Who Is Arne Slot? The Manager Who Rejected Tottenham
Many football fans have found themselves asking the question ‘who is Arne Slot?’ of late and in this post we explain all you need to know.
The Tottenham Manager job has changed hands five times between four managers since the sacking of Jose Mourinho back in 2019 a week before the EFL Cup Final.
A decision at the time which looked questionable at the time and has looked even more questionable as the years have gone by at Tottenham and the consistent turmoil.
In recent days a strong favourite emerged to take over what could be argued is a poisoned chalice at Tottenham in Feyenoord manager Arne Slot. Soon after the rumours and speculation came a twist when it was announced that Slot would be staying with Feyenoord.
So who exactly is this man? Let’s take a look.
Who Is Arne Slot?
Age: 44
Nationality: Netherlands
Clubs (Player): FC Zwolle (95-02), NAC Breda (02-07), Sparta Rotterdam (07-10), FC Zwolle (09-10) and PEC Zwolle (10-13)
Clubs Coached: PEC (Youth 13-14), SC Cambuur (Assistant 14-17), AZ Alkmaar (Assistant 17-19)
Clubs Managed: SC Cambuur (Caretaker 16-17), AZ Alkmaar (19-20) Feyenoord (21-Present)
Trophies Player: Eerste Divisie: 01/02 and 11/12
Trophies Manager: Eredivisie: 22/23 and Conference League runner-up: 21/22
Total Games Manager: 158, AZ Alkmaar (58), Feyenoord (100)
Record: 158 Games, 97 Wins, 36 Draws, 25 Losses, Win-Rate 61.39% (351 Goals Scored and 160 Conceded)
Playing Career
Slot had an eighteen-year professional career playing exclusively in the Netherlands from 1995-2013 playing for FC Zwolle, NAC Breda and Sparta Rotterdam making 462 club appearances and scoring 100 goals
He would never make an experience at International level for the Netherlands.
Coaching career
Slot began his coaching career in 2013, working as a youth coach at PEC Zwolle for a year, before being appointed as an assistant coach at Cambuur, a position he held until 2017.
Slot was appointed as an assistant coach at AZ before getting the head coach job back in 2019. Unfortunately, his first season was scuppered by Covid with his side finishing second on goal difference.
He was controversially sacked on December 5, 2020, for “not being focused on the team” which seemed like a strange decision and reasoning at the time. Slot’s team was averaging 2.11 points per game and had recently signed a deal making him the highest-paid coach in AZ history.
It’s no surprise he wasn’t out of work long and on 15 December 2020 Feyenoord announced that the club had reached a deal for him to become coach from the start of the 21/22 season.
Slot succeeded the experienced Dick Advocaat, who led the team to fifth place in the Eredivisie and qualification to the UEFA Conference League Qualifiers. One of the main remits of Slot’s job was to build a new team with a recognisable playing style.
In his first season at the club they finished third in the Eredivisie behind Ajax and PSV, in Europe they also made the Conference League final which was the club’s first European final since 2002.
These exploits were enough to earn him Manager of the Year. In his second season as coach, Feyenoord won the league, the club’s first league title since 2017 and sixteenth in the club’s history.
Tactical Philosophy
Arne has been described as a manager who employs an entertaining attacking style of football. When he was linked with the Tottenham job this is something fans would have been over the moon about as Spurs fans have had to watch a lot of negative football in recent years with the likes of Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte at the helm.
Tottenham Chairman Daniel Levy is notorious for wanting to maintain a lot of control over football operations which could have deterred Slot from taking on the role at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The control that Slot likes to have over the football operations, along with the fact he likes to create a “siege mentality” and place a huge emphasis on team bonding could see parallels drawn between him and former Spurs managers Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte.
Slot’s approach and style is more akin to Klopp and Guardiola than recent Tottenham managers. His teams are characterised by a relentless energy and high-octane pressing famous of these two managers while maintaining the solidity of a Mourinho side at its best. The perfect blend?
Slot fluctuates from a 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3 system, but it is a fluid system which can change back and forth between both between games and during games. The Dutch coach’s system relies on possession both keeping it but also regaining it back as quickly as possible not unlike a Guardiola side.
He usually plays with two holding midfielders with the wide-players tasked with getting crosses into a lone striker.
Slot has found himself a shrewd operator who likes to be involved in all transfer dealings but can also bring players through from the club’s academy. Dutch Football is known for its attacking intent but the current Feyenoord manager has coached his team to one of the best defences in the Eredvisie this season.
Usually a high line is part of the defensive strategy for Slot and this has worked very well for Feyenoord with only 29 goals conceded across their 33 games this season.
Some of his quotes are very interesting, “I don’t want to compare myself with Pep at all, but he’s a control freak just like me….Guardiola gives me the ultimate pleasure in football”. He stated that those teams have similar values 4-3-3, building from the back and putting pressure on the opponent.
In other Tottenham related news, star striker Harry Kane could be on the move this summer and we took a look at the club’s most likely to sign Harry Kane in this summer transfer window.
*Prices subject to fluctuation
Related Articles