As debut seasons go, Arne Slot's first year at Liverpool is the stuff of dreams. Dutch football expert Arthur Renard details the story of the Reds' head coach from his playing days to coaching a team to the Premier League title.
When Jan Everse arrived at FC Zwolle in 1996, the manager came across a talented 17-year-old midfielder, who had made his debut for the club the season before.
Arne Slot, who hailed from Bergentheim, a little village in the east of the Netherlands close to the German border, was ambitious in his bid to become a key member of the Zwolle side, but patience was required.
"He was a fine player, with good technique, decent with both feet, and he saw the game well," recalls Everse. "But he was a bit lazy and his movement wasn’t the best. He didn’t have that burst of pace. If he’d had some more speed and a tougher mentality, he could’ve easily had quite a few international caps."
In Everse’s first season, Slot was often on the bench and the coach was clear what he needed to change to become a regular starter.
"I told him: ‘Arne, you’re our best player, but the issue I have is that when you’re on the pitch, your direct opponent often becomes their best player too, because you don’t track back. And also, because you don’t move enough and your opponent is constantly tight on you, you hardly get the ball during a match'. The moment that changes – when you're fit, and you react quickly after losing possession and start winning your duels – then you’ll be a starter soon.’"
Hard work starts to pay off
Everse remembers it well: "Arne realised he would need to start doing something, or he’d be stuck on the bench for another season. That’s when he started training hard, really putting in the work, hitting the gym, losing weight, getting much stronger physically. And also he was performing really well during training games.
"After about four months, I said to him: ‘Arne, listen, tomorrow you’re starting. And if you play the way I know you can, then you won’t be out of the team again.’"
It proved to be the right motivation for Slot, who took his chance and became a mainstay in Zwolle’s team. During his time at Zwolle, Slot even came up against a young Virgil van Dijk, now Slot's captain at Liverpool, playing for Groningen back in 2013.
Everse, who featured for Ajax and Feyenoord in his playing days, helped to improve elements of Slot’s game which are now important factors in his vision as a head coach, such as applying pressure and tracking back.
Challenging and encouraging
Everse also challenged Slot and his team-mates with training exercises that promoted intelligent, attacking-focused football.
"I’ve always maintained that playing good football is teachable. I’m a big fan of positioning games, as it trains handling speed and vision," says Everse.
"I’d design training games where players were only allowed two touches and couldn’t pass it back to the player from who they received the ball. Then you need to run and then you get the kind of football you want."
Positional, game-based football is paramount in Slot’s training methods as well. As a player, he also gained valuable insights in the Eredivisie when he moved to NAC Breda in 2002. After one year, he was joined by Nourdin Boukhari, who arrived on loan from Ajax. Having played alongside the likes of Wesley Sneijder, Rafael van der Vaart and Zlatan Ibrahimovic in Amsterdam, Boukhari recognised Slot’s technical ability.
"He was a good player – he wasn’t particularly quick – but he was very intelligent and creative," Boukhari recalls. "You could see that for example when he went one-on-one with the goalkeeper. He’d chip it, or place a clever, composed shot into the corner. That was his finishing style: calm, smart and with finesse. That was a joy to watch."
Both players were positioned in midfield, with Slot usually as a No 10 and Boukhari in a wide role. They were well attuned to each other. "That partnership worked well," reflects Boukhari. "I always say football finds football. Together we were quite creative in the way we played. It was a good time."
That they had a mutual understanding became obvious after only a few minutes on the pitch in their first match, when Slot set up Boukhari for the opening goal in a 4-2 win against Ajax, who would win the league that season. In the same campaign, they also beat Ajax and PSV Eindhoven away in the Dutch Cup, winning 1-0 on each occasion. "Eventually we got to the semi-final in which we lost on penalties against Twente," says Boukhari. "That was a pity, but we had a really good team that year."
Newcastle a nemesis
Also interesting were the two UEFA Cup ties NAC played against Newcastle United that season. Apart from two Intertoto games against French side Troyes, those were the only matches Slot ever played in European competition. A 5-0 defeat at St James’ Park and a 1-0 home loss to the Magpies have made them perhaps the bogey team for Slot, as Newcastle held Liverpool to a 3-3 draw at home and beat them in the EFL Cup final this season.
