Days after center forward Ricardo Pepi addressed his quest for more playing time at PSV, he was a late scratch from the squad for Saturday’s clash with AZ.
PSV tweeted that Pepi “is not fit” before its 5-1 win in which 19-year-old Jesper Uneken scored in his Eredivisie debut.
Dutch media reported that Uneken, who came on in the 88th minute, got his opportunity because of center forward Pepi’s unavailability.
Earlier in the week, Pepi’s agent Jaime Garcia said his client’s minimal minutes as a sub “can’t continue like this. He will have to take a step in his career.” Pepi, who has scored nine goals in 35 appearances while starting only twice, said in a Voetbal International interview published on Tuesday, “I am not satisfied with my playing time, but I am satisfied with the goals I have scored.”
Pepi’s interview was picked by multiple Dutch media outlets and largely portrayed as him expressing loyalty to PSV while his patience is tested. “It is difficult, but at the same time I knew that I wanted to go to PSV and that there would be several good attackers,” said Pepi, who serves as understudy to Luuk de Jong, the Eredivise’s top goal producer with 24 goals and 11 assists.
Uneken’s goal, PSV’s fifth, was set up by U.S. outside back Sergino Dest, his sixth assist of the Eredivisie season for PSV, which has a nine-point lead atop the standings. American midfielder Malik Tillman assisted on the opening goal by Johan Bakayoko and the first of de Jong’s two goals. Tillman now has nine assists and six goals in league play.
This is NO surprise…Simply, he’s not PSV material, not good enough quality to be a striker in Holland nor Germany…. I can’t believe that the German team Augsburg laid out 20million for him since his only claim to fame is that he scored 2 goals for the USNT in one game. I realize that Germany is hard up to find a striker these days for they haven’t produced a good one since the Romans lost 3 legions in the Black forest.
PSV picked him up as a ‘just in case’ their striker who is in 30’s gets injured allowing PSV enough time to look for another striker. Pepi is competing against a former Ajax, Barcelona, Valencia, Dutch national team player. DeJong is savvy, knows all the tricks and insights of the game that Pepi ,who admits he’s learning from by watching DeJong… And that is due to the lack of indepth Expertise Pepi never taught at the FC Dallas Academy.
At Ajax DeJong was considered not an Ajax type, but doable, material for he missed the nicer, subtle aspects of the Ajax strikers produced in the past…like Cruyff, Bergkamp, van Basten, Kluivert, etc..
.The goals Pepi scored in the dutch league were basically ‘pickup’ goals…Pepi’s problem like all the strikers produced in the US is that they lack good INDIVIDUALITY on the ball. No matter how many Soccer Academies we set up here, along with the new teams ,divisions, the bottom line is that we don’t produce good quality players due to the lack of high level expertise to teach our players a better brand of soccer…
Pepi should count his lucky stars that he’s at PSV for the short time and can learn striking aspects as well as other aspects about the game that makes him a better player…
Pepi’s developed a style of play, like all the other US strikers who dependent on others to be fed. They simply are unable to create for themselves but have to wait around the goal to be set up…And furthermore none of strikers have an eye to create for other teammates a chance to score, for they are too busy with themselves in want score…
Hahaha … “Lost 3 Roman Legions in the Black Forest”.!!!
You Brought a Laugh to a History Majors Day.!!!
Frank, your comment about an inability to create for themselves is something you might hear in basketball. In bball as well, there are some players who can create their own shots rather than rely on getting setup. There are more similarities than this, like a player making a move and getting to a specific spot on the floor to shoot. Some teams, especially in high school and maybe in lower level college, may only have one player that can do this and opposing teams can strategize to shut this player down and be successful in doing so. Even persistent fouling can work, especially if the scorer’s foul shooting is lacking. In soccer, however, that one player might be creating shots while in the box, and fouls in the box carry more drastic consequences that fouls on the bball court. I’ve always thought Pepi would be better served to play a supportive, attacking midfield kind of role. Just a thought.
Philip , good points. If you take an overal picture of development of our players, what do you think they lack the most in their development…INDIVIDUALITY!!!!!! on the ball.
