And why he currently starts ahead of Ricardo Pepi, with examples from the 1–5 win against AZ.
On October 1st, Guus Til was moved up front out of necessity, due to injuries to Ricardo Pepi, Alassane Pléa and Myron Boadu. Six weeks later, both Pepi and Boadu are fit again — yet Til is still the starting striker. And after delivering 6 goals and 3 assists in that period, including a hat-trick versus AZ, it’s worth analysing what exactly he brings to PSV’s attacking play.
Attacker on-ball
We can keep this part short. Til had the fewest touches (28) and passes (17) of all PSV starters. He barely gets involved in the build-up, until PSV reach the final third. Inside the penalty area, he actually had the most touches of any PSV player (7).
So a quarter of all his actions happened inside the box.
He is fully focused on the final phase of the attack — and excels there. Most of his quality lies in the moments before he receives the ball.
Co-attacker
Cross Positioning
Two of his goals in this match came from crosses. Til consistently arrives in the right area, and that is no coincidence. He deliberately positions himself between the far centre-back and the full-back, in the defender’s blind spot.
That blind spot simply means the defender can’t see both the ball and Til at the same time. The moment he looks towards the ball, Til can disappear behind his shoulder.
Til often takes up this position early in the attack. In both his first and his third goal, he is already waiting in the right zone long before the cross is delivered. This forces his direct opponent to choose: mark Til or defend the space. He can’t do both, so Til finishes freely on both occasions.
Cross Positioning 1 – annotated in SmartCoach
Cross Positioning 2 – annotated in SmartCoach
Outside Positioning
When Perisic drops deeper to receive the ball, Til often takes over his position on the left. Again, this forces AZ defenders into uncomfortable decisions. The right-back must either follow Perisic or stay in the zone for Til. And if the full-back steps out to press Perisic, the centre-backs must decide whether to step out to Til or hold their shape.
In the example below, AZ’s right-back follows Perisic. Til recognises it instantly and moves into the empty space on the wing. Nobody picks him up — not the midfielders and not the centre-backs. The cross isn’t accurate, but because Til stretched the defensive line, Saibari and Man ended up with a two-versus-two inside the box.
Outside positioning – annotated in SmartCoach
Inside Positioning
Til also makes life difficult for defenders by dropping into midfield himself. This creates a strong connection with Saibari: whenever Til drops, Saibari runs in behind. Defenders and midfielders then need to communicate perfectly — which is rarely the case.
The 1–4 starts exactly this way. Til receives the ball in the centre, Saibari immediately attacks the space, and although the pass isn’t clean, Saibari wins it back and Joey Veerman eventually scores.
Inside positioning
Constant depth runs
Til is always searching for space behind the last line. Because he starts from a smart position — often on the blind side of a centre-back — he only needs one explosive sprint to break through. His teammates know this and look for him early.
That’s also how the 0–3 develops: Dennis Man is under pressure, Mauro Jr offers himself as a passing option, and Til is already on the move. One direct run, straight towards goal. He goes past Wouter Goes and finishes with a bit of luck for his second of the match.
Depth running
Conclusion
For now, Guus Til remains PSV’s first-choice striker — and as long as he delivers like this, that seems unlikely to change. He’s not a classic striker and doesn’t contributes heavily in possession, but he is always present where goals are scored: in the most dangerous spaces in the penalty area.
And with his smart positional switches, he also makes the players around him better. It’s no coincidence that Saibari is thriving in this period as well. Til constantly forces defenders into difficult choices, and PSV’s attackers profit.
The annotations in video 1, 2 and 3 were made with our SmartCoach analysis tool.
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