On New Years Eve 14 months ago, Dutch soccer website Voetbal Oranje wrote a piece entitled; ‘Why aren’t we talking about Arne Slot?’
It was a good question. While Erik ten Hag earned himself the admiration of Europe’s biggest and brightest during a trophy-laden spell at Ajax, the man who ran him close remained something of an unknown outside of the Netherlands. Though not for much longer, perhaps.
Back in March 2020, when the Eredivisie season was cancelled following the outbreak of the COVID pandemic, Slot’s AZ Alkmaar side were level on points with Ajax at the top. A couple of weeks earlier, they had outclassed Ten Hag’s side, winning 2-0 at the Amsterdam Arena.
If the KNVB had done like most other European leagues and opted to postpone rather than terminate the season, a second Eredivisie title since 1981 might have been on it’s way to Alkmaar. There are certainly similarities, meanwhile, between that dazzling AZ side and the Feyenoord team Slot currently has flying high, two points clear in top spot.
Arne Slot has twice created a potentially title-winning team
AZ played in a fluid, free-flowing 4-3-3 formation; a system underpinned by flying full-backs, a highly-technical, energetic midfield, and inverted widemen. AZ also ranked second for possession in 2019/20, behind only Ten Hag’s Ajax (WhoScored).
Interestingly, AZ’s game average of 57 per cent possession is pretty much identical to the numbers Slot’s Feyenoord are currently producing. Many of the principles and practices that made AZ such a joy to watch are on show in Rotterdam too.
“It is amazing what he has done,” former Ajax midfielder Jan van Halst tells Ziggo Sport. “(Feyenoord’s emergence as title candidates) is all thanks to one man; Arne Slot.”
“Feyenoord always puts a lot of energy into (each game),” adds former De Kuip striker Ali Boussaboun (FC Rijnmond podcast). “It is now a team that is pulling in the same direction. They all go in the same direction and never give up.
“All respect for Slot, what he has achieved in a short time. He has turned them into a well-oiled machine. It is really nice to watch Feyenoord.”
‘It’s amazing’
Those battling qualities, plus a penchant for pleasing, easy-on-the-eye attacking football, are likely to be two of the main reasons why Slot now appears to be the frontrunner to take Jesse Marsch’s place on the Elland Road dugout. It will not be easy for Leeds to convince Slot to walk away from Feyenoord in the midst of a title battle. Particularly given the way his 2019/20 campaign turned out at AZ. Unfinished business, and all that.
But The Independent’s Miguel Delaney believes that the 44-year-old Dutchman is now ‘seriously considering’ Leeds proposal.
Slot, sensationally labelled ‘the best coach in the world at the moment’ by Feyenoord’s former AZ winger Alireza Jahanbakhsh, would inherit a Leeds side already containing one of his favourite attackers. Luis Sinisterra, under Slot, went from five goals in 2020/21 to 23 in 2021/22. A staggering reminder of Slot’s ability to improve individual players beyond all recognition.
Teun Koopmeiners, Myron Boadu, Ousama Idrissi and Owen Wijndal, meanwhile, all earned big moves to Atalanta, Monaco, Sevilla and Ajax after working with Slot at AZ.
“After Ten Hag, I now have a very good trainer again,” Feyenoord’s former Ajax starlet Danilo tells Voetbal International, highlighting Slot’s attention to detail. “What I really like is that he gives me a lot of one-on-one feedback. I really get along with Arne Slot.
“Slot is constantly working with me. It’s always about what needs to be improved, everything in detail. A step to the left or right can make the difference. Then he says; ‘Why aren’t you standing there or there, at that moment?’
“Details, details. Slot misses nothing.”
‘Arne Slot misses nothing’
There are shades of Marcelo Bielsa in Slot’s obsessive game-management and tactical approach. After Leeds appeared to lose some of their identity under Jesse Marsch – a coach who never really put his own stamp on the team – Slot’s appointment would undoubtedly be welcomed with open arms by some of Leeds’ remaining Championship heroes. Those of whom pine for the Bielsa days.
As for Leeds’ set-up under Slot, you can expect a typically Dutch, ‘Cryuffian’ 4-3-3.
Rasmus Kristiansen and Junior Firpo would be very important; tasked with moving Leeds up the pitch, providing the width and opening up spaces for the likes of Sinisterra, Georginio Rutter and Wilfried Gnonto. Max Wober, meanwhile, could provide the line-breaking passes from centre-back.
Slot usually prefers a balanced midfield trio; one sitting, one box-to-box, and another acting as more of penalty-area-attacking number ten. Marc Roca, who struggled at times under Marsch, could be revitalised in the Koopmeiners or Orkun Kokcu role, Tyler Adams’ Duracell-esque energy reserves offering defensive support. Weston McKennie, meanwhile, is an option to play in the more advanced position, having showed at Juventus an ability to burst into the box and score goals.
‘We play with a lot of intensity’
It remains to be seen who Slot would choose up front; Rutter, Gnonto or a classic ‘number nine’ in Patrick Bamford. Given that Slot prefers wingers who cut inside, don’t be surprised to see the left-footed Rutter on the right and the right-footed Summerville or Gnonto on the left.
Gnonto, one of the revelations of this Premier League season, has played and impressed through the middle for Italy, and could thrive in a similarly central role at Elland Road.
“We are an attack-minded team that likes to have a lot of the ball. We play with a lot of intensity,” Slot told UEFA’s website last year, having guided Feyenoord to within 90 minutes of a UEFA Conference League trophy.
“When we don’t have the ball, we want to win it back as quickly as possible by being aggressive. I think we are a team that is difficult to beat.”
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