And how do you obtain strong individuality on the ball, where team aspects are not stresses as necessary…Guess!!!! PICKUP soccer…There is no other way to learn for here it is all about the struggle to survive and beat your opponents…Here you establish WHO you are and what worth you are vis a vis your competitors . This is where you decide where you want to be in the hierarchy among your competitors. That stage is totally missed in a player’s development…PERIOD!!! In my neighborhood , I continually tried to get to the top of this hierarchy which awards you among your peers, in my street soccer days, by being chosen first or I was top dog which allowed me to be captain to choose a team, either way…And ofcourse through my diligence of wanting to be better than the other player ,I made the Ajax youth system which allowed me to wear the Ajax scarf, which a the pinnacle of scarfes to obtain…
But players today go to the academy, not to improve their individuality on the ball but go right away in team oriented training and thinking taught by licensed individuals who themselves lack good individuality on the ball and interpretes soccer in a team setting….That is fine and dandy when you’re 18 or 19 when you’re finally a strong individual on the ball and understand your individuality can be enhanced by employing others (team concepts) as well…
People don’t realize how IMPORTANT pickup soccer is to a player’s development especially playing with older players…For example, on the streets we had no bibs or pennies separating teams by color, you wore your normal school clothes and street shoes. That means you acquire the subtleties of who are the teammates, opponents ,where they stand and move and it becomes self-learned or explanatory..No problem…No one ever complaint that ‘ I don’t know or can distinguish who is on my team’…Players learned to look up, see the dynamic of the situation and perform. You didn’t have some idiot coach ,saying “look up when dribbling”…
All the finer aspects were learned playing…Playing on concrete made the players think about how they moved or where without falling on concrete…in other words, notice the ‘thinking’ involved for it is all about why are you doing what you’re doing without losing your balance, as related to whom your direct opponent was and how good he was…there was so much thinking involved that was SUBTLE to the game, that CAN NOT be taught by coaches…
To make players learn to think is to let them play on concrete with a small ball for it makes the player look at the ball ,think about how receive/pass it, various ways of dealing with, the touch applied to it since its not a normal ball, be ware of the type of bounce or speed, the type of technique that must be applied…Just for starters, notice all the thinking needed becomes natural by applying different size balls size and weight and under various situations.
Then on grass let them play with flats or rather indoor shoes which forces to think of their actions without slipping or falling…there is so much THINKING that players when they create actions….This is just not taught to them but needs to be acquired as individuals….This is why I continue harping on the lack of good player development….They need to study all the positive aspect of street soccer and bring those elements to the forefront first in player development…
Players today ,without a pickup backround, don’t think the game and are told where to go ,what to do….
Everything you just described can also be called “futsal”. The modern way that kids can play pickup if they lack access to fields or dont have neighborhood kids willing to play. It is becoming more popular in US and you will see that the most technical players on the youth fields now are also the ones with a heavy participation in futsal. I agree with everything you are saying above though
Futsal is great.
Tusker, I grew up without playing futsal which came much later as a sport. What is important in Holland was the balls we played with could be a tennis ball, which I carried around two of them in my pocket in case of 1v1 pickup game…I carried two balls because in those days in Amsterdam there were no leash laws so any loose running dog could steal the ball and break up the game….
We never knew what kind of ball from day to day kids played with for it depends on who brought the ball…One day it could be a big plastic ball, or a rubber ball of any size, but NEVER a true soccer ball for they were made of beautiful leather…The point I’m making is that if you’re going to play Futsall use different types of balls, sizes and weights don’t stay with the same futsal ball if you to develop a better sense and touch for the ball…..
Ajax has a special day called ‘street soccer’ day whereby all kids are invited tocome and play at the Ajax stadium parking lot to show off their abilities.
I like that idea, would like to see more “street soccer days” in the US, especially during the summer street fair days.
R2, Bingo…..we did that in the evenings every night in the summer in Alexandria ,Va. back in the early 70’s with the high school soccer team kids and some college kids…
It became automatic, no one had to call you just showed…
Luis Suarez – grew up playing street ball – in a small town – Salto, Uruguay. Watch this – on utube set cc and in setting set auto translate to english. There is one more feature to Uruguay players – you need to know …
Its really helpful for youth coaches to teach kids how to play pickup. I know that sounds silly but most kids only play during practice with an adult telling them what to do. I used to take a couple of practices when I coached a recreational team (one, one hour practice per week and a game on the weekend) and tell them that the practice was their’s and step back. They’d form teams, play without my interventions, and, surprisingly, the kid or kids always needing a water break during my practices never needed one when they were directing everything. Then I’d talk to them about seeking pickup games, tell them where some were, and give them a few pointers and a push up the hill towards trying it out someday. Kids in non-ethnic communities often need to be taught how to “pickup soccer”.
