"Our focus is on showing our identity on the pitch tomorrow and playing the way we want to. We’ll give our all to win," said Kasper Hjulmand at the pre-match press conference on Tuesday afternoon.
Tapsoba: "prepared for an intensive game"
PSV, who lost their opening game in this UCL campaign 3-1 against Belgian champions Union Saint-Gilloise, are currently second in the Eredivisie behind Feyenoord. Former Bayer 04 coach Peter Bosz's team have won five, drawn one and lost one of their seven league games so far. Hjulmand said of the Dutch side: "I’ve known Peter Bosz, his clear style of play and his philosophy for many years."
Edmond Tapsoba added, when asked about his former coach Bosz: "He was my first coach here. I remember my first days and that he let me play against Dortmund straight away. That was a surprise for me, but it also characterises him because he's always prepared to take a certain amount of risk. You can also see that in his attacking style of play. It will be an intense duel tomorrow, we're prepared for that." Tapsoba continued: "As a defender, the aim is always to win and keep a clean sheet. If I score, as I did against St Pauli, then it's even better. But the most important thing is to win, that's what it's all about."
Hjulmand: "help all players develop"
Assistant coach Rogier Meijer, who previously worked as head coach at NEC Nijmegen in the Dutch league, and Malik Tillman, who came from PSV, were "a great help" for Hjulmand during the build-up to this game, as the 53-year-old head coach emphasised. Hjulmand: "Both were able to tell me a lot, especially about the players, and give me valuable little details. Rogier does a great job on the training ground. He is very professional and has a good insight of football."
Hjulmand added about Tillman: "Every player who is new to a club first has to get used to the new team-mates and structures. Malik is adapting very well and is getting better and better." The fact that Tillman will now face his former club is "not a big story" for Hjulmand. The Dane: "Once the game is underway, it's a game like any other against an opponent you want to beat."
