As Arne Slot is one of the names linked with becoming the next manager of Tottenham Hotspur after Antonio Conte’s exit, we have assessed the XI he could favour if he makes his way to N17.
With Slot’s Feyenoord side currently sitting 6 points clear at the top of the Eredivisie table, he could bring the style currently in action in the Dutch top-flight all the way to Spurs in the Premier League.
A look at the potential Arne Slot XI at Tottenham
For starters, it is key to understand that much like a number of Dutch managers, Arne Slot too implements a ‘Cruyffian’ philosophy that favours a 4-3-3 formation, which would be quite a change from Antonio Conte’s 3-4-3 setup at Tottenham.
While in-game changes in shape both on and off the ball would likely be harder to predict based on the specific jobs he hands out to certain players, a rough estimate can be made.
Despite the fact that Timon Wellenrether is now particularly renowned for being immensely expansive on the ball, he remains a reliable passer, which Hugo Lloris is simply not and as a result, his place could be in jeopardy as part of an Arne Slot XI at Tottenham.
But at present, Spurs do not have a backup goalkeeper comfortable enough in possession to displace their club captain, so he is likely to start in goal.
The full-backs are likely to be Pedro Porro and Sergio Reguilon, as the 44-year-old has always preferred flying full-backs in his teams throughout his career. In addition, Ivan Perisic and Ryan Sessegnon have never really operated in a back, Reguilon almost seems destined to become a mainstay in the side.
Considering Feyenoord duo Gernot Trauner and David Hancko are both excellent ball-playing centre-backs, making 5.96 and 8.04 progressive passes per game, as per FbRef, the highly-rated clearly coach clearly likes rangy passers in defence.
While Arne Slot could perhaps even do with Eric Dier, who is quite underrated on the ball, Cristian Romero’s passing range is quite limited, which would make it difficult for him to even pick a pairing for his XI at Tottenham.
Clement Lenglet would have been a sure shot fit but he is currently on loan while Ben Davies may lack the legs to play in a back four, which is why he may need to make do with the aforementioned pair.
In midfield, Slot tends to play a defensive midfielder, a box-to-box midfielder and a creator.
While there is no disputing that Tottenham need upgrades in midfield, Arne Slot would consider the trio of Oliver Skipp, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Rodrigo Bentancur as a fairly serviceable starting point to work with in his XI at Tottenham.
Some may suggest that Dejan Kulusevski and Son Heung-min’s places could be under threat as the Spurs managerial target has a tendency of not being the biggest advocate of inverted wingers.
But that would be a case of being unaware of how vertical Arne Slot sides play and with Son’s tendency to run in behind defences and Kulusevski’s ball-carrying from inverted zones, they are likely to be paired together in his XI at Tottenham.
As for Harry Kane, there are not many more adaptable strikers in world football to any system and especially in a possession-dominant system, he may well be the most technically secure No.9 he could get his hands on.
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