Time Capsule: Arne to take over as Klopp won’t be back

Originally posted on another site I left due to societal concerns, 24th April 2024

Arne Slot holds his hand over his face, no doubt wondering where it all went wrong

First and foremost — even with that putrid performance against Everton still fresh in the memory — thank you Jurgen Klopp. You asked for 5 years to deliver a title and you more than delivered and you did so after taking the city and the people into your heart as we did you. You owe us nothing and I hope you find health and happiness in your sabbatical or retirement whichever it is and wish you and your family nothing but the best.

In terms of the performance in the derby, it was the performance of a mentally tired team. At no point did I believe Liverpool were seriously good enough to win this title because at this level the squad depth to compete on all fronts is not there in comparison to they who shall not be named.

Put simply, Liverpool have overachieved all season as per usual because Jurgen Klopp is the manager of Liverpool Football Club. His mental toughness and desire is what his team and the fans drew on over his time here but he has no more left to give and as such neither did his team. It was a time for players to stand up and be counted and carry their boss to one last hurrah, but he’s the inspiration and the heart and soul of Liverpool and for the most part the players he has been loyal to let him down.

Why? Well maybe it’s because he’s just so magnetic that without him nothing works, maybe for some they’re already mentally checked out or maybe like Klopp they have their own mental battles to face that we don’t know about. Whatever the case one player who has capitulated spectacularly over recent weeks is Liverpool’s defensive talisman, Virgil Van Dijk. I wouldn’t be surprised if he is out of the door but maybe his compatriot can change his mind and reinvigorate one of the most talented defenders on the planet.

Arne Slot from A-Z

Speaking of, who is Arne Slot? Born in Bergentheim, Netherlands, the 45 year old has been a name that has flown under the radar of many a football fan and let’s face it that’s because what he’s doing is in the Dutch league.

What he has done though is remarkable. The former FC Zwolle attacking midfielder has moulded himself into the manager he is today by starting with FC Zwolle youth team, as an assistant manager at Cambuur and then as assistant manager of AZ Alkmaar. Showing himself as an excellent communicator and tactician, AZ appointed Slot as the manager of the club in the 19/20 season. Although the Dutch season was to be abandoned, Slot had AZ on a tear second to ten Hag’s Ajax only on goal difference. Identical in every way after 26 games played, 18 wins, 2 draws and 5 defeats 1 of each of their defeats coming against each other. Looking at the two squads, AZ really had no business in a title race with Ajax and yet because of Slot, they were. To laden this point further, Slot had AZ 2 points behind their entire total for the season previous in 9 less games!

The only player in this team that would have gotten into Ajax’s team arguably was Koopmeiners who has gone on to be a star at Atalanta in Serie A, he was 22 at the time. Aside from him then maybe Stengs who is pretty good but no world beater and was 21. Youth was a common theme throughout.

Contrast this with Ajax who had: Onana, Veltman, Alvarez, Blind, Ziyech, van de Beek, Neres, Mazraoui, Schone, Promes, Dest, Tadic, Tagliafico, Dolberg and of course a young Ryan Gravenberch.

Why he left AZ midway through 2020/21 was clear.

What about the next season? Ajax would lose van de Beek and Ziyech to the Prem but easily win those deals recouping near on 80m euro. In of note would come Klaasen, Sebastian Haller, and everyone’s favourite fidget spinner Antony. Meanwhile for Alkmaar they remained unchanged and did not have the ability to build on their success because of the pandemic. AZ were out of the title race almost immediately drawing their first 5 games. They would go on to win 7 of their next 8 with a lone defeat to Groningen but AZ’s most succesful ever manager who had led them to second in Eredivisie, the quater finals of the Dutch cup, and the last 32 of the Europa League had decided his future lay elsewhere.

From doubters to believers: Feyenoord edition 2021 to present

Okay, it’s not quite 30 years but Feyenoord had finished a distant fifth on 59 points under Dutch stalwart Dick Advocaat and the title didn’t exactly look like it was on the way any time soon. Ajax had finished with 88 points losing two games all season, winning the Dutch cup and looking on the verge of another dynasty in their storied history. Who they were knocked out by is interesting as while a lot of this has been about the ten Hag and Slot comparison, a certain special one and his Roma side would be the undoing of one of them and not for the first time as you will see later on.

