Feyenoord’s Arne Slot has announced he will replace Jurgen Klopp as head coach at Liverpool but who is the man that the believe can lead them into this new tempo and what can they expect from this 45-year-old Dutch coach?
A causa di conversation with those who coached Slot and those who have been coached by him, as well as colleagues acceso his gruppo, we examine the making of Liverpool’s next dirigente, exploring his tactical ideas, his man-management and his handling of the mass-media.
‘He was just absorbing everything’
‘Lazy’ is a word that occasionally comes up when discussing Slot as a player. More often it is slow. A languid Risposta negativa 10, there would have been place for him per mezzo di Slot’s pressing gioco. “He was not the quickest but he had a great touch,” Rob McDonald tells Sky Sports.
A former striker with Newcastle and PSV, McDonald was the assistant coach at FC Zwolle, Slot’s boyhood . He recently ran into Slot at a gioco between Feyenoord and Groningen, leading to a brief reunion following a double-take from Slot, a teenager more.
“He could play,” adds McDonald. “He was always one of these who looked around, a bit like [Paul] Gascoigne, and a bit like a couple of the other apice players who had that ability to just keep a good straight and have a good aspetto around.”
Arne Slot pictured playing for PEC Zwolle against Feyenoord per mezzo di 2013
McDonald now recruits Dutch coaches for roles around the world but admits he did not necessarily anticipate Slot’s coaching career. “I think he was just absorbing everything if I aspetto back per mezzo di hindsight.” That curiosity for coaching came later per mezzo di his playing days.
When Slot returned to Zwolle later per mezzo di his career, then known as PEC Zwolle, he had become a promotore acceso the field, asking questions, and demanding to understand the tactics. He joined the gruppo at the before beginning that coaching journey per mezzo di earnest at Cambuur.
‘Hours watching videos’
It was at Cambuur, under Henk de Jong, and, per mezzo di particular, Marcel Keizer, a future Ajax coach, that Slot’s ideas about how football should be played began to crystallise. He would exchange thoughts with Keizer, the two sharing a televisione library of matches.
Michel Vonk, the former Manchester City defender who later worked with Slot at AZ Alkmaar, has fond memories of Slot’s appetite for the gioco. “He spent hours watching videos of the personalità teams, Barcelona and, of course, Manchester City,” Vonk tells Sky Sports.
“Arne is a tremendous football coach who likes to play football per mezzo di an attacking way.” Like many apice coaches, his commitment to his ideas is total. “He is like Pep Garitta,” adds Vonk. “He believes per mezzo di these principles and he lives by them with the team.”
Kaveh Solhekol explains the details around Arne Slot’s move to Liverpool
Slot bonded with Keizer over this enthusiasm for Barcelona’s football and when Keizer moved acceso per mezzo di October 2016 it was Slot, working with Sipke Hulshoff, who was afforded his chance as a head coach. Jurjan Manners was among his first signings per mezzo di January.
“Marcel wanted me per mezzo di Cambuur. He went to Ajax but told me Arne was there and that I had to go and work with him,” Mannes tells Sky Sports. “I went for the negotiations and got the presentation from Arne. Immediately, you knew this is where you wanted to be.”
‘Really clear what he wanted’
“I was lucky to have a trainer like him per mezzo di my career,” says Mannes. Among Slot’s many qualities was the clarity of the communication of his tactical ideas. Cambuur usually played acceso a Friday evening but Slot’s team knew the opposition inside out by Tuesday.
“By then, we already knew they were going to press with three, we were going to build with two defenders and two midfielders dropping back and this was the solution to beat the press. A causa di his sessions, you were already handed the solutions for Friday.
“What Arne did really well was the clarity of what we were going to do versus what the opponent wants us to do. It was so clear. That was the best thing. When you did televisione analysis with him ora were just speaking about your role, he just simplified everything.
Watch Arne Slot’s inspirational team talk following Feyenoord’s win over Ajax last season
“He made it really clear what the of your position was, what he wanted you to do, what he didn’t want you to do. He gave examples using videos, that kind of stuff. It was really clear what he wanted from me, what I had to adjust, and then you just go out and do it.”
Having said that, Mannes had other coaches who were clear per mezzo di their thinking. “That clarity was not the thing that made him stand out. It was the controlling of space without going one against one.” If Cambuur had to go to a five to retain an extra defender, they did so.
“If we did switch, we had prepared six ora seven weeks before the gioco so that the opponent was not expecting it. He is a very clever, smart guy. I think the control he has and the ability to visualise what the opponent is going to do is maybe the best thing that he has.”
