We have a coach in the family

Many things have happened in the past few weeks too. I’m very happy that my father got to be coach in my hometown, Nyírlugos. Go, Dad, go! The draw for the 2012 EC qualifiers has been done, we will face both Holland and Sweden. The fight in the Dutch championship goes on, we have game after game.

23 February 2010 – It has been a topic for a while that dad should be involved in football at home, in Nyírlugos. Our hometown would like to revive football, focus some attention on it, and of course I fully support that. The mayor asked dad to be president of the sports club, but dad is rather a practical man, he was more interested in coaching. Then the mayor said he could do both. That would’ve been too much, so dad decided to stick with the bench. Soon they will have artificial turf, so conditions are improving. I try to take part in this: I have asked my teammates to give me the training shoes they are about to discard, and I will send them home. I have also ordered training kits and balls, they have just arrived, so those can go home too. I’m glad that my father is so enthusiastic. It had been on his mind for a while, he started the schools he needed, and just passed his last exam. We speak every day on the phone, he tells me how trainings go, he is very proud that the young people of Nyírlugos are back. My family and the whole town share his enthusiasm, for my mum it is now 24 hours of football every day. When my dad cannot call, my mum does, she tells me about news and results – I have it from her that Nyírlugos played 2-2 with DEAC.
Many of you have asked my opinion about the EC draw. To be short: I’m happy with it. Each national team has to be judged based upon their results, their rank, so both Holland and Sweden are considered stronger than us, but I think we would stand less chance against Spain, Portugal or Italy. I’m confident that we can play Sweden as equals any time, they have never outplayed us. There’s no point talking about chances just now, the games are so far away. Holland isn’t bothered about it either, they are much more occupied with the WC. There have been one or two light comments about it, but that’s all. And it’s just as well, let them be self-confident – and surprised later on. The main thing is that by autumn there should be a strong Hungarian team, we should play together a lot, everyone should do their best at every game and we’ll see about the rest.
And now back to everyday business. Last week’s results disappointed everyone: first the defeat in the cup, then the draw in the championship. We had an uneven performance both against Hamburg and Sparta Rotterdam, we didn’t carry out attacks properly, missed many chances, which has been a problem for a while. The newspapers are also brooding over this, “what happened to PSV?”, but we have felt this coming for a while. Usually the team is slower in the first half and revives in the second, like in the case of the Hamburg game, we were much better after the break. The Sparta game was our fault, we should have taken advantage of our chances.
Some people say that the team is getting tired, but I don’t agree, because if this were true, we wouldn’t be able to have such second halves as against HSV. I think the problem rather is that we cannot handle a situation when we play very well against a very good team, and then a few days later we cannot finish a match 1-0, even if we are leading all along. After the 1-1 we left the pitch among disappointed whistles – we talked about the reaction of our supporters in the changing rooms. PSV fans are used to good results, they are spoilt. If we don’t get the lead in the first half there comes the catcall. Fans want to see 2-3 goals per game, which is sort of understandable for their money’s worth, but they must understand that we too are humans, after 90 minutes of hard, serious football there might be occasional weaker performances.
Many of you remark in e-mails and the on the homepage that you think I don’t get enough balls from my teammates, some people don’t even pass me the ball. Now, don’t worry, that’s not like that at all. It is very kind of you to worry, but you must be a bit partial to me. Whoever has ever played football knows that everyone wants to take part in every action, every goal, so all of us gets carried away every now and then. But within the team you can feel the trust, and I know that if need be they will pass me the ball, and they know that I will do the same, and not act selfish. And don’t forget that PSV is a star-team, at every match there are dozens of managers and observers present, so obviously everyone wants to do their best. So don’t worry, but thanks anyway for paying so much attention and wanting the best for me.