ANPMalik Tillman
NOS Voetbal•vandaag, 00:16
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Franklin Stoker
follows PSV for NOS
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Franklin Stoker
follows PSV for NOS
He sometimes looks a bit nonchalant and introverted, but is also technically gifted, strong and, above all, an all-rounder. There are a lot of things to say about PSV midfielder Malik Tillman in the run-up to the Premier League match against Ajax tonight (6.45 p.m.). In his second season in Eindhoven, the 22-year-old American is perhaps the PSV player who has made the most impression so far.
Tillman has now played in quite a few positions at PSV: from left winger to defensive midfielder. And that makes him very valuable for trainer Peter Bosz.
The trainer recently used Tillman as a defensive midfielder for the first time in the Champions League match against Paris Saint-Germain (1-1), an experiment that was born out of necessity due to Jerdy Schouten’s injury for weeks.
It turned out to be a golden move by Bosz, because Tillman held his own well in that spot in the Parc des Princes. He then also filled that position well in the match against PEC Zwolle (6-0 win). PSV seems to have found a solution for the temporary absence of Schouten in the person of Tillman.
Stevens enjoys Tillman
Former PSV coach and player Huub Stevens even believes that Tillman will do best in his new position. “As I have seen him play, he is developing even better in that position. He has the game even more in front of him in that position. You can really see him standing out now, many people think so,” said the Limburger.
“He has also played good games in other positions, but now that he is a little lower on the field, he has a little more time to make a choice. And that is also to his advantage.”
Ajax-PSV at NOS
The kick-off at Ajax-PSV is on Saturday evening at 6.45 pm. The competition can be followed by NOS via a live blog on NOS.nl and in the NOS app and via Along the Line on NPO Radio 1.
A short summary can be viewed online immediately after the match, a longer one Studio Sport Eredivisie at 11:07 PM on NPO 1.
Stevens does not find it strange that Tillman is also doing well as a defensive midfielder. “Sometimes he makes an important sliding or tackle and other times he scores or provides an assist, these are all characteristics of a modern midfielder.”
“Somehow it didn’t surprise me that he also does well as a defensive midfielder, because Tillman is an American. I think American athletes usually have a good mentality. They never let the team down,” said Stevens.
Sporty
But it’s not just his football qualities that Tillman is currently impressing. During the Champions League confrontation with Sporting Portugal (1-1), it became clear that the German-born footballer is also made of good stuff as a person.
The American received applause during the match when he shot the ball out of the field in a promising position without hesitation, after his direct opponent Ousmane Diomandé had apparently been seriously injured. This is how the Sporting defender could be treated.
It was a situation in which the average footballer regularly chooses to continue playing. Tillman could count on compliments for his action from, among others, then Sporting coach Rúben Amorim, who has now succeeded the dismissed Erik ten Hag at Manchester United.
Controversial
Tillman will probably have thought back to his controversial goal for Rangers FC on February 12, 2023, when he unknowingly ended up in a precarious situation.
Rangers had shot the ball over the sideline in the cup match for Tillman’s injury treatment. Opponent Partick Thistle then wanted to give the ball back to Rangers in a sporting manner, but to everyone’s surprise, the overzealous Tillman quickly captured the playing object and scored.
The unsuspecting American was then given a team irate Partick Thistle players over himself. The matter was quickly put to rest when Rangers’ Partick Thistle were given a free passage to goal for a goal.
Trainer Bosz is obviously pleased with Tillman. “His development is no longer so much about football, because he can already play football very well,” Bosz said on Friday. “I think he has made enormous development in his personality, because he needs that to become an absolute top player.”
“Despite his young age, I think he is already performing very consistently and that is what matters. You see that players perform top one week and less the next week, but in top football you have to perform every week. And Malik is now working on to go through that development.”
PSV and Bosz with courage and pleasure to Ajax: ‘Self-confidence, that’s there’
