Zeljko Petrovic is full of praise for Arne Slot. The currently clubless Petrovic himself worked for two periods at De Kuip. He calls the current trainer of Feyenoord ‘the best coach in the Netherlands and a real gentleman’. Petrovic has no doubt for a second that Feyenoord will become champion of the Netherlands this season and hopes that Slot will also hold sway in Rotterdam next season.
Petrovic was Dick Advocaat’s assistant coach at Feyenoord in the 2020/21 season during a volatile sporting period. In his own words, he did not immediately see the successes under Slot coming. “Under Advocaat, Kökçü was still a starting player. Geertruida has now conquered a basic place. With us, the best player, Sinisterra, was injured for a long time, but we kept giving him confidence,” said Petrovic. “I’m not saying that Slot is now achieving success thanks to us, but we have done some preliminary work. That’s almost always how it works when one staff succeeds the other.”
Petrovic gives a big compliment to Slot, who according to him has further developed Feyenoord with his own idea of playing football. “The fitness of the team, the way of playing with a lot of pressure, high pace and a good structure in the team. What he does is unprecedented. I find it a pleasure to watch. In addition, Slot has the goodwill factor. A neat boy, good with his words. Fantastic.”
Orkun Kökçü and Santiago Giménez are the two absolute stars for Petrovic in the current Feyenoord. “Kökçü has grown up. He puts good balls between the lines, plays forward faster and now captures balls. And Giménez has developed stormy. I also like to see how Geertruida and Hartman are developing. I like to watch the pace that Hartman puts in the attacks. I wish Geertruida a top transfer. That’s a very nice boy.”
Feyenoord has an eight point lead over Ajax with six Eredivisie matches to go. Petrovic no longer doubts for a second about a championship for the team from Rotterdam. “Feyenoord is the rightful champion. And hopefully Slot will continue to do so after that. There will probably be nice clubs for him, but Feyenoord is also a nice club. Feyenoord will strengthen itself with the money from the Champions League. Then Slot can continue here for years to come. He can now go to a club in England, where he has to fight against relegation. Or he stays with Feyenoord, becomes champion again and then goes to a foreign top club where he plays for the prizes. He deserves that.”