Kieft deeply disappointed in Eredivisie star: 'He is disappointing, hugely disappointing'

Wim Kieft is far from impressed by Ricardo Pepi. The former striker watched PSV win 1-6 away to FC Utrecht on Sunday but felt the American forward barely made a meaningful contribution. "Pepi is disappointing. Yes, he is hugely disappointing," Kieft concluded on Monday evening on Rondo on Ziggo Sport.

PSV struggled early on at Galgenwaard as Artem Stepanov gave FC Utrecht the lead. The Eindhoven side then took complete control, with Ruben van Bommel and Guus Til turning the game around before half-time to make it 1-2.

After the break, the reigning champions pulled clear of Anthony Correia's side. Mauro Júnior, Sven Mijnans, Til and Sergiño Dest took PSV to six goals, but Pepi still failed to make the most of the gulf in quality.

For Kieft, the centre-forward's display stood out for all the wrong reasons. "I think he touched the ball three times in the first half. That you don't contribute much to the football, OK, because I don't think that is where his quality lies either," said the former top striker.

"But he used to be so sharp in front of goal. Now it is all just a bit not quite there," Kieft continued critically. The analyst is struggling to understand why Pepi is not hitting the level he showed earlier in Eindhoven.

Still, Kieft has seen a very different version of the American. "I don't know what is going on with Pepi. He has of course had a lot of injuries, but I particularly thought he was a very good stand-in for Luuk de Jong," the former international recalled.

In Kieft's view, Pepi even had a spell when it was fair to ask whether he should be preferred to De Jong. "At one point I thought: maybe you should put him in. Then he got injured. I don't know either," said Kieft.