Squad20 Mar 2028
The match ball belongs to Francisco Trincão, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Defences have started doubling up on Francisco Trincão
12 goals and a season average of 7.63 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Player ratings20 Mar 2028
Both jobs done by Ivan Perišić — 7.09
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 10 actions, 7.09, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
The team sheet said everything about Guus Til
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Guus Til.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
Sergiño Dest gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Bas Bergwijn in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at PSV this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match11 Mar 2028
A derby to forget for PSV
Beaten 0‑4 by Ajax in the one fixture where losing is not allowed. The football was bad enough; the week ahead will be worse.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words exchanged at PSV
Jerdy Schouten and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ryan Flamingo, and the manager let it.
Market13 Mar 2028
PSV and Paul Wanner are talking past each other
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Boardroom13 Mar 2028
Doors closed at PSV
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑4 defeat, delivered by Daley Stengs to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
A promise honoured for Dennis Man
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. PSV told Dennis Man something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad15 Nov 2027
The knee: Ivan Perišić out for 37 days
37 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. PSV lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market15 Nov 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at PSV, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
Sergiño Dest: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” PSV have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad15 Nov 2027
A falling-out at PSV
Francisco Trincão and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Loan watch15 Nov 2027
“I watch every PSV game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Roda runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
Francisco Trincão has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at PSV will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Market15 Nov 2027
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
Dennis Man knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Dennis Man trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Player of the week, judged against every other man in the division. A small award, and one most careers never collect.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match16 Oct 2027
No mercy from PSV
Zwolle will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. PSV were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.94 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
Armando Obispo: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” PSV have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad18 Oct 2027
A falling-out at PSV
Francisco Trincão and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces18 Oct 2027
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Ninety minutes of Francisco Trincão at his very best
Marked 8.60. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at PSV.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Jacobo Ramón was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.20. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Loan watch18 Oct 2027
“I did not go to Roda to sit and watch. I want to come back to PSV and fight for my place.” 2 appearances in 6 matches say the rest.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sergiño Dest, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match3 Oct 2027
6‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Match28 Sep 2027
PSV come up short in Europe
2‑3 away to the standard of Slavia Prague. Nobody will pretend this was a scandal; the gap is real, it is measurable, and closing it is a project rather than a team talk.
Squad4 Oct 2027
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” PSV may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad4 Oct 2027
A falling-out at PSV
Marvin Schwäbe and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match3 Oct 2027
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about PSV and Fortuna Sittard in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ivan Perišić commits to PSV for another 2 years.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
A performance of 9.63 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dennis Man, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Jul 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market26 Jul 2027
Business is business: Nick Olij goes
AZ paid $3.2M and PSV took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at PSV training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivan Perišić is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words exchanged at PSV
Mao Hosoya and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
Ryan Flamingo gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Ryan Flamingo is on it.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at PSV, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
Sergiño Dest has been promised minutes
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Sergiño Dest has written the date down.
Market26 Jul 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. PSV know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad26 Jul 2027
A wage question at PSV
Yarek Gąsiorowski has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
In brief
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Squad
Adamo Nagalo still has not settled
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The dugout
The manager plants his flag on Guus Til
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Boardroom
The board put their hand in their pocket
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Loan watch24 May 2027
25 goals in 34 games at Almere City — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at PSV updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Squad24 May 2027
Tempers go at PSV
Guus Til was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad24 May 2027
A row about effort at PSV
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivan Perišić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout24 May 2027
Guus Til gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Guus Til is on it.
The dugout24 May 2027
Sergiño Dest knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at PSV, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market24 May 2027
The name of Yarek Gąsiorowski keeps appearing in other people's back pages. PSV say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad24 May 2027
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and PSV have no good answer.
Market24 May 2027
Told you so: Rasmus Højlund arrives at last
14 appearances in, the average sits at 6.74, and the people who defended him through the autumn are enjoying themselves enormously. Adaptation is a story football only tells backwards.
Market24 May 2027
Nick Olij placed on the list
PSV have made Nick Olij available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match17 Apr 2027
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Go Ahead Eagles, and it could have been more.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
Both of them Mao Hosoya's — 8.64
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.64, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
Age has not caught Ivan Perišić yet — 8.18
At 38 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.18 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Loan watch19 Apr 2027
20 shut-outs in 34 games. A goalkeeper’s loan is judged on the afternoons when nothing happened at all, and Niek Schiks has been having a lot of them.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Tempers go at PSV
Jerdy Schouten was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Loan watch19 Apr 2027
26 appearances away from home and 13 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
Looking ahead19 Apr 2027
The fixture the calendar is arranged around. Form goes out of the window, the table is not consulted, and for ninety minutes PSV will be judged on one thing only.
Loan watch19 Apr 2027
24 appearances away from home and 12 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
A promise honoured at PSV
Something was said to Rasmus Højlund and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.