Joey Veerman Borussia Dortmund performance, Digi Mart USA News: Niko Kovac, coach of Borussia Dortmund, took extensive time at a press conference on Friday to examine the performances of Joey Veerman.
Veerman joined Dortmund from PSV last summer for 22 million euros. The playmaker needed some time to adjust but has started the recent matches.
“The tempo here in the Bundesliga is really much more intensive than in the Netherlands,” Kovac said ahead of Dortmund’s league match against SV Elversberg. “There is also much more intensive defending here than in the Netherlands.”
Because the playing styles in the Netherlands and Germany differ so much, Kovac sees Veerman now standing “right at the top” in possession. “In the Netherlands, much more value is placed on playing football,” he explained.
“What I like so much about Joey with the ball is simply his simplicity. In that simplicity lies the difficulty, but also the beauty.
You don’t need to play flashy tricks or other complicated things, because he must try to move the play from back to front.”
“He does this very well, of course in cooperation with his teammates around him,” Kovac said. “But you can see that especially the center-backs have a lot of confidence in him.
They keep looking for him. He positions himself very well with excellent body posture, so he can quickly move the play forward.”
Overall, Kovac considers Veerman’s move to Dortmund a resounding success so far. “He is a very intelligent player who looks ahead.
He doesn’t only try to find a solution once he has the ball, but has the solution ready before he even has the ball. That means his decision-making is extremely fast.
Therefore, it benefits not only him but especially the team.”