Exactly ,Philip, well done….Pickup soccer needs to become habitual a wanting….I compare it to another grocery store moving in the neighborhood…You know how difficult it is to break the habit leaving the old grocery store that might be a little expensive to the new one…As soon as I step in the car, I automatically think of my usual store…it is habitual and that what you want kids to become and think about
When my son trained there with one of their top academies for three weeks – and he played a lot of street ball growing up here – they told me the following – he is impressive physically and a good player – (he is – a beast – and fast – strong – looks like a pro player physically) – this we see – we could see he was not developed here though – because his control in small spaces – it is not what it needs to be. Work on this – and you have a player. We started to train with one of their coaches – everyone trains after practice there – they have an app – for soccer players – to find indoor training space – there are literally hundreds in their main city, Montevideo, which smaller than Nashville or Indianapolis. Finding a trainer – super easy as well – as well as find training partner – as this is key in train in small spaces – they all know exactly what to do for the player – and they do it happily – in fact – with joy. The cost per hour for the space – about $30 – and i pay more for the space than the coach – the partner – free – of course. I return to USA – there are no facility – the few we have are gigantic and they want over $100 per hour – and the coach all getting $70 and up – but more importantly – no one – not one – only one actually – a Columbian American I know – but who moved away – trained my son for long time – in group – he knew these drills – any way – zero trainers or coaches – know how to do this. I met in Utah – one Hungarian trainer about 5 years ago – he knew – more than any trainer I’d met – but he was fired from his job – and struggling to find work here. He recently finished his B license here – and in his course – he was the only player that played professionally – including in the trainers – but all the other coaches – behaved as if they were guardiola – know-it-alls. In Uruguay everyone humble – with a few exceptions – and my friend the Hungarian – as well – but his knowledge far beyond any American coach I ever met – and many I see on TV. One more small observation … compounding matters …
Any one with a kid in youth soccer here – you will know these three words – you hear them – over and over and over in your kids youth games – ‘pass-the-ball’. This coupled with our most weak coach education system – described above – in a nutshell – and – the tiki-taka Guardiola style – where he cannot properly deploy a true 9 – look at Haalands struggles – the kid knows – he lost the joy – this is clear – he adapted to ‘the system’ but it’s not for him – anyway – they ALL miss here – the fundamental requirement for Guardiola and Klopp system – this is why you never see American player even whispered to play for these two – you must dominate the ball in small spaces. Ironic no – the Guardiola tiki-taka – (mis) interpretation here – has killed our 9s – but we don’t really understand his system. We have so far to go here. Frank is 100% correct in everything he writes.
To clarify – the Guardiola tiki-taka here – what it does is – any youth player with a propensity and desire to dribble – he will be screamed at – and belittled – by parents – and – they will talk behind his back – as this is the culture here – talk behind kids back – ‘we lost because Diego did not pass the ball – again’. We used to play latino teams – and they would have fat little kid playing 9 – and they would lob the ball into him – and score. They actually ran organized set pieces. They were parent coached. They would beat most ‘club’ coached teams. I once met a Croatian coach in a small remote town in USA – he coached son a summer. He was a GK coach – in retirement age – he had coached almost all our retired keeps – the one of TV with a beard – the others – after Miola – but not Miola. He told me – I can go to a border town in the USA – and build a team that can win almost any tournament in the USA. I asked him about licensing here – he laughed – the amount of learning required to get equivalent license in Croatia – dwarfs – dwarfs what the ‘lite’ coach license here. Not the cost – the knowledge required – dwarfs our equivalent. This – and the lack of CE requirement is why we take UEFA license – but they do not take our USSF license. Embarrassment this – but – reflects our coaching status among those that really know the game. Long way to go. We can and do – still produced very good players – but they are bespoke – not systematically produced. We ruin more great players – than we create – cause more to quit the game – than carry on.
“We can and do – still produced very good players – but they are bespoke – not systematically produced.” This is the primary problem with coaching in the USA. The existing system at scale does not create European-level professionals. Unfortunately, USSF doesn’t think it’s their problem, and MLS claims they alone can solve this (even if they can’t).
Humble, you’re right about Harland. He can’t create on his own in small space. He has to direct he energy towards open space and on the run.
He has his short comings when the opponents are in a defensive mode….Another problem is that City needs wingers!!! who are not inverted to open more space for Haaland
“PLAY THE WAY YOU ARE FACING”!!! (or I will Bench You.!!!)
I agree humble. Our system misses identifying players who have something special and puts players in the wrong positions. This is due to an inability of most soccer people to assess well mixed-in with some greed (travel clubs that bend to financial power plays of groups at the expense of a superior player) and some parents hell-bent on having their kid be the goal scorer (because daddy was) rather than play somewhere else where that kid’s abilities would shine even more. I’ve witnessed several natural goal scorers passed over or changed based on goofy thinking. One kid was a Haaland-like scorer with similar physical features. He quit soccer reluctantly and played college basketball instead.