Steven Berghuis was undoubtedly one of the best players for Feyenoord since his arrival in 2016 and had become the club’s captain. As if to assert and underline their dominance, Ajax decided to poach him for pennies on the dollar or 5.5m Euro to be more precise. Feyenoord scrambled for loan players bringing in Reiss Nelson from Arsenal, a rangey Nigerian CF named Dessers, also on loan, and finally former AZ and Brighton, the man from Iran, Ali Jahanbakhsh.

It was far from ideal to say the least and you’d have expected Ajax to repeat their success of the previous year and they did but Feyenoord had turned a 29 point gap into a 12 point gap. A sign of what was to come. That in itself is a fantastic start to your managerial career at a new club but Arne Slot wasn’t done there. As Feyenoord had finished 5th under Advocaat they were to play in the inaugural Europa Conference League.

Feyenoord topped their group of Slavia Prague, Union Berlin, and Maccabi Haifa without losing a single game, winning 4 and drawing 2. They hammered Partizan Belgrade 8–3 on aggregate in the round of 16. Remained unbeaten in the quarter finals after drawing 3–3 with Slavia Prague at the De Kuip only to beat the Czechia team 3–1 in their own back yard which set up a tie with Marseille in the Semi Finals. On paper as was often the trend with Feyenoord under Slot in big games, they went in as underdogs. Marseille had the likes of Mandanda, Saliba, Gueye, Guendouzi, Gerson and the mercurial Dmitri Payet. First leg it was Feyenoord who ran out winners in front of a frankly insane De Kuip in an extremely entertaining and open end-to-end affair. Feyenoord took their place in the final after a stubborn defensive performance in the Stade Velodrome and were in their first European final since van Hooijdonk — great player and Feyenoord legend — was too much for Dortmund in of all places Rotterdam back in 2002 as they won the then UEFA Cup.

There was to be no fairytale end for Slot and Feyenoord as Roma’s superior quality would tell in a close encounter with a first half goal from Zaniolo as Trauner would get caught under a pretty routine cross from Mancini allowing Zaniolo to take the ball on his chest and tap in from close range. Feyenoord were unable to break down Mourinho’s defence and on the few occasions they did, players like Dessers were wasteful.

Roma were champions, Feyenoord were valiant underdog runners up and this was to be the start of something. Eerily similar to Liverpool with the Europa League and Sevilla if you ask me. Slot had shown he and his Feyenoord team were no joke in the league and cup and all this in merely Slot’s first season.

That One Word — Champions!

Yes, Slot was to prove that last season had been no fluke but as usual he had to do it against the odds. He was also to lose once again, this time in the Europa League knockout again, this time over two legs. Guess who? Yep it’s him again, Jose freaking Mourinho and Roma. Feyenoord had won the first leg 1–0 only for Roma to level the tie 2–1 in normal time in the second leg and then win it with superior talent and squad depth once again in extra time. Again not what Feyenoord wanted but they went on to be champions by 7 points from PSV and 13 points from Ajax, so in two seasons Slot and Feyenoord had created a 42 point swing!

In terms of again losing talent, Sinisterra had been a revelation the year before and Malacia had turned heads also, so naturally both departed to the Premier League to Leeds and Manchester United. Senesi had looked solid, so he was off to Bournemouth and all around Milner type Frank Aursnes made his way to Benfica.

What came in was wingers by committee in Dilrosun, Paixao and Idrissi who between them contributed to 22 goals and 22 assists. For reference Sinisterra had 23 goals and 14 assists on his own. Fortunately Feyenoord were to hit the jackpot elsewhere with a Brazilian named Danilo and a Mexican named Santi Gonzalez. Danilo was to strike 14 times while assisting 4, while Santi Gonzalez the real prize of the deals was to carry the load as an out and out centre forward scoring 28 goals and assisting another 3.

Why the emphasis on goals? Because despite losing their most potent attacking threat, Feyenoord and Slot through intelligent signings and tactical prowess became a far better team and were scintillating in attack. Obviously there were other important players to the attack which I’ll come on to explain but their job was more nuanced.

One such example was Mats Wieffer. While able to hit a ball, Wieffer was the replacement for the midfield dynamo Aursnes and what a replacement he was despite his young age. While not as technically gifted especially as a passer as the man he replaced, the raw 22 year old was a diamond in the rough and a better defensive midfielder. His work rate, his anticipation, his physicality especially in aerial duels and how obviously coachable he was. He is a player that stands out massively for this Feyenoord side.

