Netherlands head coach Xavi will have been shocked by the standard of Saturday's clash between Ajax and PSV at the Johan Cruijff ArenA. That is the conclusion Valentijn Driessen draws in his analysis for De Telegraaf.
Driessen knows Xavi will work partly from Spain as Netherlands manager. ''Ajax and PSV certainly failed to convince him to fly to the Netherlands more often at their first meeting.''
After the chances and goals dried up in the second half, the match sank to a woeful level, according to the critical football editor. ''Neither club could escape that, although PSV made matters worse for the new Ajax at the death by turning the 1-2 half-time score into 1-3.''
Watching Ajax v PSV, Driessen believes Xavi wrote down three names. ''Ruben van Bommel, Lutsharel Geertruida and Guus Til. The three PSV players did not hit their best level, but they were involved in goals for the champions.''
Among them, Van Bommel in particular caught the eye of Xavi, who was in Amsterdam on Saturday. ''Van Bommel has been developing like a comet since his return from a serious knee injury and was also a constant threat in the clash.''
That said, Driessen does not think everything about him will have impressed the Netherlands boss. ''However, his short fuse will not appeal to Xavi. It comes at the expense of his reliability and, should the Spaniard select him, he will undoubtedly rub the left winger's nose in it'', Driessen says, referring to the scuffle caused by the PSV left winger.
After the Eredivisie clash in Amsterdam, Driessen added: ''Of course Van Bommel is entitled to stand up for himself because he gets a lot of rough treatment, but he does not need to cross the line to get the best out of himself''.