Peter Sylvester Bosz (, born 21 November 1963) is a Dutch professional

football manager ''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

and former

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...

. He is currently the head coach of Dutch

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

club

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional association football, football department, which has pla ...

. He had previously held managerial positions as several clubs, including

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

where he reached the final of the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

in 2017,

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It competes in the B ...

and

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, before being appointed as manager of PSV in June 2023, winning the Dutch

title in 2024 and 2025.

Playing career

Club

A midfielder, Bosz started his professional career with Vitesse in 1981. After a loan season with then amateurs AGOVV in 1984, he returned to professional football with RKC Waalwijk (from 1985 to 1988), then moving to France with

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

(1988 to 1991), and playing six successive seasons with Dutch giants

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

(1991 to 1996), Japanese club JEF United Ichihara (1996–97), German club Hansa Rostock (1997–98), NAC Breda (1998–99). He retired at the end of 1999 after a second spell with JEF United Ichihara.

International

Bosz made his debut for the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in a December 1991 Euro qualification match against

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and earned eight caps, scoring no goals. His final international game was in 1995 against the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. He was part of the Dutch squad at

UEFA Euro 1992 The 1992 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by Sweden between 10 and 26 June 1992. It was the ninth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. Denmark won the 1992 championship, having been inv ...

Managerial career

Early career

After his retirement, Bosz started a career in management, first becoming head coach of amateurs AGOVV, a position he held from January 2000 to 2002. In 2002, he also won a national amateur league title. Bosz made his move into professional football in 2002, becoming head coach of De Graafschap (2002–2003). The team finished last in the

2002–03 Eredivisie The Dutch Eredivisie in the 2002–03 season was contested by 18 teams. PSV won the championship. League standings Results Promotion/relegation play-offs Top scorers See also * 2002–03 Eerste Divisie * 2002–03 KNV ...

and was relegated to the

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (; ) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie due to sponsorship reasons, while ...

. Bosz next became manager of Heracles Almelo (2004–2006). He won the 2004–05 Eerste Divisie with the club and earned promotion to the Eredivisie. Bosz' Heracles secured their Eredivisie survival the following year, finishing 13th in the 2005–06 Eredivisie. In July 2006, Bosz accepted an offer to be technical director at his former club

. While at the club, he was responsible for completing the signings of (amongst others)

Giovanni van Bronckhorst Giovanni Christiaan "Gio" van Bronckhorst (born 5 February 1975) is a Dutch Association football, football manager and former player who last managed Süper Lig club Beşiktaş J.K., Beşiktaş. Originally a midfielder, he moved to left-back lat ...

, Roy Makaay, Tim de Cler, Kevin Hofland and Denny Landzaat. He left the position on 14 January 2009, due to his opposition to the dismissal of head coach Gertjan Verbeek. In the summer of 2010, Bosz started his second spell as manager of Heracles Almelo, replacing Verbeek who had moved to

AZ Alkmaar Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known internationally as AZ Alkmaar, or simply and most commonly as AZ () in the Netherlands, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan#The Zaan district, Zaan district. ...

in the meantime. The team finished 8th in the 2010–11 Eredivisie, securing qualification for the European competition Playoffs, where they were eliminated by

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

. Heracles finished 12th in the 2011–12 Eredivisie and 2012–13 Eredivisie. He left the club in 2013. upBosz coaching Vitesse in 2013 On 19 June 2013, Bosz was appointed as manager of his old club Vitesse on a two-year contract. Bosz replaced outgoing manager Fred Rutten whose contract had expired. In November 2013, Vitesse was top of the league in the Eredivisie for the first time since 2006. It was the first time since 2000 they'd been top of the league later than the first week. Halfway through the season, after 17 matches, Vitesse was the leader in the competition. The team finished 2013–14 season in sixth place. The following season, Vitesse finished fifth, qualifying for the European competition play-offs. Also, Bosz was nominated for the Rinus Michels Award (for manager of the year), but lost to Phillip Cocu, who had led

to the Eredivisie title. In the 2015–16 season, Vitesse was in fifth place in the winter break, after which Bosz left the club. In January 2016 Bosz was announced as the new head coach of Israeli champions Maccabi Tel Aviv. Bosz left Tel Aviv in May 2016 for the Dutch team Ajax. During his time in Israel, Bosz was undefeated in 19 games, with twelve wins and seven draws. However, Tel Aviv lost the title to Hapoel Be'er Sheva and lost in the Israeli cup final to Maccabi Haifa.

