Feyenoord’s Arne Slot has introduced he’ll change Jurgen Klopp as head coach at Liverpool however who’s the person that the membership consider can lead them into this new period and what can they anticipate from this 45-year-old Dutch coach?
In dialog with those that coached Slot and those that have been coached by him, in addition to colleagues on his workers, we look at the making of Liverpool’s subsequent supervisor, exploring his tactical concepts, his man-management and his dealing with of the media.
‘He was simply absorbing every thing’
‘Lazy’ is a phrase that often comes up when discussing Slot as a participant. Extra typically it’s sluggish. A languid No 10, there would have been no place for him in Slot’s urgent sport. “He was not the quickest but he had a great touch,” Rob McDonald tells Sky Sports activities.
A former striker with Newcastle and PSV, McDonald was the assistant coach at FC Zwolle, Slot’s boyhood membership. He lately bumped into Slot at a sport between Feyenoord and Groningen, resulting in a short reunion following a double-take from Slot, a young person no extra.
“He could play,” provides McDonald. “He was always one of these who looked around, a bit like [Paul] Gascoigne, and a bit like a couple of the other top players who had that ability to just keep a good straight body and have a good look around.”
McDonald now recruits Dutch coaches for roles around the globe however admits he didn’t essentially anticipate Slot’s teaching profession. “I think he was just absorbing everything if I look back in hindsight.” That curiosity for teaching got here later in his taking part in days.
When Slot returned to Zwolle later in his profession, then referred to as PEC Zwolle, he had develop into a pacesetter on the sphere, asking questions, and demanding to grasp the ways. He joined the workers on the membership earlier than starting that teaching journey in earnest at Cambuur.
‘Hours watching movies’
It was at Cambuur, beneath Henk de Jong, and, specifically, Marcel Keizer, a future Ajax coach, that Slot’s concepts about how soccer ought to be performed started to crystallise. He would trade ideas with Keizer, the 2 sharing a video library of matches.
Michel Vonk, the previous Manchester Metropolis defender who later labored with Slot at AZ Alkmaar, has fond recollections of Slot’s urge for food for the sport. “He spent hours watching videos of the big teams, Barcelona and, of course, Manchester City,” Vonk tells Sky Sports activities.
“Arne is a tremendous football coach who likes to play football in an attacking way.” Like many prime coaches, his dedication to his concepts is whole. “He is like Pep Guardiola,” provides Vonk. “He believes in these principles and he lives by them with the team.”
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Kaveh Solhekol explains the small print round Arne Slot’s transfer to Liverpool
Slot bonded with Keizer over this enthusiasm for Barcelona’s soccer and when Keizer moved on in October 2016 it was Slot, working with Sipke Hulshoff, who was afforded his likelihood as a head coach. Jurjan Manners was amongst his first signings in January.
“Marcel wanted me in 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 activities. “I went for the negotiations and got the presentation from Arne. Immediately, you knew this is where you wanted to be.”
‘Actually clear what he wished’
“I was lucky to have a trainer like him in my career,” says Mannes. Amongst Slot’s many qualities was the readability of the communication of his tactical concepts. Cambuur normally performed on a Friday night however Slot’s crew 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. In his sessions, you were already handed the solutions for Friday.
“What Arne did very well was the readability of what we have been going to do versus what the opponent desires us to do. It was so clear. That was one of the best factor. While you did video evaluation with him or have been simply talking about your function, he simply simplified every thing.
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Watch Arne Slot’s inspirational crew discuss following Feyenoord’s win over Ajax final season
“He made it really clear what the goal 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 stated that, Mannes had different coaches who have been clear of their pondering. “That clarity was not the thing that made him stand out. It was the controlling of space without going one against one.” If Cambuur needed to go to a 5 to retain an additional defender, they did so.
“If we did switch, we had prepared six or seven weeks before the game 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 have been absolutely dominant’
It was in that first job that Slot started to draw consideration due to his accomplishments. Notably, Cambuur, as a second-tier aspect, defeated Ajax within the KNVB Cup earlier than following that up with a quarter-final win over an Utrecht aspect coached by Erik ten Hag.
Arne Slot throughout Cambuur’s 2017 KNVB Cup semi-final in opposition to AZ Alkmaar
Solely a penalty shoot-out defeat to AZ Alkmaar within the semi-final denied Slot a 3rd victory over elite opposition in that cup run. However much more spectacular was their league type that season. Cambuur had been 14th when he took over however he lifted them to 3rd.
“We were fully dominant,” says Mannes. Play-off defeat was powerful to take. “We ended up not getting promoted but style-wise we were far from everyone else.” Slot’s departure to take an assistant teaching function at AZ was the subsequent step on his journey to the highest.
‘A shock for some gamers’
It was no shock to Mannes when AZ got here calling. Certainly, the one shock was for the AZ gamers, whose concepts have been quickly being challenged by their new assistant coach. “You could already see the style changing in 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 in 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 earlier than the pinnacle coach moved on in the summertime 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 ahead for Slot – and for AZ.
‘We have been on a roll’
The next marketing campaign was a fraught one for AZ in some respects. “We had to deal with so many things that season,” Pascal Jansen tells Sky Sports activities. The collapse of a roof on the membership’s creaking stadium meant having to play house video games at an alternate venue.