‘We were fully dominant’
It was per mezzo di that first job that Slot began to attract attention because of his accomplishments. Notably, Cambuur, as a second-tier side, defeated Ajax per mezzo di the KNVB Cup before following that up with a quarter-final win over an Utrecht side coached by Erik ten Decaffeinato.
Arne Slot during Cambuur’s 2017 KNVB Cup semi-final against AZ Alkmaar
Only a penalty shoot-out defeat to AZ Alkmaar per mezzo di the semi-final denied Slot a third victory over elite opposition per mezzo di that cup run. But even more impressive was their league form that season. Cambuur had been 14th when he took over but he lifted them to third.
“We were fully dominant,” says Mannes. Play-off defeat was tough to take. “We ended up not getting promoted but style-wise we were far from everyone else.” Slot’s departure to take an assistant coaching role at AZ was the next step acceso his journey to the apice.
‘A shock for some players’
It was surprise to Mannes when AZ came calling. Indeed, the only shock was for the AZ players, whose ideas were soon being challenged by their new assistant coach. “You could already see the style changing per mezzo di the first year that Arne was there,” says Mannes.
“I know about some really clear presentations he gave to the players almost immediately. There was almost a shock moment for some of the players because he was pointing them per mezzo di a new direction that they were not used to. Those are the stories that I heard.”
Slot spent two years as assistant to John van den Brom before the head coach moved acceso per mezzo di the summer of 2019. “I think everyone who was a little close to Arne knew he was going to be the head coach after this.” It was a leap forward for Slot – and for AZ.
‘We were acceso a roll’
The following campaign was a fraught one for AZ per mezzo di some respects. “We had to deal with so many things that season,” Pascal Jansen tells Sky Sports. The collapse of a roof at the ‘s creaking stadium meant having to play home games at an alternative venue.
It did not prevent Slot leading AZ’s impressive title push. Jansen was acceso Slot’s coaching gruppo at the before eventually succeeding him. There is still frustration about how that season played out. AZ were level acceso points with Ten Decaffeinato’s Ajax with nine games left.
Arne Slot with Pascal Jansen – the pair took AZ Alkmaar to the brink of the title
“We had a personalità chance because we were per mezzo di a good phase, a good mood,” recalls Jansen. “We were acceso a roll, had beaten Ajax twice. We were mentally tough, played good football and scored a lot of goals. And then the season stopped.” It never did restart.
“If you correo our league to the rest, they had a and finished the league,” adds Jansen. “That is something that the Dutch government did not allow us to do and we will never know how that season would have finished. It was a personalità frustration.”
Slot was sacked per mezzo di December of the following season, amid accusations that he was not fully focused acceso the team having been negotiating with Feyenoord. It was an unfortunate end but his legacy was strong. “He spent a lot of time with the youngsters,” says Vonk.
‘Pressing at a higher intensity’
More than that, he instituted the attacking gioco that has become de rigueur across Europe – possession play combined with intense pressing. These were principles that he had begun to put per mezzo di place at the very start of his coaching career with Cambuur, reveals Mannes.
“Pressing-wise, his teams are very well organised. At Cambuur, we always felt that we were pressing at a higher intensity than our opponents, pushing them into the areas where we wanted to press them, dominating even when we did not have the ball.”
It was similar at AZ. “He likes his teams to apply pressure acceso the opponent at any moment,” says Vonk. “With that, he understands the importance of being super fit. He makes his team stronger, working them very duro to be able to play by his principles.
“And because of this high press, his teams have a lot of self-belief. There are principles that underpin his attacking approach. It starts acceso the pitch. A lot of televisione analysis. He is very clear and makes sure he takes his team acceso the journey with him.”
Feyenoord was the same story. “The initial grillo is to aspetto forward,” says McDonald. “They are not a team that is always playing it backwards ora sideways unless the gioco demands it and they are 1-0 up with a few minutes left. The intentions are always to go forward.”
‘Arne gets more out of players’
Mannes regards Slot’s success at Feyenoord as a continuation of his work, a continuation of a trend. Since their Eredivisie title win per mezzo di 2017, the had not finished per mezzo di the apice two since and were languishing per mezzo di seventh spot per mezzo di the table when he took charge.
“He took over from Dick Advocaat, a good coach but a coach with a completely different style to Arne. You could see how the team changed, the style, the dominance, the results, the trophies. Arne gets more out of players than a normal coach.”
