The situation
Simons fever has broken out in the Netherlands. The 19-year-old could not have had a greater impact on his start at PSV. On Saturday he again showed off with two goals and an assist in Van Nistelrooy’s team’s 2-5 victory over Go Ahead Eagles in the Dutch league. Simons, who arrived this summer from PSG, made his second consecutive start in the league and showed an outstanding level. He scored two goals and shared a goal assist. Very active, he made it 1-2 just before the break by quickly activating inside the area to solve a loose ball. His team had already been playing for 15 minutes with one more player. Immediately afterwards, Simons assisted Bishop for 1-3. Luuk de Jong had opened the scoring with 0-1 after two minutes, after a play that the former PSG and Barcelona player had started . In the 75th minute, Simons made it 1-4, coldly defining a counter against the goalkeeper. Van Nistelrooy is giving the youngsters confidence little by little. Perhaps because that has been lacking in the brilliant career of the boy prodigy, since he entered the Barcelona school at the age of seven. Around there has been a lot of noise and now Van Nistelrooy wants to calm him down. Simons made his debut in the Dutch Super Cup, where PSV beat Ajax 3-5. He jumped onto the field when his team was winning 3-4 and scored the final 3-5. Later, in the Champions League, Van Nistelrooy gave him 15 minutes in the first leg against Monaco and remained on the bench during the second leg against the French. In the league, on the contrary, he has played the 180 minutes of the first two games, with assists against Emmen and the two goals plus goal assists on Saturday.
Firm steps, but lack to calibrate.
It’s still early to gauge his full progress, but there’s no question that Simons needed this intermediate step. He left PSG where access to the first team seemed very difficult in a template designed at the stroke of a checkbook. He for the first time he plays in his country. Undoubtedly a friendly championship for offensive talent. We still need to see him in the big clashes, in the Champions League for example, where the defensive burdens are greater. But in his country they celebrate having recovered him like this. Simons fever has spread. “I am Dutch, but I have never played football in the Netherlands. It was a bit weird for me, but in the end I came here with my family and I focused on my goals and that is just playing football. And that’s what I’m doing now, ”he explained after the game on ESPN’s microphones. “Well, speaking Dutch every day at the club, that was a bit strange. But still it’s nice, I’m back in my own country. Just enjoy it, it’s a great competition, before finishing the interview in Spanish. “Certainly, I grew up there. But I don’t care, I also have a Dutch family”, he concluded. now we have to wait