Valentijn Driessen gave Arne Slot an uncontrollable fit of laughter at the press conference on Wednesday. The head of football The Telegraph wanted to know if Slot was still ‘curious about his team’, now that Feyenoord ‘meets the first major opponent in the knockout phase of the Europa League’ with AS Roma. Slot apparently thought that was a ridiculous remark and spluttered it out.
After a critical question about Justin Bijlow, Driessen opened his mouth for the second time that afternoon. “Are you actually still curious about your own team now that this is the first major opponent in the knockout phase?”, asked the journalist. “Uhm…”, Slot started, before bursting into laughter. He took the necessary time and then replied: “Of course I am very curious about my team. But I am in every big game we play, where we have played a lot of them.”
“Recently in the Europa League against Shakh–”, Slot released, before he spit it out again. “It’s unbelievable! Yes, I’m curious again how we’re doing. I agree with you Valentijn, that AS Roma is a stronger opponent than Shakhtar.” Shakhtar, opponent in the quarterfinals, kept Feyenoord 1-1 in the first leg. In De Kuip, however, the Ukrainians were knocked off the mat 7-1.
It is not the first time this season that Driessen has unleashed emotions in a trainer. The journalist was already regularly in conflict with Alfred Schreuder, who was fired from Ajax, while he also maintained a true love-hate relationship with Louis van Gaal. Slot seems to be the most recent victim. National coach Ronald Koeman also had to believe it at the end of March.