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Ronald Koeman told media representatives at the first press conference of the new season that he believes in his team and has a lot of confidence in the squad that is at his disposal and added that he feels confident PSV will play more attractive football. The PSV head coach said that taking centre stage in the Dutch Eredivisie is his main aim for next season, as well as leading his team to the Champions League knock-out stages.
Koeman looked back at last season, but did not review the 2006-2007 campaign in great detail. “We won the title for the twentieth time in history and pulled off some great results in the Champions League, in particular against Arsenal in the round of last sixteen. We fielded some experienced players last season, but yet we made things hard for ourselves after the winter break. We saw our seemingly unassailable lead in the Dutch vanish, but fortunately we made amends just in time and showed the fighting spirit that led us to take the title after all. But I'd rather look ahead. We will try to be successful on four fronts: the Johan Cruijff Cup, the championship, the KNVB Cup and we hope to book a place in the Champions League knock-out rounds. Our first aim is win the Dutch title, but progressing to the next stage in Champions League has some great financial consequences.”
“We made some changes to the team”, continued Koeman. “Some top players departed the Philips Stadium over the close season for several reasons, but we have a lot of confidence in the current squad. I think we have signed some good players, and we have found the right mix between youth and experience. The average age of our 28-man squad is 24.5 years. The squad is fairly large, but the summer transfer window does not close before 31 August. We have been working hard the past four weeks and in the fifth week of pre-season training we focus on the Johan Cruijff Cup. I think we have done well so far during the pre-season campaign. Results, positive and negative alike, are irrelevant. We will not be carried away by the good performances during the tournament in Moscow, where we played some great football at times against the likes of Real Madrid and AC Milan, either. But these games have been crucial in building up confidence and giving young talented players an opportunity to show off their skills.”
PSV open the 2007-2008 campaign next Saturday, when they take on Ajax in the Johan Cruijff Cup. Koeman: “It is not the most important of four trophies, but I want to win any game, not at all costs, though. The same holds good for Ajax. It is an appropriate moment to test ourselves and see where we stand. We will have to be ready when we travel to Heracles for the season's curtain opener, when three points are at stake. We will be made to work hard all season and have along way to go, but noblesse oblige. It will not be easy at all to replace Alex and Cocu, so we have tried to cope by completing deals with players that can operate in several positions. Last year we had only two strikers left after the winter break and I am sure we have strengthened our attacking options by the signings of Lazovic, Perez and Jonathan, while Zeefuik is making progress. We also welcome back Bakkal and Aissati and Afellay is a generally highly-rated talented youngster. I think we will play more attractive football, but it will not necessarily lead to better results. I think we have been shaping a team that suits our philosophy of football.”
