Donyell Malen named Eredivisie Player of the Month

On Thursday, Donyell Malen was named Player of the Month by the Eredivisie. The PSV forward was the best-performing player according to the statistics and football fans’ votes. AZ-striker Myron Boadu was chosen as Player of the Month U21 for the first time. Together with RKC Waalwijk, AZ has provided the most players for the Eredivisie Team of the Month.

Most productive season ever for Malen

In a month that has not been terribly successful for PSV, with just eight points from four Eredivisie matches and elimination from the Europa League and the KNVB Cup, Donyell Malen stood out in the statistics. And the Dutch international achieved a fantastic personal record as a result.

In February, Malen was the player with the most attempts at goal (25), shots at goal (14), goals (5, with Myron Boadu) and ball contacts in the oppositions’ sixteen meter area (35). The last time a player from PSV scored five goals in one month was in September 2019 when Malen won his first and, until last month, last Eredivisie Player of the Month prize.

Thanks to his two goals against FC Twente (3-0), the 22-year old player from Wieringen has managed to score ten or more Eredivisie goals for PSV for the third season in a row. The only player to have done this at a younger age was Mister PSV himself, Willy van der Kuijlen, in 1967.

The goal counter for Malen now stands at 14 goals, with the forward now working on his most productive Eredivisie season so far (the previous record was 11 goals in 2019/20). With six assists in addition to that, the forward was involved in a third of all the goals for PSV in the Eredivisie.

ESPN viewers were also convinced of the qualities of Donyell Malen. The PSV forward was named as Man of the Match in the matches against FC Twente (3-0) and ADO Den Haag (2-2). Since January, fans’ votes have counted towards the Player of the Month selection.

This is the sixth PSV player to be named Player of the Month, an honour that has been awarded by the Eredivisie and ESPN since September 2017. Malen is the first player from PSV to win the prize for the second time.

As in previous months, the scores for Player of the Month are drawn up for players objectively based on over 60 statistics. Only players who have played at least two-thirds of the total number of game minutes are eligible for the prize. Something that has changed since January, however, is that fans’ votes submitted through the Man of the Match selection are now also included in the count.

The Eredivisie Player of the Month award is an initiative of Eredivisie CV in collaboration with ESPN and KPN, main sponsor of the Eredivisie.