Boukhari noticed the intelligence in Slot’s game, something he says comes back in his work as a coach. The ex-Morocco international isn’t surprised his former NAC team-mate took the managerial pathway.
"He was always into the game; you could tell it was just in his nature," Boukhari says. "He also had a solid understanding of tactics and knew all kinds of details about certain players and teams. I remember some quiz nights, he usually knew most of the answers, both about the current game and from back in the day. That also showed his passion. And he had that will to win – that was definitely part of who he was."
Everse admits he didn’t know whether Slot would become a coach. "I don’t usually look at players and immediately think, ‘that one’s going to be a coach.’ Sometimes you might think, ‘he could be good at it,’ but then it turns out he won’t go into that direction at all. I won’t pretend I saw it coming with Arne. That thought never really crossed my mind."
But Everse could see the traits which are serving Slot well now he has taken that route. "I thought he was a genuine and honest guy; he was just a really good player to work with. He was sharp, too, meaning you had to be aware of what you explained to him before, because he remembered everything you’d already told him. We had our share of discussions, but that’s OK. I always make time for meaningful conversations."
Personable on and off the pitch
Boukhari also praises Slot on a personal level. "He was always willing to help and had a subtle, dry sense of humour, which I liked. He got along with everyone. I think his strength lies in the human side of things – not only as a coach, but as a person as well. Look at how he gets the best out of his players, but also his staff."
A telling example came from Oussama Idrissi, who played under Slot at AZ and Feyenoord. While at the latter, he was helped by Slot when facing a personal dilemma. "On the day we played Ajax in the Dutch Cup semi-final, my wife was about to give birth," Idrissi told The Guardian. "I was in doubt whether to be with her or stay with the team, but Arne convinced me to put family first and luckily I was on time for the birth of my child. In the end I still played the match as well."
Like Idrissi, both Boukhari and Everse worked with Slot in two different spells, meaning they got to know him well. When Slot moved to Sparta in 2007, Boukhari also joined the Rotterdam-based club. "He was a bit older and wiser, so naturally you’d end up talking about all kinds of things, like family things and life, but still a lot about football. We had a really good year together at Sparta. It was just a great time."
The return to Zwolle
After two years at Sparta, Slot would move back to Zwolle, where Everse happened to be in his second spell as a manager. "You could tell he was an experienced player," says Everse. "He wasn’t that 17-year-old talent anymore – this was more than 10 years later, and you could see how he had developed."
After four more years at Zwolle, Slot finished his playing career in 2013. Straight after he started training the Under-14s of the club. Only one year later he became the assistant manager of the first team at SC Cambuur. Two years later, in the autumn of 2016, Slot was appointed in a co-interim role with Sipke Hulshoff, who is now Slot’s right-hand man at Anfield. Together they oversaw an historic cup run, including wins against Ajax and FC Utrecht, which took Cambuur to the semi-finals for the first time.
At the end of that season, Slot moved to AZ, where he would be assistant for two years, before being assigned to his first full-time managerial role when he took over in Alkmaar. With them he was competing for the title, only for the Dutch league to be suspended, and eventually cancelled, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, with both Ajax and AZ level on points.
Slot’s fine achievements caught the eye of Feyenoord, whom he joined ahead of the 2021/2022 season. Slot continued to impress, reaching the UEFA Conference League final in his debut season and winning the league in his second. The fact he did this on a relatively modest budget must have impressed the owners of Liverpool, who brought him to Anfield last summer.
And now he has won the Premier League with the Merseyside club in his first season. "It's a very good achievement," says Everse. "He has a very strong footballing vision and he sticks to it, he doesn’t change course."
Boukhari, who is currently an assistant at Sparta and who is an aspiring coach himself, is impressed with how Slot analyses the game. "If you look how he detects opponents, that’s something he is really good at."
Earlier this season, shortly after Liverpool beat AC Milan in the UEFA Champions League, Trent Alexander-Arnold explained to ESPN how he has benefited from Slot’s detailed insights. "We go through every game together and he highlights where he wants me to improve. Even after the Milan game, we had about 20 clips, going through what I could have done better and the good parts as well."
Slot’s meticulous approach has already bore fruit at Anfield. An approach that was developed and shaped in the Netherlands and that continues to be further refined in England. With his commitment and dedication, the Liverpool faithful could hardly have wished for a better coach to succeed Jurgen Klopp last summer.