Never heard a sweeter sounding word than Feyenoord part 2

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And their presence in the Cup final.

 

https://www.vi.nl/pro/analyse/persoonlijke-fouten-ajax-dat-was-het-plan-van-feyenoord

After the historic downgrading of Ajax by Feyenoord, John van 't Schip looks for the cause in 'personal mistakes'. In doing so, he does Arne Slot a disservice.
In De Kuip, exactly what the Feyenoord coach has planned in advance happened.
"Four goals were the result of personal errors."
'When you make so many personal mistakes, it's difficult to play in De Kuip.'
When asked about the defeat against Feyenoord, John van 't Schip looks for individual causes.
Ahmetcan Kaplan, Jorrel Hato and Branco van den Boomen just hand in balls in their own half. You can't coach against that, can you? 'This was men against boys, or against pupils', concludes Ajax's coach, who adds in a subordinate clause that the mistakes were also caused by Feyenoord's pressure.
The latter analysis is more correct than pointing the finger at individuals. In total, Feyenoord won the ball high up the pitch no less than 18(!) times in the classic. Then losing the ball is not a mistake or incident, but a recurring pattern.

 

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Amsterdam reader critical note to the editor of his Amserdam paper
Readers' letters
Opinion: 'Even an Amsterdam newspaper shouldn't hush up Feyenoord's successes'

These are today's submitted letters. Would you also like to contribute? Read here how this is possible.
Het Parool 9 April 2024, 03:00

'Attention for Ajax is disproportionate'
Monday's Het Parool devotes no less than six pages to Ajax, after the loss against Feyenoord. I know it's an Amsterdam newspaper, but on those six pages it's a lot about Ajax and only about Feyenoord in subordinate clauses. Nowhere is Feyenoord praised, nowhere a well-deserved compliment. Feyenoord is the reigning champion, is going to the Champions League for the second year in a row with good policy and Ajax was completely cross-eyed, because Ajax is so mediocre, but also because Feyenoord is so good. I think the attention paid to the mid-table team that Ajax has become is disproportionate, and so is the concealment of Feyenoord's successes.
Just Pallandt, Amsterdam

 

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David Hancko, best player of February and March: 'Confirmation that I'm performing consistently'

 

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I've been looking at foreign papers writing about the trashing of Ajax by Feyenoord.
Boy, it was all over the globe, not just mentioning the score, but articles telling how bad Ajax was.
Not really a good PR when you're looking for a new coach.

 

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Feyenoord U21 plays cup final on a visit to FC Volendam
FC Volendam's Kras Stadium is the theatre for the cup final between Feyenoord under 21 and Volendam.
The match will take place on 4 May at 15:00
Feyenoord had no problem with PEC Zwolle on Tuesday afternoon and managed to win 5-0 to reach the final. Before that, NAC Breda (2-1), Roda JC (2-1), IJsselmeervogels (2-3), FC Twente/Heracles (3-3, penalty kicks: 4-5) were also beaten. FC Volendam played its way to the final by beating Spartaan'20, ADO Den Haag, Telstar and Excelsior.

 

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NEC Nijmegen se une al interés por Rodrigo Huescas de Cruz Azul; Feyenoord también lo quiere | Fichajes 2024
juanfutbol on MSN.com|19 hours ago
El futbolista de Cruz Azul ha llamado la atención de algunos clubes europeos, que lo podrían buscar el próximo vernao Cruz Azul es uno de los equipos que mejor se ha visto en lo que va del torneo Cla

It seems we're in competition with NEC for a Mexican right back/midfielder.

 

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From what I read it was a crap game by Feyenoord.
Ratings by Voetbal Flitsen arenot flattering:

Match report for those who want to use google translate:
https://voetbalflitsen.nl/nieuws/7qz2bf/fortuna-sittard-feyenoord-cijfers-samenvatting

 

Bas Nijhuis seems to have bad day according to Feyenoord fans, who complain about Fortuna players going at ankles with studs forwards.
https://voetbalflitsen.nl/nieuws/yp8w4c/fortuna-sittard-feyenoord-fans-reacties

 

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Feyenoord's first Cup final was in 1930 against Excelsior:
https://sportgeschiedenis.nl/sporten/voetbal/de-eerste-bekerfinale-van-feyenoord-was-in-1930/


Feyenoord's first cup final was in 1930 The cup final of 1930 was a Rotterdam party. Feyenoord played against Excelsior at the Sparta stadium "Het Kasteel" (the Castle) and won 1-0.
On 15 June 1930, Feyenoord and Excelsior both played their first final in the KNVB Cup. For Excelsior, it was only this one time so far.

