PSV coach Ruud van Nistelrooij believes the 4-2 defeat at FC Groningen cannot be compared to his side’s previous defeats by SC Cambuur (3-0) and FC Twente (2-1). “We’re losing this game in six minutes.”

He said he saw a dominant PSV for nearly 85 minutes but realized the brief dip before half-time was fatal for his team. “We have the whole game under control, except for the six minutes when Groningen makes three.”

In the game against Cambuur and especially in Twente, PSV experienced big phases in which the team sometimes didn’t get into the game. In Groningen, Van Nistelrooij didn’t think that was the case. “It wasn’t a duel where we didn’t have control because we had it. That’s why this defeat hurts so much.”

Van Nistelrooij: “We conceded the goals due to an individual error, a restart and a back pass where someone else intervened. That’s just not allowed. But something like that can happen in football, that’s a tough conclusion for today.”

De Jong: “It wasn’t easy”

The increasingly fit Luuk de Jong, brought on just after the break, ensured Groningen gained confidence from a 1-0 win. “We should have broken that trust immediately, but they immediately made it 2-0 and 3-0. We’ll lose the game as a result,” said the striker.

De Jong felt PSV weren’t happy after the break given the number of chances. “You can see that we’re hitting balls at the crossbar and that balls are being taken off the line. It was a one-way street after the break, so maybe you can call it bad luck that we didn’t score. If it was one it would have been a little better , we might have even won that game.”

De Jong has just recovered from a muscle injury and made his comeback at Arsenal 0-1 PSV on Thursday after a brief two-month absence.

World Cup selection

With his return, de Jong keeps his chance to get into the World Cup selection of Louis van Gaal. The striker, who normally has a chance of participating in the World Cup with the oranges in the role of the pinch bat, is not yet for rich. “You never know exactly, but the national coach knows my qualities.”

“I feel good and fit. In the end it is up to the national coach to make the choice. I’m not really looking forward to the moment when the World Cup selection will be announced because I want to play football again at PSV first. And then hope I’m with Orange, that would be fantastic.”