David Hancko is another. I’d like to have seen more of Hancko against better opposition. For the most part this season he held his own in the Champions League with only one goal I thought he could have done better with but it was a complete breakdown of the defence as a whole while they were trying to play offside against Lazio that allowed Immobile to race in and do what he does. What I have no doubt about when it comes to David Hancko is that he’s a tough, intelligent, and technically gifted left sided centre back. Again a player that stands out a mile and he stands out more so in the attacking phases of play being able to easily transition out of defence and look extremely comfortable not just in the opposition half but even their box.

Lutsharel Geertruida is important to the way Feyenoord play but I’m not as high on him as many are in the Netherlands. Maybe that’s because I’ve been spoiled watching Trent who is basically a far better version of him, but the role he employs is similar to the one that Trent has adopted this season.

Quilindschy Hartman reminds me of a far more composed Andrew Robertson, now maybe that’s as I’ve not seen as many matches of him but the left back just has a calmness about his play that Robbo lacks. Nothing against Robbo who has been excellent for Liverpool and hopefully continues to be, but he seems to get more erratic as time goes by.

A huge player for Feyenoord that was already there is the extremely classy and versatile Orkun Kokcu. What a player. Of course he was to leave for Benfica at the end of the season but while he was there, he did it all. Defensive midfield, box to box, attacking midfielder. He carried the ball from deep in a double pivot, he advanced play through midfield, he had the vision and passing ability of a 10 and he’d smash in the odd worldy for good measure when required. It hasn’t worked out at Benfica, potential bidding war between Man United and Liverpool on the horizon? Hmmm. Maybe. Maybe not though as Liverpool have two players who play similar roles in Alexis Mac Allister and Szoboslai. I think far more likely that Liverpool enquire over Wieffer who could be a bargain as he develops.

Another player I really like is Timber, no not that one, Quinten Timber the twin brother of Jurrien and the lesser known Dylan. Timber is very like Alexis Mac Allister in his role. He’s nowhere near as good offensively but better defensively and the fact I can draw comparisons at all is a credit to him.

How will he Slot in at Liverpool?

I know, I hate me too. That aside though. If Klopp is Shankly then Slot is Bob Paisley, only he definitely wants the bloody job. Far more soft spoken and mild mannered when it comes to press conferences and in his general demeanour on the touchline. Like Bob though, he will command respect and if you’re that guy, you don’t have to raise your voice in public, and I believe Arne Slot could very well be that guy.

Tactically he and Klopp are extremely similar with both favouring their teams to press, keep possession, attack using wide players but with them coming inside off the flanks, with domination of the middle of the park being the main goal. To be honest that seems to be the goal of every team these days with wide players either used as decoys or told to drop in narrow to half spaces.

Basically Arne Slot is the closest thing in the world out there right now to Jurgen Klopp that I am aware of in terms of attacking tactics. I can absolutely see what Edwards loves in him but also in Feyenoord’s approach and how they supplemented a great tactical mind with a young squad and put together a season that Feyenoord fans will never forget.

If we are to sign Slot, first of all, I’m sorry Feyenoord. It feels like there could be more to do for Slot, but it also feels like he’s always had the Premier League in mind and maybe fate led to this point. Also though, thank you, because I believe that along with a handful of managers, I trust Arne Slot to take over from Jurgen Klopp.

For those that say it’s a risk, so is life, and so was employing a certain passionate German who had a similar career trajectory but with better players to work with. The way I look at it, maybe we are getting the Klopp from 2012–13 whose team were not as successful as the year before after losing important players like Kagawa (Kokcu) and Barrios (Danilo isn’t Barrios, Santi Gonzalez is but it still hurt Feyenoord and to be fair, Klopp did inherit the small matter of Marco Reus!) but what made them great was the manager and against the odds in similar fashion, these teams overcame what no one gave them a chance to. You can say it’s just the Dutch league, but that would be doing a massive disservice to what Slot was up against. The Premier League will be harder of course but the players he has to work with will be much better. The precedent is there and that’s what worked last time and I believe it has an extremely good chance of working this, if indeed the deal is to be confirmed.

If not, I’ll post about someone else, maybe Amorim who I’m also a big fan of in a completely different way, but for now, I hope you have a better idea of who Arne Slot is and why he absolutely deserves to be in consideration for the soon to be vacant role of manager of Liverpool Football Club.

Obviously I didn’t need to post about Amorim, but I will say I still would have backed him had he been Liverpool manager and I do think he’s a far better manager than he is being given credit for. In gaming parlance, Slot might be playing on World Class, but Amorim has been thrown straight into Legendary mode. I will write about Slot’s achievement after hopefully celebrating the title today. No offence to Spurs but Liverpool are a better side, at home and Spurs are clearly more focused on Thursday for completely understandable reasons.