 

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Terminally ill Jan-Hein got his last wish fullfilled and was present at the cup celebration today:
https://www.feyenoordpings.nl/jan-hein-als-laatste-wens-bij-huldiging-feyenoord-niks-te-klagen/

Feyenoord won the national cup for the fourteenth time in history at the expense of NEC on Sunday. A day later, the selection was honoured at Binnenrotte.

Despite the fact that it is the last time that he will experience a celebration of Feyenoord, he is in his best mood. To Rijnmond he says the following: "I have nothing to complain about at the moment!". Although life is almost over for Jan-Hein, he has been a supporter for a long time. "My very first game was the cup final against Roda in '92. That's when I walked into De Kuip for the first time and I knew I was for this club." Stichting Ambulance Wens Nederland is a group of 270 medically trained volunteers who fulfill the last wishes of immobile (people who depend on ambulance transport) terminal patients on a daily basis, free of charge, with the help of specially developed ambulances.

 

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Oh, holy shit.
Liverpool changed their aim from the Portuguese coach to Slot.

This is why, an analysis from last year of Slot as a coach:

FROM LAST YEAR
The manager every Premier League club should be looking at
Doing a Leicester on a Dutch shoestring: meet the inspirational manager every English top-flight club should covet

Jason Burt,
CHIEF FOOTBALL CORRESPONDENT
13 April 2023 • 10:30am

While Napoli have felt like the story of European football this season there is something almost as extraordinary taking place in Holland that even rivals Leicester City’s amazing Premier League title win in 2016.

The Feyenoord team of Arne Slot play some of the most exciting, high-energy, attacking football on the continent alongside Napoli and they have taken the Eredivisie by storm, leading by eight points over Ajax with just one defeat in 28 league games.

They are also into the last eight of the Europa League after beating Shakhtar Donetsk 7-1 at home in the last round and face Roma on Thursday. This brings Slot, who is being looked at by a number of Premier League clubs, back up against Jose Mourinho for a rematch of last year's Uefa Conference League Final, when Roma beat Feyenoord.

And all of this is being achieved on a shoestring.

Feyenoord may traditionally be the third biggest club in Holland behind Ajax and PSV Eindhoven, but that gives a false impression. They are not only far behind the Dutch giants in terms of budget but also have been, in recent years, one of its most boring, defensive teams, especially under Slot’s predecessor Dick Advocaat. How that has changed.

Examining the financial disparity gives a sense of how well Slot has done since he left AZ Alkmaar, having achieved their highest-ever points total, to take over at Feyenoord in the summer of 2021.

So impressive has been the work of the 44-year-old former midfielder, who is a disciple of Pep Guardiola, that more Premier League clubs are taking a keen interest. Leeds United tried to hire him in February after sacking Jesse Marsch (and he would be a natural successor to Marcelo Bielsa) but he stayed in Rotterdam.

There are vacancies at Tottenham Hotspur and, in the summer, Chelsea and Crystal Palace – it would be remiss of them not to consider Slot.

It does feel that it is only a matter of time before Slot makes his move to England, where there are strong similarities in the way he coaches and the playing style he demands to Mikel Arteta at Arsenal and Brighton’s Roberto De Zerbi. He is also friends with Liverpool’s assistant manager Pep Lijnders while there is, of course, an obvious comparison with Manchester United’s Erik ten Hag, who moved from Ajax. Except Slot’s football is even more attacking and it was he, not Ten Hag, who won the Rinus Michels Award for Eredivisie manager of the season last year.

Radically changing how the team play

Mention of Ajax draws the most stark comparison. When Slot took over, Feyenoord sold top-scorer Steven Berghuis, with 18 goals, to Ajax for 6.5 million euros and used 4.5 million euros to buy Gernot Trauner, Marcus Pedersen and Fredrik Aursnes, who all improved the squad.

Feyenoord finished third, having been fifth the season before, but that does not provide the full picture as Slot completely overhauled their defensive playing style. The club wanted him to do it and, interestingly so did the players. The coach exploding the myth that ‘you can only work with what you have got’. Instead, with a fierce pressing game in which Feyenoord go man-for-man with their opponents all over the pitch, he showed that players can change.

Interestingly it was one of his main motivations for joining Feyenoord: to show the world it can be done.

In Slot’s first team meeting he played clips of the 2021 Champions League final between Chelsea and Manchester City and asked the simple question: why were there so few chances despite there being so many good attacking players?

