Since the Dutch league returned from the winter break, Eran Zehavi has shown record ability with 12 goals and a touchdown in 15 games in all competitions. However, one of the issues discussed in the Dutch sports media continues to be PSV Eindhoven’s collaboration, between Daniel Mullen and an Israeli, claiming that the two will always prefer to kick instead of handing over to each other.
Former PSV player, Arnold Bruchink, Addressed the issue in an interview with Volkskrant and analyzed the problem: “Mullen and Zahavi do not complement each other. Because there is no clear division of roles between the cook and the occupier, their differences see themselves as the finishing leg.” So far, Zahavi has scored 9 league goals, against 14 from Mullen.
As an example, Bruhink cites another pair of strikers, Rod van Nistelrooy and Luke Nilis, who scored 55 together in the 1998/99 season: “They had a natural connection.” He also recalled that coach Bobby Robson always complimented his strikers, even if they played badly: “He knew they would kick again in the next game, they always made a difference.”
On Mullen, Bruhink said: “He wants to be the top scorer and knows he can score out of nowhere. He needs a lot more of his moments,” but although they both want to score as much as possible, he claimed that Zahavi thinks more about the team interest: “It makes sense if you look at “Their age. There’s a better chance that an older player will think about how to make the team function better. When you’re young, you’m much more worried about how you will function on your own.”
Proof of that we got PSV’s last league game. Although Zahavi scored a double in the last game against Fortuna Citard, the Israeli showed that he is also a team player after giving Mullen a penalty kick and wishing him success. So far, the two have scored 37 goals in all competitions this season (22 for Malan and 15 for Zahavi). Will they also be able to improve the cooperation between them?
