Name: Pleun Strik



Country: Netherlands
Club: PSV Eindhoven
Position: *SB, SWP, CB, DMF, CMF
Side: RF/BS (mostly left)
Age: 26-31 years (27/05/1944)

Height: 175 cm
Weight: 72 kg

Attack: 66
Defence: 80
Balance: 82
Stamina: 84
Top Speed: 82
Acceleration: 81
Response: 81
Agility: 75
Dribble Accuracy: 75
Dribble Speed: 75
Short Pass Accuracy: 76
Short Pass Speed: 74
Long Pass Accuracy: 76
Long Pass Speed: 76
Shot Accuracy: 67
Shot Power: 79
Shot Technique: 65
Free Kick Accuracy: 62
Curling: 69
Header: 76
Jump: 81
Technique: 78
Aggression: 67
Mentality: 83
Goalkeeper Skills: 50
Team Work: 77

Injury Tolerance: A
Condition/Fitness: 8
Weak Foot Accuracy: 5
Weak Foot Frequency: 5
Consistency: 8
Growth type: Standard/Lasting

CARDS:
P02 - Anchor Man
P12 - Enforcer
S07 - Man Marking
S08 - Slide Tackle
S09 - Covering

SPECIAL ABILITIES: Marking - Sliding - Covering

Attack/Defence Awareness Card: Defence-Minded


INFO:
There are players who rarely miss a game. Never injured, no suspensions. Defender/midfielder Pleun Strik is such a player. Team captain, always present in seven seasons except for two games. Reliable left back and centre back, could be used as a midfielder also. At a mature age he became a libero. As international, Michels used him as a left back, although he experimented with him in the centre alongside Rinus Israel. Strik comes from Voetbal Club Sparta, not from his birthplace Rotterdam, but an amateur club from The Hague, just next to the Zuiderpark, the former home of ADO Den Haag. However, he is noticed in Rotterdam by Feyenoord. That is not an immediate success, after which Strik moves to Go Ahead. Strik is doing so well in Deventer that he is included in the selection of the Dutch national team. He mainly plays as a defender. PSV brings Strik to Eindhoven for a high amount of 170,000 guilders at the time. With this PSV has acquired a strong, fit and solid player. With Orange (eight games, one goal) he goes to the 1974 World Cup but does not play a minute.

In Strik's years, things were not going very well at PSV. There is a lot of criticism, including from Strik, of the trainer, of the playing style, of the departure of important players. However, in the nine seasons with PSV, Strik became champion in 1975 and won the KNVB cups from 1974 and 1976. Van der Kuijlen was happy with the driving midfielder behind him. Moreover, Strik was able to really take out an opponent. When the choice fell on younger players such as Stevens and Poortvliet, Strik decided to give priority to them and still played for EVV, NEC and VVV, where he only stoped in professional football at the age of 40 after 550 matches.