Interesting article in the Telegraph. Behind a paywall.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2024/05/20/arne-slot-liverpool-manager-contract-signed-key-players/Arne Slotās life in football in nine quotes
Relatively little is known about Feyenoord manager Arne Slot, the man who has succeeded JĆ¼rgen Klopp as manager of Liverpool.
Here are nine of the Dutchmanās best quotes that provide an insight into what makes him tick.
1. On the expectations of his players
āI want as many good football players as possible in the team and I want to make them work as hard as possible. I believe that when we work to perfect our habits every day, we have more chance to cut out luck.ā
2. On Messi, Guardiola and Klopp
āThere are two people who have really enriched football in recent decades, who have never disappointed me. Those are Lionel Messi and Pep Guardiola.
āMessi has everything. Guardiolaās teams always play good, dominant, well-thought-out football. Then of course you have JĆ¼rgen Klopp. Manchester City-Liverpool for me is the ultimate game.ā
3. On his pressing philosophy
āWe always want to create a surplus around the ball, both offensively and defensively so that we can lock down the opponent and immediately move forward. We always have to press the ball aggressively when we are outnumbered. That is why our defenders must be as high as possible on the field, so that we can win the ball in the opponentās half and immediately launch a counter-attack.ā
Feyenoord press
The aggressive press was the cornerstone of Feyenoord's succes under Slot CREDIT: MAURICE VAN STEEN/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
4. On his formation, system and flexibility
āThere are several teams playing with many systems. We have a team where you can see the changing system in the game. We play 4-3-3 and if the opponent is trying to pressure us in a certain way then we need to have an answer to that. These differences can be quite small to see.ā
5. On losing to Manchester United (as AZ manager)
āThe first 50 minutes I think we played quite well. I had the feeling it was quite a close match and that both teams could score. When youāre 1-0 down and you have to win over here itās going to be very difficult and then the situation of the second goal comes and afterwards it was over for us. United showed how good they were in that period.
āWhen you want to have a result at Old Trafford you cannot have a situation like this [for the second goal]. Everyone saw it was a foul, we watched it back and it was a clear foul. When you concede a goal after a foul like this itās almost impossible for us to win then over here.ā
6. On his relationship with fans
āOur fans are so important, of course the players are important, but the fans can create this atmosphere between the players and the fans so we can score. We need them.ā
Arne Slot
Slot brought the Eredivisie title back to Rotterdam for only the second time this century CREDIT: OLAF KRAAK/ANP/AFP via Getty Images
7. On Feyenoordās rivalry with Roma:
āThe Dutch media asked me a lot of questions, āDo you think about revenge [for the Europa Conference League final defeat in 2021/22]āā¦ and then the headline is: āHe wants revenge.ā But of course if youāve lost a game, if itās a final or another game, itās quite normal for a professional sportsman that you want to win the next time.
āI do not think that itās an emotional overload that makes it difficult or these kinds of things to play against AS Roma. What makes it difficult is that they have a very good organisation and very, very good individual players.ā
8. On Jose Mourinho criticising his sideās progress
āIf he said this a few months ago then I completely agree with him. I watched the game back this morning from the Conference League final and that team played very good football always the way to the final and also during the final. And at the beginning of this season the team that is here now didnāt play that well.
āBut Iām hoping that maybe when he [Mourinho] sits here in a few hours he will change his opinion, because that is what I do. I think weāve improved a lot through the season.ā
9. On why Celtic are better than Rangers
āI think they [Celtic] are a great team who play good football.
āYou should have and pay respect to teams that have been champions. Because I know how difficult it is to become a champion.
āCeltic, the last 10 years, they were nine times champions [in Scotland], I think Iāll offend Rangers fans, but Celtic are a much better team than Rangers if you look at the results.
āIām a Dutchman so of course I like to watch Rangers. They had Giovanni van Bronckhorst, I think at that time they were really good but in the last 10 years Celtic have performed much better.ā
