For Pascal Jansen and Arne Slot, the match between Feyenoord and AZ on Sunday afternoon will be the first reunion between both trainers since Slot abruptly left at the end of 2020 as head coach at the Alkmaarders. Jansen, who was moved on after Slot’s dismissal, says that he has had no contact with the current Feyenoord trainer since then.
A year ago, Feyenoord contacted Slot, who at the time had an expiring contract with AZ. The Rotterdammers wanted to appoint the coach as successor to Dick Advocaat, who left last summer. To the frustration of AZ, Slot responded to Feyenoord’s advances and was summarily dismissed by the Alkmaarders on 5 December. Jansen, who was working as Slot’s assistant coach at the time, was then put forward by AZ as the new head coach.
Jansen would prefer not to get old cows out of the ditch by talking about Slot’s departure as head coach at AZ. “You know, I don’t want to dwell on it too long,” he says at the press conference. “But the moment Arne had to leave, I made contact. Apps were then sent back and forth.” The app contact bled to death pretty quickly. “There was then a radio silence,” explains Jansen.
“In my last report I indicated that we could always talk to each other if he needed to,” the AZ trainer recalls. “The departure was of course more annoying for him than for me. So I left the initiative with Arne. No further response has been received. I think that’s okay.” Jansen was Slot’s assistant at AZ for five months last year. He thinks the trainer is performing well at Feyenoord. “But everyone sees that. That’s nothing new. I definitely see his hand in Feyenoord’s game. That also has to do with the guys who run there, the quality of the selection.”
Slot himself is also looking forward to the duel with his former employer. “It is certainly special and special when you play against your old club, where you had a fantastic time”, he acknowledged on Thursday evening after the Conference League match against Union Berlin (1-2) was won. ”The game is also loaded, because I didn’t leave it very well”, Slot continued. “So Sunday’s game is definitely special, but it shouldn’t be about me. We have to do that against a strong opponent, who fortunately also played on Thursday evening.” Feyenoord and AZ kick off on Sunday afternoon at 4.45 pm in De Kuip.