Armando Obispo has been making a name for himself with Jong PSV and the young centre-back will be aiming to finally make his breakthrough in the first-team.
- By Chaka Simbeye
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Armando Obispo has been at PSV Eindhoven since the age of 10 and shunned interest from teams in Germany and England to extend his stay at the club until 2021 last season.
He is currently the captain of Jong PSV and a regular with Oranje U19’s but was finally handed his first-team debut by Phillip Cocu at the end of last season. He appeared on the bench for most of the Eredivisie champions games last season and came on as a substitute in a 3-0 win over VVV Venlo last March. He also appeared in the 2-2 draw against Roda JC.
PSV parted ways with Jordy De Wijs, Menno Koch and Damian van Bruggen this summer which has cleared a path for the youngster to the first-team.
Playing Style
Obispo was one of the standout players in the UEFA Under 19 Championship last year with Justin Bijlow, Javairo Dilrosun and Joel Piroe, in a team that made it to the semi-finals of the tournament. His composure and willingness to play the ball through congested central channels while under pressure helped the team recycle the ball efficiently.
A ball-playing centre-back of the classic Dutch mould, he also possesses the physical traits to thrive in the position as at Jong PSV. He is proven at set-pieces at both ends of the pitch. In pre-season against Galatasary, he made an under 15-minute cameo where he continued to be calm on the ball in a PSV side with ample young talent bursting through.
What to expect from Obispo this season
Mark Van Bommel’s preferred centre-back duo appears to be Daniel Schwaab and Nick Viergever while with Nicolas Isimat-Mirin on his way out, Obispo should move higher in the pecking order behind Derrick Luckassen while he can also deputise at fullback. He trained with the first team last season and it will be the same this year, although most of his football is likely to come with Jong PSV.
We are yet to see Van Bommel’s approach with youngsters and how it differs from Phillip Cocu’s more conservative approach but Obispo should gain some playing time in the Eredivisie at some point as the new manager’s style requires fearless ball-playing centre-backs like him.
Former PSV boss Aad de Mos stated in the Dutch press that he believes Obispo has more potential than Matthijs de Ligt, but the youngster has yet to be given the chance to prove him right.
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