Ruud Gullit: 'I have one important piece of advice for Ruben van Bommel' | Goal.com

Published on 14 Sep 2026 | Reading time: 2 minutes

Ruud Gullit offered Ruben van Bommel some clear advice 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 handles one-on-one situations differently. Gullit said as much on Rondo on Ziggo Sport, a day after PSV beat Sparta Rotterdam 4-1.

Against Sparta, Van Bommel started on the bench and came on after an hour. PSV recovered from an early 1-0 deficit and eventually cruised to victory thanks to three goals from Sven Mijnans and one from Kodai Sano, with the Eindhoven club moving above AZ into top spot.

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

Rafael van der Vaart also praised the work Van Bommel puts in for the team. In Rondo, they show 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? That means he is becoming a very big player, I think. 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 believes there is room for improvement. "I have one tip for him. What I see is that he relies a lot on his speed. Often he goes a little towards the side and then tries to beat his man purely with pace," the former winger explained.

Instead, Gullit wants Van Bommel to attack his direct opponent head-on. "When 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 does not know whether you are going inside or on the outside. That is where you want to make a defender hesitate." Brands adds that Van Bommel can also threaten to come inside more often, because he has a powerful shot.

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

At the table, Gullit then gets a compliment from Rafael van der Vaart: "That's a good tip from you, Ruud," he says.

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