Ruud Gullit: 'I have one important piece of advice for Ruben van Bommel'

Ruud Gullit had a clear message for Ruben van Bommel on Monday evening. The former Netherlands international sees plenty of quality in the PSV forward, but believes he can become even more dangerous if he approaches opponents differently in one-on-one situations. Gullit said so on Rondo on Ziggo Sport, a day after PSV beat Sparta Rotterdam 4-1.

Van Bommel started on the bench against Sparta and came on after an hour. PSV recovered from an early 1-0 deficit and eventually won with ease thanks to three goals from Sven Mijnans and one from Kodai Sano, with the Eindhoven side taking top spot from AZ.

Meanwhile, Marcel Brands is delighted with the way Van Bommel has returned from his serious knee injury. PSV's general director watched the winger several times during his rehabilitation. "Even then I was very quickly impressed by how soon he was back at a level where I thought: wow, this is going quickly."

Rafael van der Vaart also praised the work Van Bommel puts in for the team. On Rondo, they showed a moment when the left winger sprinted back at full speed to defend and won the ball with a tackle. "Isn't it fantastic when he does that? I think it means he is becoming a very big player. He gets a lot of attention, positive and negative, and still he keeps fighting for his team. That rubs off on the others as well."

Still, Gullit sees room for improvement. "I have one tip for him. What I see is that he relies a lot on his pace. Often he moves a little towards the side and then tries to win it purely with speed," the former winger explains.

Instead, Gullit wants Van Bommel to take on his direct opponent head-on. "If he gets the ball on the outside, he has to go straight at his opponent. Right now he still often goes sideways, but that is exactly where that opponent wants him. If he goes straight at him, he puts that defender on the back foot and can get past him much more easily."

Khalid Boulahrouz knows exactly what Gullit means and points to a defender's body position. "If you come straight at him, the defender doesn't know whether you are going inside or outside. That is where you want to make a defender hesitate." Brands adds that Van Bommel can also threaten to cut inside more often, because he has a powerful shot.

For Gullit, that one adjustment would make Van Bommel even tougher to stop. "If he learns that, he will get past people much more easily. I was a winger myself and know exactly what that's like: you try to get that opponent on the back foot. Then sometimes you don't even need to beat him any more, because you already have the space to cross."

Van der Vaart praised Gullit's insight in the studio: "That's a good tip from you, Ruud," it says.