The answer was equally as simple: it was because all those attackers also made incredible defensive runs to nullify their opponents. Slot then contrasted that with the lack of running Feyenoord had done the season before and compared the distance covered – far less – to his AZ side.

His approach was also simple, as is his mantra: his teams defend by attacking. While Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool, for example, wait for ‘pressing triggers’ Slot asks his players to press all the time. It sounds exhausting but, after a few weeks, it becomes second nature.

The next part of that is to try and control games by emphasising ball possession, which is straight out of Guardiola’s playbook. Slot believes that more defensive football is not only more tiring but less stimulating for the players. Slot argues they cannot improve by primarily thinking about defending.

In Holland they call it indoctrineren (indoctrinate) and Slot bombarded the players with stats, with clips and with far more sophisticated and intense training sessions in which every minute is accounted for. City and Napoli are reference points to this train-the-way-you-play approach. In a recent presentation – with a multi-national squad, all meetings are conducted in English – Slot used Casemiro of Manchester United as an example. Slot highlighted the player's desire to win as exemplified by Casemiro's determination to head the opening goal in the League Cup final. And this from a Brazilian international who has won the Champions League five times.

Creating an exciting team on a shoestring budget
Then last summer the changes that were made were even more dramatic as 70 million euros worth of players, led by Tyrell Malacia, who joined United and Luis Sinisterra, who was signed by Leeds, were sold. Incredibly, Slot lost seven players from his starting XI and also lost three loanees including Arsenal’s Reiss Nelson.

In came no fewer than 17 players in one transfer window with just 30 million euros spent. So Feyenoord made a significant profit but have a far better team. Two of those players, midfielder Quinten Timber and defender David Hancko, cost 6.5 million euros each, which meant just 17 million euros was spent on 15 players.

To put that in context the 17 were signed for the same amount Ajax spent to bring in Steven Bergwijn from Tottenham. Feyenoord’s highest paid player earns 1.5 million euros from a total budget of just 22 million euros – less than a third of Ajax’s best earners

And yet with a transfer surplus of 40 million euros, Slot has created a team that is one of the most exciting in Europe.

Players such as 23-year-old midfielder Mats Wieffer and right-back Lutsharel Geertruida, both just called up for latest Dutch squad, are catching the eye while Turkish international Orkun Kokcu has been transformed into one of the best midfielders in the Eredivisie and will be in demand next summer. Again, Premier League clubs are watching.

Slot's astounding attention to detail
Such is Slot’s attention to detail that the ‘rondo’ – the training drill whereby players attempt to keep the ball while a smaller group aim to intercept – is even extremely specific.

Slot is concerned the drill does not allow players to ‘scan’ (to check the options on the pitch) which is one of the fundamentals of passing and so he insists that they can only take one touch, that they cannot return possession to the player who passed to them and, crucially, that the ball always stays below the knee. Players are even encouraged to consider which foot they are passing with.

Given the style of play is so demanding it is impressive that Feyenoord have suffered so few injuries, especially in contrast to Bielsa when he was at Leeds which is maybe, also, why they were interested in hiring Slot.

With this Slot is again precise in how he trains. For example he has concluded that in sessions for the days immediately after games the players should work in a space no longer than 40 metres. If they play in bigger areas it means they have to accelerate more and sports medical science has proved that running above 20km/h risks more muscle injuries.

Slot does not play games of 11 v 11 in training as most coaches do and works hard on the mental side of the sport. He has even convinced the Feyenoord players that the more games they play the stronger they will become.

What next for Slot, who has two years left on his contract at Feyenoord, will be fascinating especially if, as seems likely, he wins the Dutch title and leads them back into the Champions League. He will undoubtedly be a coach in demand. For now, though, something extraordinary is taking place in Holland.

 

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https://www.thisisanfield.com/2024/...e-new-named-linked-as-next-liverpool-manager/


This Is Anfield • Liverpool FC News •
Who is Arne Slot? The new named linked as next Liverpool manager

• April 23, 2024
• Joanna Durkan

The latest name thrown into the discussion of the next Liverpool manager is Feyenoord’s Arne Slot, but who is he and what could he offer at Anfield?

We are no closer to discovering who will take over from Jurgen Klopp this summer, but Sporting boss Ruben Amorim became the latest to be all but ruled out – he flew to England for talks with West Ham.


Slot has quickly become the new favourite among the bookmakers, but as he will be a relatively unknown quantity for many, let’s get to know him a little bit better.