Philip, you know one of the problems we have is that these licensed coaches are not good in technical areas of the game. They lack a real feel and love for the game as interpreted through the technical glasses…Anytime I see a pickup game going on , which is rare, I don’t stop just to watch a game . NO, I stop to watch the ‘technical’ qualification of how the players act with the ball, the movements, what is happening with the ball…That’s what coaches need to see and able to add technically to it by playing with them showing his wares, whereby kids go home and tell their pants about how good his coach is with the ball….That is more important than having a stupid coaching license..
I agree with you Frank on the license – as it is today – but – the way I see it – you must have licensed coaches and you must have free play – but – they are independent. As some point – in organized soccer – you need licensed coaches – in the extreme – in pro soccer – it’s required – world wide. Your license system – should consider experience and coursework – and have a balance toward experience – here you check the box – and you fabricate some nonsense experience and you are licensed. It is not real. Then your license is forever – no CE – so 10 years later – the game pass you by – you still have your qualification. There are many like this – sadly. The free play – is most important – 0 to 14 – before HS. Adult free play – is just recreation. We should be developing the free-play contexts – just by setting up and encouraging them. This was how my son did a lot of futsal – someone opened a gym – spread the word – and they came. There was a person stimulating this – he is a remarkable person – one who has a large impact in our community – we need more people like this. When I grew up – I could and did find basketball games every day every night. Today – right now – if I want to go find a pic-up basketball game or a partner to play h-o-r-s-e I can. Soccer – no. This is nothing to do with licensed coaches. If we mix up the two – we loose focus. We need to improve the outcomes of our coach licensing – AND – we need to create opportunities for kids 0 to 14 to find free play contexts. We all drive by empty tennis and basketball courts – we need to be driving by hard surfaced enclosed – so the ball don’t fly into street – small sided soccer courts as well. It’s good for the kids – good for the community – good for everyone.
Humble, soccer has not gotten better because of having coaching licenses on the contrary it has restricted personal development…License coaches restrict rather than create…The object of youth soccer is DEVELOPMENT that requires technical knowledge, know-how, and technical savvy…Licensing brings about teaching how to play which is different from developing… And that is where the system fails…
Like Cruyff states the coaching licenses have ruined youth development. He prefers players to teach for they have a feel for the game, and don’t structure as much as they follow allowances of learning…Players are able to connect the technical to the tactical and able to demonstrate it at the same time…
If I ran a youth soccer organization, I would rather hire players who can do something with the ball, that can impress they youth and most important play with the youth and show how it’s done…The licensing system is too structured in its methods, and too dogmatic and it doesn’t creative coaches but ones who follow BS taught to them for they don’t know any better..
Have you ever seen that youtube video of that one guy taking on a whole girls team…That’s the kind of guy I would hire for the youth instead of coach with a badge….
There is an old saying by Ajax when you are in the development stages , you allow everything when you’re near the end to play pro ball you restrict
philip – the talent ID system – no one is trained in this – even the licensed coaches – but – everyone is an expert. Then of course as you say – there is one steady influence in youth soccer – it is not free play – it is not training focused on technical ball mastery – nor is it talent id, cultivation, and development, no, it is POLITICS! And in youth soccer – MONEY TALKS – a lot of positions – more than most are willing to admit – are bought – thru ‘training’. This I fought all my son’s career. The latino clubs with parent coaches – would have thick boys like my son – but the country club american teams – he was always second team – to heavy slow. Well – I had the last laugh – because I learned from Uruguay – soccer player development – news flash – youth development is not a sprint – it is a marathon. So now all the others – their kids quit the game – all the boys that were on that elite team – they are done – my son – will be paid to play D1 soccer – not full ride – but he keeps playing 4 – more years – and he goes to a program lead by a coach that develops players and people. He will keep working – steady as she goes – and if he impacts the college game – as we expect – we have lined up a clear path to pro contract – after college. There are many more possibilities today than 5 / 10 years ago – but what is unfortunate is that many kids that develop here – still do it – in spite of the system – not because of it. You have to go against the current, if you go with the current – you end in ‘quitin’ time – which is U16-U19. Look at your local youth club team pyramid from U7-U19 – all the boys – end with 2 or 3 teams – even with the big multi-million dollar clubs. I knew this was coming. I prepared for it – and my player got thru it. Most – did not even make it to the U19s – and – they hard stop – leave the sport – do not play as adults or coach. The next time they will play is when they have kids.