Arne Slot believes that Feyenoord has taken ‘a very big risk in the sporting field’ with his appointment. The meager financial management ensured that the Rotterdam club had no other choice. “But if you hire a new coach, who doesn’t have the name like some of his predecessors, and you let him work at the beginning of the season with the squad he had to work with, so a lot of players gone and nobody back, then that is a very big risk,” says the Feyenoord trainer on Thursday General Newspaper.
Feyenoord threatened to be eliminated by FC Drita in the preliminary rounds of the Conference League in August, but still straightened out and then won 0-4 against Willem II on the first day of the Eredivisie. “What if we had simply lost 1-3 against FC Drita, had been eliminated, and it had gone wrong for us during the start of the Eredivisie in Tilburg against Willem II?”, Slot openly wonders. “I know: there was no other way. But it was a risk. Against FC Drita I only had Guus Til and Marcus Pedersen and more than ten players had left.”
“We didn’t even have a right central defender in the squad. I like what we showed. Because if it had been different in terms of spending, people would certainly have said: ‘Yes, he can also spend more money than his predecessor’.” One of Slot’s reasons for choosing Feyenoord was the change process. “It would be less fun if my way of playing in Rotterdam had already started almost one-on-one or if we could suddenly invest millions.” Slot likes to see how the supporters have changed their opinion about certain players . “When I came, quite a lot of players were critically approached by our supporters. Now when you see how the same supporters talk about these players, I can enjoy that.”
Being a Feyenoord trainer is a big responsibility, Slot admits. “I really need to be aware of that. Someone in Zwolle wearing an Ajax shirt recently asked me: ‘Can I have a picture with you?’ Ten seconds after that photo was taken, I thought for a moment: if he wants to be annoying, then we have that again. On the other hand, I live simple. I am aware at every insignificant moment that I am also the trainer of Feyenoord, but above all I want to be myself. That is also possible, because I cannot pass RTL Boulevard.”
“I now know: whether we win or lose, it is really about Feyenoord every day.” Slot found it difficult as a football player to deal with criticism, but as a trainer he says he can deal with it better. “Although a real test has yet to come if things don’t go well here structurally. I can imagine that if you lose a lot and you have to hear a lot of opinions from others about the team, the cry that it has to be different swells, that it does a lot more to you than it does now.”