UPDATE: This Is Anfield understands that Slot is now strong contender to replace Klopp. Read more here.



What style of football does he play?


The 45-year-old spent the entirety of his playing career in the Netherlands and has followed a similar path in management to date, first with AZ Alkmaar and currently Feyenoord.


He prefers to deploy a 4-2-3-1 formation but it is far from rigid, his style was previously described to i as “high-energy attacking football in a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 with two deep-lying midfielders and a reliance on wingers to create chances.”

His Feyenoord side, whom he has managed since 2021/22, currently boasts the best defensive record in the Eredivisie – conceding just 23 goals in 30 games – and has the second-most goals scored (77).

As per the Coaches Voice, Slot doesn’t “overcommit to the high press,” with his teams “comfortable dropping into a more reserved block” if the opportunity to win the ball back is not there.

A key difference to that of Liverpool under Klopp.



How does he describe his approach?

He plays an attractive, attacking brand of football and is someone who is not afraid to trust in youth, while his man-management skills have also been widely praised.


Slot takes a possession-based approach and demands his side to be intense, he doesn’t stand for casual movement – which would be a carryover from Klopp.

Explaining his approach with Feyenoord, Slot told UEFA: “We are an attack-minded team that likes to have a lot of the ball, and we play with a lot of intensity.

“When we don’t have the ball, we want to win it back as quickly as possible by being aggressive and pressing to win back possession. I think we are a team that is difficult to beat.”

That last sentence is something we have always heard from Klopp!

He has been a senior manager for only five years but has drawn comparisons to Marcelo Bielsa’s style, he likes his full-backs high up the pitch and his centre-backs to move wider.



What’s he won and what have Feyenoord said?



With a place in the Europa Conference League final in his first season at the club, and having won the Eredivisie title in his second and the KNVB Cup in his third, it’s understandable Slot has attracted interest.

Only last summer, he was a strong candidate to take over at Tottenham and despite the growing spotlight, Feyenoord technical director Dennis te Kloese is working under the assumption he will not be on a new manager search this year.

He told Voetbal International:

“I think it is logical that he is in such a good position. It is very special how he has manifested himself in recent years and has really given Feyenoord a face.

“We responded by extending his contract. In any case, we assume that he will also be our trainer next year.

“We have experienced this situation before and will take good care of our own interests.”



What is he like as a manager?
The Liverpool job is all-encompassing, a manager cannot simply tick one box, he has to tick plenty – and a lot of that revolves around character.

Sky Sports previously described him as “engaging, polite, very smiley, he’s got presence and charisma – and he’s funny.”

“He can be angry with his players, of course,” Dennis van Eersel, of Dutch national TV channel RTV, explained. “But he also puts his arm around them. They like him because he’s built a harmony at the club.”



If you were wondering, he can speak fluent English, and during the time Tottenham were linked last year, he spoke on his future plans, as quoted by Sky Sports.

He said: “My next step will not be a club in Holland.

“If that is my next step, then I’ve failed completely. The normal next step will be to go abroad and I’ve always said the best league in the world is the Premier League.”

 

Oh, shit.
Now Bayern is joining the hunt.

 

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Game on with the coaches carrousel.
Rumors are that FC Twente's Oosting is the main candidate in case of Slot's move materializing.
I'm not convinced, due to his inexperience with UEFA competitions on a high level.
His tactical skills arenot up to Slot's level (yet?), but how many coaches are, with the same exciting style of play.
Within the Eredivisie I only see two other candidates with capacities to coach us.
First one is the sacked AZ coach Jansen, the second one is the NEC coach Meijer.

 

Only ten Hag is worthwhile to compare.
Ten Hag was warned he joined a disfunctional club, something like Ajax is atm. So ten Hag faces several stumbling blocks to be(come) successful at ManUnited.
Slot, if he moves to Liverpool, on the other hand lands in a well organized club and one that plays his kind of football with the selection capable to do so, and the money available to mend holes in the selection if needed.

 

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Seems Feyenoord indeed is considering the NEC coach I mentioned.

 

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Our Mayor getting a good laugh:

remarkable
Lots of flares on the north side of the Kuip during a European match of Feyenoord.
According to Mayor Aboutaleb, Feyenoord supporters hide torches - wrapped in a condom - in their 'intimate cavities' and thus pass the control of De Kuip unseen. Last Sunday, the cup final had to be stopped twice due to clouds of smoke and fire caused by flares. On social media, the mayor's statements are mocked. He was going to sell an urban legend.