Back in 2010, Arne Slot was plying his trade at PEC Zwolle, at this time a ready-to-impress Marco van der Heide trained on six occasions with the Eredivisie side before choosing a move to SC Cambuur. Then it might’ve been easy to assume his crossing paths with incoming Liverpool head coach Slot had ended before they really began, however, the Dutch midfielder couldn’t have been more wrong.
Despite opting for a switch from Flevo Boys to Cambuur because the club ‘suited his style’ more, Van der Heide and Slot had only just begun what was to become a working relationship forged out of a passion for the beautiful game.
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Having played on the same pitch as the soon to be Liverpool boss, Van Der Heide is well placed to comment on just how ‘very smart’ Slot was as a player despite perhaps lacking many of the physical attributes that others may possess.
After retirement in 2013, Slot moved into a coaching role at PEC before heading to Cambuur himself where he worked as interim head coach for some time, beating the almighty Ajax in a Dutch Cup semi-final and this is where he would once again find Van Der Heide – founder and owner of Scouting 360.
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Combining a football career with writing for De Voetbaltrainer, Van Der Heide had been asked to work as an opposition analyst and had asked Slot if he would be able to sit down and talk football ideas, philosophies and beyond, an opportunity the Dutch coach initially turned down before reaching out to make the interview happen.
“Slot was still a coach at ‘Jong Cambuur’ (the second team) when we spoke a couple of times. That’s also when I visited him in Zwolle to check out his video database. And that’s also when he said it was okay to have the interview. A few months later, when the article was almost published, he was promoted to the first team as a co-coach (together with Sipke Hulshoff) and that’s when we started working together because I was already the opposition analyst of Cambuur’s first team at that time.”
“He rang me and told me he was ready to speak, to publish his ideas. He was really interesting, really easy. We spent three hours in his house in Zwolle. He had a detailed video database with clips of deep runs, from strikers like (Luis) Suarez.”
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Van Der Heide described Slot’s thoughts on football as ‘really special’, referencing the in-depth detail the 45-year-old went into on almost every topic and how his ideas were ahead of their time in even the modern football world.
Incredibly, it was the published article that would prompt Dutch giants AZ Alkmaar to reach out and ultimately appoint Slot, initially as assistant manager under John van den Brom – a ‘peoples manager’ who clearly spotted something special in his new right-hand man and allowed him to flourish – before taking over as the manager in 2019.
After two years as assistant coach, with a UEFA Pro Licence and over a season of leading the side under his belt, Slot left AZ under somewhat of a cloud despite taking them to the brink of the title before the Eredivisie was brought to an abrupt end, the innovative coach has gone from strength to strength at Feyenoord.
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Part of Slot’s success is seemingly his likeable personality, but also the Dutchman is ‘very clear’ with his instructions to players, an attribute that has allowed him to extract the very best from his squad time and time again.
Seeingly a deep thinker, renowned for improving players, Van Der Heide suggested that Slot could be just the man to get the best out of misfiring Darwin Nunez – a player who ‘fits Arne’s style’ – citing his obsession with deep runs from strikers, starting ‘two or three metres’ off the offside line.
There is also an ’emphasis on defensive contribution’ on the frontmen, a demand to ‘win the ball back as soon as possible’, a pressing mantra that will go down well at Anfield having become custom to Klopp’s ‘Heavy Metal gegenpressing’ style over the last nine years. In slight contrast, Slot expects his central striker to ‘press against’ an organised build-up from the opponent rather than the unorganised/chaotic situation immediately after the loss of possession.
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Not just a meticulous operator, much of the way Slot approaches football is with a ‘clear attack-minded philosophy’ and while he is a ‘great tactician’, his mantra ‘to entertain the fans’ isn’t just because he wants to deploy a popular style of play, but more because he genuinely believes it is the ‘best way’ to be successful.
Van Der Heide said: “He thinks it’s important to have a plan but also important how to communicate that to the players, to get that 1% extra focus, to influence them in a positive way. He thinks a lot about ways to even better influence his players and that every player and every situation requires something different.”
Part of forming those plans would always centre around designing ways to break down opponents’ defensive blocks, studying video footage of upcoming opponents such as AS Roma, Napoli, Man United and Real Socedidad together, and manufacturing a tactic to negate the toughest defences was always the primary focus.
Designing and delivering training sessions, carrying out team talks and much more might’ve been part of his responsibilities under Van den Brom at AZ before becoming the main man, Van Der Heide noted that the man who is ‘really a pleasure to work with’ has long since been taking on knowledge and preparing himself for a day such as the one he takes over the helm at Liverpool, a prospect he will relish as a ‘superb opportunity’.
Huge thanks to Marco for his contribution and help in putting this together.
