On April 18, PSV Eindhoven, led by former Guoan coach Schmidt, won the Dutch Cup this season with a 2-1 victory over Ajax in the Dutch Cup final, which is also the second title Schmidt has won since leaving Guoan. At the beginning of the season, Schmidt also led the team to win the Dutch Super Cup. Schmidt himself lasted for the championship trophy when he was in Guoan, and in 2018 he led the team to win the Chinese Football Association Cup.
| Schmidt led PSV Eindhoven to win the Dutch Cup
It's not easy to beat Ajax to win the title, with Eindhoven eliminated by Ajax in the Dutch Cup quarter-finals last season. The two teams did not meet until the final this season, which also gave Eindhoven a chance to win the title.
Ajax currently tops the table in the Eredivisie this season, and throughout the season, Eindhoven has only briefly occupied the top few rounds of the table, and most of the time the league number one throne has been Ajax's.
This season, Eindhoven and Ajax have played each other four times, with a total of two wins and two losses, two wins in the Dutch Super Cup and the Dutch Cup finals respectively, but in the league, Eindhoven lost twice to Ajax, which has also become the fundamental reason why they have always been behind their opponents in the league.
With four rounds left in the Eredivisie, the difference between PSV and Ajax is 4 points, and theoretically there is no chance of winning the title. But in terms of schedule, Eindhoven is also followed by a match against fayenoord, who is third in the league, and in the first leg of the match between the two sides, Eindhoven lost 4-0 to Feyenoord. So, although Eindhoven is now 10 points ahead of Feyenoord, the outcome of the game is difficult to predict.
This match will probably determine the title of the Eredivisie, and if Eindhoven fails to defeat Feyenoord, then Ajax's league title is basically a clutch.
Eindhoven has never taken the initiative in the league competition with Ajax, mainly in the face of poor results against strong teams, facing the top three teams in the league so far have not scored 1 point, respectively, two losses to Ajax and one loss to Feyenoord.
In addition, Eindhoven's defensive problems are also more prominent, they have conceded 35 goals, more than Ajax and Feyenoord, and more than the fourth-place Twente in the league, only one less than Alkmaar, who is fifth in the league.
| Schmidt coached PSV Eindhoven, there are still big defensive problems
Strong wins and poor defense are problems that Schmidt exposed in guoan, as well as in the Netherlands, indicating that there are deep-rooted problems in Schmidt's football philosophy and playing style.
Schmidt's style of play always emphasizes the high pressure of the frontcourt, and this style of play works well against weak teams. Teams that are less powerful than themselves are often crushed by the ravages of the half, and Schmidt's team can solve the opponent with three strokes and five divisions. But against stronger teams, high-pressure frontcourts can't get offensive opportunities every time, and the quality of the opponent's counterattack is higher than that of weak teams, which poses danger to Schmidt's team.
The same way of playing, but the results in the cup are quite good. This is mainly because the cup is a knockout format, even if the defense is not good, it can be compensated by attack, as long as there are more goals than the opponent, you can eliminate the opponent. But this is not the case in the league, 3-0 wins and 1-0 wins, the difference is only reflected in the goal difference, the points are actually the same.
Schmidt's team scored 75 goals, second in the league, conceded 35 goals, fifth in the league, and clearly conceded a goal to drag his feet. You know, Ajax has conceded only 15 goals in the Eredivisie this season, with an average of only one goal conceded in 2 games. Eindhoven conceded 35 goals, meaning at least one goal in every game.
From past football experience, league champions tend to favor better defensive, more balanced teams, and those 1-0 teams have a stable performance in the league. And cup champions often fall on teams that are good offensively good.
For example, in the Serie A, which used to be known as the Minor World Cup, Milan won consecutive titles with 55 unbeaten games, and Capello believed in 1-0 doctrine. Later Juventus won consecutive titles, and it was also Lippi's team's stable defense that was very scary. At that time, teams such as Lazio, Roma and Sampdoria, led by coaches such as Zeman, Spalletti and Boskov, who were good at attacking, were more likely to achieve results in the Coppa Italia.
Schmidt is good at what makes him a very good cup-winning coach, but for league champions, unless his team is significantly stronger than the league as it was in Red Bull, he really is not a league champion coach.