Just a few days after being sacked by Liverpool, Arne Slot has been named as an ‘ideal candidate’ to take a high-profile coaching job in Europe which could plausibly become available in the near future.
The 47-year-old paid the price at Anfield for a dismal second season in which the defending Premier League champions slumped to a fifth-place finish and suffered 20 defeats in all competitions (including the Community Shield penalty shootout against Crystal Palace).
The Dutchman had faced widespread calls for the sack in recent weeks before FSG ultimately decided to act last weekend, albeit with considerable reluctance.
Dutch football pundit Marcel van der Kraan has claimed that Slot would be keen on the opportunity to manage the Netherlands national team if Ronald Koeman were to depart after the World Cup, and that the federation would likely view him as a leading candidate if a vacancy were to arise.
He told talkSPORT: “If Ronald Koeman steps down after the World Cup… there is a vacancy at the Dutch national team. I think Arne Slot is very, very much up for that; he’s probably the ideal candidate.
“He can play his Dutch style of football – the passing, attacking style, whatever you call it. I think the Dutch would be happy to have him.”
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Koeman’s contract is set to expire at the end of July once the World Cup is over, and there’s every chance that either he chooses to go out on a high if Netherlands are successful, or he resigns immediately if the Oranje have a poor tournament.
Slot’s second season at Liverpool may have been a punishing one, but he still seems to have a strong reputation in his homeland. Indeed, the aforementioned Van der Kraan criticised the club’s decision to dispense with the coach only a year after winning the Premier League.
Ultimately, in addition to the Reds’ awful results, fans at Anfield grew weary of the 47-year-old’s commitment to patient football which lacked a cutting edge, whereas that more controlled, possession-based style may be received more warmly among Dutch followers.
While most Kopites would claim that it was the right time to move on from a relationship which had realistically become irreparable, the former Feyenoord boss still had tangible success on Merseyside and has also won the Eredivisie with the Rotterdam outfit.
We wish Slot well with whatever is next in store for him, whether that’s the Netherlands national team or another coaching position.
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