Xavi Simons was left perplexed by PSV’s failure to build on their early lead against Vitesse, with the 19-year-old midfielder expressing his disappointment after the draw in Arnhem, Voetbal International reports.
Simons opened the scoring in the eighth minute with his thirteenth goal of the season in the competition, but PSV were unable to add to the tally.
“We thought ‘we’ve got it’, but that’s not how it works,” Simons said during the press conference.
“The mentality should be to make the 1-0, then the 2-0, 3-0, and 4-0 and finish the game. That didn’t happen, which is really disappointing.”
The Spanish star believes PSV can take a leaf out of league leaders Feyenoord’s book when it comes to intensity. While the potential is there in training, it doesn’t always translate to the pitch.
“We have the quality and intensity, but then comes the match and I don’t really know what will happen,” Simons said. “If you look at Feyenoord, it’s really nice how they play football. I think we can do that too, but you have to do it on the field.”
PSV missed a great opportunity to take advantage of Ajax’s defeat to Feyenoord (2-3) as the draw against Vitesse (1-1) leaves Ajax two points behind and PSV eight points behind the league leaders. With the club potentially missing out on the best two European tickets, Simons was honest about his ambitions.
“I have signed with the club for five years and I am very happy that I can play here and develop myself,” Simons said. “But of course it is disappointing. I just want to play in the Champions League or Europa League and become champions. Every footballer wants that. I now focus on the eight Eredivisie matches and the cup. We’ll see at the end of the season, but I have a five-year contract.”
The PSV player will report to the Dutch national team on Monday, but the enthusiasm was dampened by the loss of points.
“I am now going to the Dutch national team, but this really bothers me,” Simons said. “My club is the most important thing to me. It is an honour to be with the best players in the Orange squad, but it bothers me to go there like this.
“I would have preferred the three points so that we could fight for the title. But we have to fight to the end, that’s the only thing that can happen.”
