Feyenoord team updates ahead of PSV clash: news about Stengs and Hancko | OneFootball

Robin van Persie looked ahead to Sunday’s match with PSV at the Feyenoord press conference on Friday afternoon. The coach came with good news about Calvin Stengs and said he was not worried about the transfer issues surrounding Dávid Hancko.

At the start of the press conference, there was a brief moment of commemoration for the death of Joop van Daele. Although Van Persie had never met the club legend in person, his importance wasn’t lost on the manager.

“Joop may have scored the most important goal for Feyenoord ever”, he remembered. “Everyone who cares about Feyenoord knows that goal. That really hits home when legends of the club are unfortunately not there.”

The good news: Stengs returns to the Rotterdam team’s match selection. “He has trained well the past few days, so that is very positive. The class is immediately evident during the training. Luka Ivanusec is not there, he had a moment during the session. The upcoming match and the two after that come too soon for him. He will join the preparation again.”

While there are rumours buzzing about Hancko, Van Persie cut a calm figure and refused to worry bout the Slovakian defender.

“Dávid is a top professional, in everything. I am not worried about that. Dávid is an example for every player. How he gets the most out of himself every day.”

Van Persie’s first time in the dugout with Feyenoord against one of the Netherlands’ ‘Big Three’ comes this weekend. Again, the manager remained composed.

Van Persie’s first time as head coach of Feyenoord facing another top three club doesn’t bother him much. ‘I’ve played against PSV before and experienced top matches before. I’ve also played against PSV this season, that went well in that match.’

“If you look at the numbers, it’s a last chance”, Van Persie said on the battle for second place. “Then we should win, and then we have to be very lucky in the last two games. But I keep saying that we also have to keep looking back, because Utrecht are also doing very well.

Van Persie praised Peter Bosz and his players. “They have a very good coach and a very good team. It is normal to have a bad phase in a season. Even the absolute top teams sometimes have a bad period. But it is also telling how strong they have been playing again in recent weeks.”

GBeNeFN | Max Bradfield