Hello Tottenham fans! PSV fan here. I've been following Bergwijn for a long time now, probably from when he was around 16 years old, still in the PSV academy. Ever since he's been my favourite prospect, even with Memphis playing at PSV still. And because it's kinda bittersweet to see my favourite player go, I thought I'd give you guys some information about him.
First of all, he's being portrayed as some kind of bad guy in the media, supposedly refusing to play for PSV. I find this extremely hard to believe. Bergwijn has always been a proper lad, has never said a bad thing about anyone and he does absolutely not seem like the kind of guy refusing to play for PSV. You can also notice this in his play. He's the type of player to do whatever the coach wants him to. He plays right winger or attacking midfield even though these are not really his best positions. He - as opposed to what some people here believe - always tracks back, and never fails to carry out his defensive duties. This was noticable especially when Lozano still played at PSV, and you could really see the difference between these two players, Lozano's defensive workrate absolutely not being on par with Bergwijn's standards. Bergwijn is a teamplayer. This is one of the great qualities Bergwijn possesses, often not recognised by his critics.
Secondly, Bergwijn rarely loses the ball. His dribbling is amazing. Whether it's fast dribbling or slow dribbling. The ball seems to always be sticking to his feet. Making it hard to disposses him of the ball. Not losing the ball often is another quality which is easily overlooked by his critics (also due to his great passing!). I think his dribbling is his best quality. I've never seen a player at PSV whose technique came even close (during my time being a supporter, so players like Romario and Ronaldo excluded haha). My favourite Bergwijn goal:
Furthermore, he's also a very explosive player, which I'm sure most of you already know. His acceleration from standing still is superb. Which makes for a great combination with his dribbling. Combined with his vision and willingness to pass the ball after a great dribble, this makes him the perfect winger. He's not selfish. Example of his willingness to pass the ball after taking on the entire defense (I made the compilation start at the play I'm talking about if you click):
Lastly, most people that criticise him do so because they think he doesn't score enough goals and isn't the kind of player to pull a team through a difficult phase. I don't really feel that's fair, because he still has amazing statistics in his last years at PSV, and while he may be a little lacking at close range finishing (he's not bad just average), you can see him improving at this already, and he also greatly makes up for it with his great longshot (he generates crazy power), his good vision and passing and his ability to create chances. While it's true that he's not some kind of natural leader, I don't feel like every player in a team should be a natural leader, and being a leader is just not his personality, which is okay because a team should not have 11 leaders. It's just that all 11 PSV players lack leadership, and the best player then gets criticised about this because people want him to take responsibility.
Overall I'm really sad to see him go
. The media in The Netherlands report he's leaving for around 32 million euro's, which would make me even sadder (and a little angry at John de Jong, our director of football). 32 million is a steal. So... have fun with Bergwijn. If you have any questions about his play, you can always ask me!
First of all, he's being portrayed as some kind of bad guy in the media, supposedly refusing to play for PSV. I find this extremely hard to believe. Bergwijn has always been a proper lad, has never said a bad thing about anyone and he does absolutely not seem like the kind of guy refusing to play for PSV. You can also notice this in his play. He's the type of player to do whatever the coach wants him to. He plays right winger or attacking midfield even though these are not really his best positions. He - as opposed to what some people here believe - always tracks back, and never fails to carry out his defensive duties. This was noticable especially when Lozano still played at PSV, and you could really see the difference between these two players, Lozano's defensive workrate absolutely not being on par with Bergwijn's standards. Bergwijn is a teamplayer. This is one of the great qualities Bergwijn possesses, often not recognised by his critics.
Secondly, Bergwijn rarely loses the ball. His dribbling is amazing. Whether it's fast dribbling or slow dribbling. The ball seems to always be sticking to his feet. Making it hard to disposses him of the ball. Not losing the ball often is another quality which is easily overlooked by his critics (also due to his great passing!). I think his dribbling is his best quality. I've never seen a player at PSV whose technique came even close (during my time being a supporter, so players like Romario and Ronaldo excluded haha). My favourite Bergwijn goal:
Furthermore, he's also a very explosive player, which I'm sure most of you already know. His acceleration from standing still is superb. Which makes for a great combination with his dribbling. Combined with his vision and willingness to pass the ball after a great dribble, this makes him the perfect winger. He's not selfish. Example of his willingness to pass the ball after taking on the entire defense (I made the compilation start at the play I'm talking about if you click):
Lastly, most people that criticise him do so because they think he doesn't score enough goals and isn't the kind of player to pull a team through a difficult phase. I don't really feel that's fair, because he still has amazing statistics in his last years at PSV, and while he may be a little lacking at close range finishing (he's not bad just average), you can see him improving at this already, and he also greatly makes up for it with his great longshot (he generates crazy power), his good vision and passing and his ability to create chances. While it's true that he's not some kind of natural leader, I don't feel like every player in a team should be a natural leader, and being a leader is just not his personality, which is okay because a team should not have 11 leaders. It's just that all 11 PSV players lack leadership, and the best player then gets criticised about this because people want him to take responsibility.
Overall I'm really sad to see him go
. The media in The Netherlands report he's leaving for around 32 million euro's, which would make me even sadder (and a little angry at John de Jong, our director of football). 32 million is a steal. So... have fun with Bergwijn. If you have any questions about his play, you can always ask me!