Larger clubs

In May 2016,

announced that Bosz was the new head coach of the club from July 2016, after signing a three-year contract. In his first competitive match as head coach, Bosz's side earned a 1–1 draw against

PAOK PAOK (, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινοπολιτών, ''Panthessalonikeios Athlitikós Ómilos Constantinopoliton'', ''Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans''), commonly ...

in the third qualifying round of the Champions League on 27 July 2016. Bosz was unable to lead Ajax to the group stage of the Champions League, after losing 5–2 on aggregate to Russian side Rostov. On 11 September 2016, Bosz faced his former side Vitesse, as Ajax won 1–0. On 24 May 2017, Ajax were beaten 2–0 at Friends Arena,

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

in the Europa League final by

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

. On 6 June 2017, it was announced that Bosz would move to German club

. Since there was no buy-out clause in his contract with his previous club, Ajax received nearly €5 million for compensation to buy out his contract. It was a record buyout of a head coach for a German club, breaking the previous record of €4 million.http://www.ad.nl/nederlands-voetbal/peter-bosz-vertrekt-naar-dortmund-na-knallende-ruzie~a5ec3f15/ Peter Bosz vertrekt naar Dortmund na knallende ruzie After no wins in their Champions League group stage, Dortmund dropped into the Europa League. On 10 December 2017, Bosz was sacked and replaced by Peter Stöger. On 23 December 2018, he was appointed as the new head coach of

. After his appointment, Leverkusen's form improved significantly leading to Leverkusen securing

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

qualification in the final game of the season. Bosz was sacked in March 2021, after the team dropped to sixth place with seven points to direct

qualification. On 29 May 2021, Bosz was appointed as head coach of French side

and signed a two-year contract, replacing Rudi Garcia. On 9 October 2022, Bosz was sacked ten matches into the season, with Lyon in ninth place in

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

. He was replaced by

Laurent Blanc Laurent Robert Blanc (; born 19 November 1965) is a French professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a centre-back and is the manager of Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad Club (J ...

PSV

On 23 June 2023, Bosz was appointed as the new manager of

. He signed a three-year deal. Bosz secured his first Eredivisie title with the team on 5 May 2024, ending PSV's six-year drought. On 18 May 2025, PSV confirmed their second Eredivisie title under Bosz after defeating Sparta Rotterdam 3–1 in the last match of the season. Although the team was initially 9 points behind

with five matches left, they managed to narrow the lead and eventually get ahead after Ajax went on a four-match winless streak with two draws and two losses. With this, Bosz became the oldest coach to win the title at 61 years of age, as well as the third manager to win back-to-back titles in his first two years with the club.

Coaching style

Bosz favours an attacking style of play, based on ball possession and aggressive pressing. Furthermore, Bosz's tactical ideas are heavily influenced by the football of

Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016), internationally known as Johan Cruyff (), was a Dutch professional Association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager. Regarded as one of the greatest ...

. As a result of this attacking style, Bosz has changed the positions of many of his players. Bosz won plaudits for his conversion of Ajax's Lasse Schone, who played on the wing for Frank de Boer into the holding midfield position, using Schone's technique to enhance Ajax's build-up play. Furthermore, Julian Brandt, was moved from the position of left-winger under Heiko Herrlich into a central attacking midfield position by Bosz, which resulted in a significant upturn in form. While at Lyon, he utilised midfielder Thiago Mendes as a central defender. However, Bosz's style does have its detractors. His failure at Dortmund was partly credited to a perceived idealistic attacking approach, which left Dortmund vulnerable to the counter-attack.

Career statistics

Club

International

Managerial

Honours

Player

Feyenoord *

: 1992–93 *

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...

: 1991–92, 1993–94, 1994–95

Manager

AGOVV *

Hoofdklasse The Vierde Divisie (; "Fourth Division"), formerly known as Hoofdklasse () is the second-highest league of amateur football in the Netherlands, and the fifth tier in general. Background The league was divided into two sections: Saturday and Sunda ...

: 2002 Heracles Almelo *

: 2004–05 Ajax *

runner-up: 2016–17 Bayer Leverkusen *

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

runner up: 2019–20 PSV *

: 2023–24, 2024–25 *

Johan Cruyff Shield The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national footbal ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Individual * Rinus Michels Award: 2016–17, 2023–24

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bosz, Peter 1963 births Living people Footballers from Apeldoorn Dutch men's footballers Men's association football midfielders SBV Vitesse players AGOVV players RKC Waalwijk players SC Toulon players Feyenoord players JEF United Chiba players FC Hansa Rostock players NAC Breda players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Ligue 1 players J1 League players Bundesliga players Netherlands men's international footballers UEFA Euro 1992 players Dutch expatriate men's footballers Dutch expatriate sportspeople in France Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Japan Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Germany Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Israel Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Japan Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Dutch football managers AGOVV managers De Graafschap managers Feyenoord non-playing staff Heracles Almelo managers SBV Vitesse managers Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. managers AFC Ajax managers Borussia Dortmund managers Bayer 04 Leverkusen managers Olympique Lyonnais managers PSV Eindhoven managers Eredivisie managers Eerste Divisie managers Israeli Premier League managers Bundesliga managers Ligue 1 managers Rinus Michels Award winners Dutch expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Germany Expatriate football managers in Israel 20th-century Dutch sportsmen