It didn’t forestall Slot main AZ’s spectacular title push. Jansen was on Slot’s teaching workers on the membership earlier than ultimately succeeding him. There’s nonetheless frustration about how that season performed out. AZ have been degree on factors with Ten Hag’s Ajax with 9 video games left.
Arne Slot with Pascal Jansen – the pair took AZ Alkmaar to the brink of the title
“We had a big chance because we were in a good phase, a good mood,” remembers Jansen. “We were on 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 by no means did restart.
“If you compare our league to the rest, they had a break and finished the league,” provides 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 big frustration.”
Slot was sacked in December of the next season, amid accusations that he was not absolutely centered on the crew having been negotiating with Feyenoord. It was an unlucky finish however his legacy was sturdy. “He spent a lot of time with the youngsters,” says Vonk.
‘Urgent at a better depth’
Greater than that, he instituted the attacking sport that has develop into de rigueur throughout Europe – possession play mixed with intense urgent. These have been ideas that he had begun to place in place on the very begin of his teaching profession 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 related at AZ. “He likes his teams to apply pressure on 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 hard to be able to play by his principles.
“And due to this excessive press, his groups have numerous self-belief. There are ideas that underpin his attacking method. It begins on the coaching pitch. Quite a lot of video evaluation. He’s very clear and makes certain he takes his crew on the journey with him.”
Feyenoord was the same story. “The preliminary concept is to look ahead,” says McDonald. “They aren’t a crew that’s at all times taking part in it backwards or sideways except the sport calls for it and they’re 1-0 up with a couple of minutes left. The intentions are at all times to go ahead.”
‘Arne will get extra out of gamers’
Mannes regards Slot’s success at Feyenoord as a continuation of his work, a continuation of a development. Since their Eredivisie title win in 2017, the membership had not completed within the prime two since and have been languishing down in seventh spot within the desk when he took cost.
“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 in his first full season with Feyenoord restored to 3rd earlier than successful the Eredivisie title in 2023. It was achieved taking part in a model of soccer that felt like the long run for the membership, a victory for Feyenoord and a victory for Slot’s imaginative and prescient.
‘Top-of-the-line with the media’
Within the fashionable sport, promoting that imaginative and prescient to the gamers is just a part of the job – promoting it to the broader world will be simply as necessary. Slot’s capacity to try this units his aside from many coaches within the sport. “With the media, I rate him as one of the best,” says Vonk.
McDonald stays an admirer of Ten Hag however acknowledges that that is maybe a key distinction between the 2 Dutch coaches and a purpose to consider that Slot is extra probably to reach the Premier League. “I think Arne is easier on 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 in no time. I think that is one of the main reasons why he has done so well.”
Curiously, his outdated participant Mannes makes this identical level about Slot understanding what to anticipate from the press forward of time. “One thing Arne knows how to deal with is the media. I almost know that he is preparing press conferences as he does with games.”
Arne Slot misplaced out to Jose Mourinho within the 2022 Europa Convention League closing
Slot has even had the compulsory run-in with Jose Mourinho earlier than turning into Liverpool supervisor. Slot had praised Napoli however when going through Mourinho’s Roma urged he didn’t watch so lots of their video games, preferring to observe Guardiola’s groups as a substitute.
“Mourinho was pretty upset and motivated his team,” remembers Mannes. “That probably backfired because they lost against Roma so he will also learn from those things.” However, as Mannes and plenty of others see it, this playfulness is all a part of the person’s attraction.
“As a player, you just really believe in him. He is the one you follow. When you go in at half-time, he will give you the little details to turn the game in your favour, you do it and, boom, it happens. You just buy into him. That is also what he does in the media.”
‘The perfect managers nonetheless lose’
It might have purchased Slot a while this season as a result of PSV have been the runaway leaders within the Eredivisie, not even shedding a sport till the twenty seventh week of the season. Feyenoord did win the KNVB Cup however have needed to accept second spot within the desk.
Santiago Gimenez, who scored 13 objectives within the second half of final season, has solely managed three in the identical interval this time round. “It has been a bit of a pity that he has not been on the ball because he was scoring for fun before that,” says McDonald.
“That has been a problem. Some of those coming in to replace certain players in certain positions have just not been good enough. You can be the best manager in the world but you will still lose.” And but, Feyenoord may nonetheless surpass final season’s factors whole.
‘Good particular person to observe Klopp’
Liverpool are trying past trophies when assessing the precise particular person to exchange Jurgen Klopp. There’s a feeling amongst those that know Slot and his work that it’s the mixture of taking part in type and persona that makes him the precise match.
“I have no doubt that he can relate to the people, he is tactically good and he is hard 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.
“However I like that Arne is an easy-going particular person and I believe that can stand him in good stead by way of following somebody who had such relationship along with his gamers. That respect from the gamers can solely be received by coaching strategies and communication.”
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Jamie Carragher says Arne Slot might discover the step up from Feyenoord to Liverpool tough
Tactically, Vonk thinks that the change will be comparatively seamless. “Most definitely. They are also a team that can be dominant on and off the ball.” Whereas Mannes is satisfied that it’s this mix of urgent and passing that makes Slot ideally suited 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 need a coach who can organise a crew with urgent but in addition be actually good on the ball, no doubt Arne Slot is a kind of guys who will in all probability shock lots of people not that into Dutch soccer. Model-wise it will likely be one thing that fits, positively.”
A frightening job however one Arne Slot has been making ready for.
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