Arne Slot returns to familiar ground on Wednesday having already established himself as one of the best Dutch exports since Heineken.
PSV Eindhoven may be former Eredivisie rivals of the ex-Feyenoord coach, but there will be respect rather than hostility as he returns in Liverpool’s colours.
There is a perceptible sense of pride in the Netherlands at Slot’s early success at Anfield, interest in the Premier League enriched as a football-loving country embraces the success of one of their own.
Slot was received enthusiastically by the Dutch journalists gathered in the Philips Stadion for his pre-match Uefa press conference, putting one instantly in mind of the reception afforded Jurgen Klopp whenever he returned to Germany as Liverpool’s coach.
Despite facing a former foe, it felt like a homecoming as Slot was quizzed on how many close family and friends will be attending Wednesday’s match, and the differences between English and Dutch football.
In six months, Liverpool’s coach has been elevated from being a well-known Dutch personality to that of an international statesman, now one of his country’s most popular and important football ambassadors.
‘We think of Arne Slot as the best coach in the world’
“We honestly think of Arne Slot as the best coach in the world,” says Milan van Dongen, Dutch football writer for ESPN. “He already had a big status here in the Netherlands because of what he was able to make of a moderate team like Feyenoord. All the things we saw at Feyenoord we see at Liverpool now but with better players.
“Normally, we are not the most ‘proud’ of our stars, but the fans of Feyenoord definitely look at what he is doing with joy and pride.
“We have never seen Arne Slot in crisis. He never lost three times in a row with Feyenoord and he is yet to do so at Liverpool. It is quite special. There is a lot of enthusiasm for how Liverpool are playing.”
With Slot, Virgil van Dijk, Cody Gakpo and Ryan Gravenberch adding an ‘Oranje’ flavour to Liverpool, the Merseyside club can expect to be the most popular in the Netherlands for the foreseeable future.
“When Van Dijk went to Liverpool, it was similar in that the television was more interested in showing Liverpool games,” observes Jorn Aalders of FCUpdate, who confesses to being a long-term Liverpool supporter watching from the Netherlands.
“Feyenoord fans felt a connection with Liverpool anyway – a port town built by hard-working people.”
That fascination has spread across the country.
“One hundred per cent there is more interest in the Premier League here because of Arne,” says Lars Teunissen, writer for VoetbalPrimeur. “I have friends who are interested in the Premier League but would generally only see the highlights. Now everyone is buying a subscription for the Premier League broadcaster to see the Liverpool games.
‘We knew Liverpool had an amazing manager and now the people in Liverpool are seeing it’
“Slot is doing an amazing job. Did we all expect it to be so good? No, but we knew when he was at Feyenoord he made the players look 10 times better. Now you are seeing in the Dutch league that those players are back at a normal level. We knew Liverpool had an amazing manager and now the people in Liverpool are seeing it.
“There are no worries at all how he will be received by PSV fans. Everyone in Holland likes him – maybe with the exception of Ajax because they were the big rivals of Feyenoord – because of his playing style. He is loved in the Netherlands.
“A lot of Feyenoord fans hope he goes back one day. But everyone in the Netherlands understands now he will not be working here for the next 20 years because he will win big prizes abroad.
“There is a fascination in what Slot is doing with a player like Gravenberch, making him possibly the best number 6 in the world. Tactically he is amazing.”
So far, Slot is succeeding where other Dutch coaches have notoriously struggled.
“It was the same interest when Erik ten Hag went to Manchester United, but of course that turned out to be less of a success. There has been an obvious, immediate comparison,” says Aron Kleeven of sportnieuws.nl.
“Arne Slot is the complete package. Ten Hag did not have that charisma,” adds Teunissen.
Tweaking rather than tinkering
For Von Dongen, the secret of Slot’s instant impact is a more modern approach to implementing a ‘Dutch’ style.
“A lot of Dutch managers went to England and wanted to change too much – make the team play in ‘the Dutch way’,” says Von Dongen.
“I think of Frank de Boer at Crystal Palace. You can’t just change a whole club to an extreme like that. Arne Slot has built on Jurgen Klopp’s foundation where he has not had to change too much, and he is an innovative coach who knows the new developments of football.
“That’s the big difference with previous Dutch managers in the Premier League.”
