- Home >
- Soccer >
- UEFA Champions League >
- 'Angry' Perisic demands united front from PSV in Arsenal clash
'Angry' Perisic demands united front from PSV in Arsenal clash
PSV lost twice to Go Ahead Eagles last week, which made for far from ideal preparation for their Champions League meeting with Arsenal.
PSV's players must start fighting for each other if they are to stand any chance against Arsenal in the Champions League, so says Ivan Perisic.
Dutch giants PSV go into the match after successive defeats to Go Ahead Eagles last week.
PSV suffered two damaging defeats to Go Ahead Eagles last week, first going down in the semi-finals of the KNVB Beker before losing to them in the Eredivisie on Saturday.
That second loss left them eight points adrift of leaders Ajax.
And Perisic was particularly cutting of the team's lack of unity across their recent showings.
"We are not a team," said Perisic, who scored as PSV overcame Juventus in the play-offs to reach the Champions League last 16 last month.
"We are not doing well. We should be more of a team, which we are not now. We are not fighting for each other and that makes me angry.
"We need to change that quickly. We need to give everything until the end of the season, because it is far from over."
Persic said the players had discussed the problem as their slump in domestic form contrasted with progress in Europe.
"Why are we not a team? We talked about that. We create enough chances and score enough, but without the ball we need to do better. We need to fight and run for each other," the veteran campaigner added.
Coach Peter Bosz said: “There are a lot of small things that are now preventing you from winning, but those small things are important."
Monday’s press conference saw both dealing with a majority of questions about PSV’s domestic form rather than their prospects against Arsenal, who they host in the first leg at the Philips Stadion.
"I understand that PSV's decline is now bigger news than the match we will play against Arsenal tomorrow, but that's a great shame for football fans," said Bosz.
"We are among the best 16 in Europe. It is impressive that we are here."
Arsenal have faced Bosz's PSV twice previously in the Champions League, beating them 4-0 at home and drawing 1-1 away in last season's group stage.
The Gunners have only lost one of their last 14 games against Dutch sides in the Champions League, though that defeat did come against PSV in 2007.