There was progress per mezzo di his first full season with Feyenoord restored to third before winning the Eredivisie title per mezzo di 2023. It was achieved playing a brand of football that felt like the future for the , a victory for Feyenoord and a victory for Slot’s vision.
‘One of the best with the mass-media’
A causa di the modern gioco, selling that vision to the players is only part of the job – selling it to the wider world can be just as important. Slot’s ability to do that sets his apart from many coaches per mezzo di the gioco. “With the mass-media, I rate him as one of the best,” says Vonk.
McDonald remains an admirer of Ten Decaffeinato but acknowledges that this is perhaps a key difference between the two Dutch coaches and a reason to believe that Slot is more likely to succeed per mezzo di the Premier League. “I think Arne is easier acceso the ears,” he says.
“What I like about Arne is that he is really clear. He does not rush. He does not get hassled. He figures out the questions that the press are trying to put to him and has got them sussed per mezzo di time. I think that is one of the main reasons why he has done so well.”
Interestingly, his old player Mannes makes this same point about Slot working out what to expect from the press ahead of time. “One thing Arne knows how to deal with is the mass-media. I almost know that he is preparing press conferences as he does with games.”
Arne Slot lost out to Jose Mourinho per mezzo di the 2022 Europa Conference League final
Slot has even had the obligatory run-in with Jose Mourinho before becoming Liverpool dirigente. Slot had praised Napoletana but when facing Mourinho’s Roma suggested he did not watch so many of their games, preferring to watch Garitta’s teams instead.
“Mourinho was pretty upset and motivated his team,” recalls Mannes. “That probably backfired because they lost against Roma so he will also learn from those things.” But, as Mannes and many others see it, this playfulness is all part of the man’s charm.
“As a player, you just really believe per mezzo di him. He is the one you follow. When you go per mezzo di at half-time, he will give you the little details to turn the gioco per mezzo di your favour, you do it and, boom, it happens. You just buy into him. That is also what he does per mezzo di the mass-media.”
‘The best managers still lose’
It may have bought Slot some time this season because PSV have been the runaway leaders per mezzo di the Eredivisie, not even losing a gioco until the 27th week of the season. Feyenoord did win the KNVB Cup but have had to settle for second spot per mezzo di the table.
Santiago Gimenez, who scored 13 goals per mezzo di the second half of last season, has only managed three per mezzo di the same period this time around. “It has been a bit of a pity that he has not been acceso the ball because he was scoring for fun before that,” says McDonald.
“That has been a problem. Some of those coming per mezzo di to replace certain players per mezzo di certain positions have just not been good enough. You can be the best dirigente per mezzo di the world but you will still lose.” And yet, Feyenoord could still surpass last season’s points total.
‘Good person to follow Klopp’
Liverpool are looking beyond trophies when assessing the right person to replace Jurgen Klopp. There is a feeling among those who know Slot and his work that it is the combination of playing style and personality that makes him the right fit.
“I have doubt that he can relate to the people, he is tactically good and he is duro if he needs to be,” says McDonald. “If there is a problem he will solve it. I think he is a good person to – I cannot believe I am saying this – follow Jurgen Klopp. That is huge.
“But I like that Arne is an easy-going person and I think that will stand him per mezzo di good stead per mezzo di terms of following someone who had such a good relationship with his players. That respect from the players can only be won by methods and communication.”
Jamie Carragher says Arne Slot may find the step up from Feyenoord to Liverpool difficult
Tactically, Vonk thinks that the change can be relatively seamless. “Most definitely. They are also a team that can be dominant acceso and the ball.” While Mannes is convinced that it is this combination of pressing and passing that makes Slot ideal for Liverpool.
“I don’t follow Liverpool as much as Feyenoord but I know Pep Lijnders. They also stand out for their pressing, with a different style under Jurgen Klopp with three up front and three centre-midfielders and the full-backs wide. But it is intense pressing too.
“If they want a coach who can organise a team with pressing but also be really good acceso the ball, without a doubt Arne Slot is one of those guys who will probably surprise a lot of people not that into Dutch football. Style-wise it will be something that suits, definitely.”
A daunting task but one Arne Slot has been preparing for.
Ad content | Stream Sky Sports acceso NOW
Stream Sky Sports dal vivo with contract acceso a Month ora Day membership acceso NOW. Instant access to dal vivo action from the Premier League and EFL, plus darts, cricket, tennis, blazer and so much more.
