I played for Liverpool manager Arne Slot and realised he was a football freak because of his morning routine
ARNE SLOT’S obsessive ways helped bring him to Anfield where he has quickly won over the Liverpool fans.
The manager’s meticulous methods have been revealed by one of his former players, who tipped him for the top precisely because he is such a fanatic.
Ex-Ajax defender Robbert Schilder was one of fellow Dutchman Slot’s key players when the Anfield chief launched his managerial career with SC Cambuur.
And eyebrows were raised when 45-year-old Slot, who succeeded Jurgen Klopp in June, revealed the secrets of his success in the club canteen.
But it confirmed to Schilder, 38, that Slot had what it takes to become a leading light.
He revealed: “My favourite memory of working with Arne is having breakfast with him.
“It was really early and he told me he’d already been up since about five o’clock and had already been out for a walk.
“I figured he meant he’d been jogging but ‘No, no, no’.
“I’ve been out for a one-hour walk — just to think about football and nothing else’. I thought he was joking but then realised he was deadly serious and that said a lot about him.
“It made me realise he’s a football freak — but I mean that in the nicest possible way.”
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Schilder is well placed to provide expert insight into what makes his old gaffer tick.
That is because he was a defensive mainstay when Slot was promoted to take charge of Cambuur’s first team in 2016.
What they have said about Arne Slot
MATT WADE, head of sporting strategy at Feyenoord
“He is a brilliant communicator, and consultative, but also clear at the same time.
“He is quite cautious, quite introverted, but very rule based and principled, which means everyone knows where they stand.
“And he is not paranoid, which allows freedom for specialists to operate.”
SANDER WESTERVELD, former Liverpool goalkeeper and team-mate of Arne Slot
“When I played with Arne at Sparta, you could see that he would become a coach.
“He was a leader, a No10 midfielder and someone who would change tactics by himself.
“The job he has done at Feyenoord makes him the perfect fit for Liverpool.”
Dutch football journalist MARCEL VAN DER KRAAN
“I’ve followed Feyenoord for 40 years. Not since the days of Johan Cruyff at Ajax in the 1980s has there been a coach so attack-minded in the Dutch league.
“Cruyff only had a few disciples who followed him and one of them was Pep Guardiola.”
Arsenal star REISS NELSON who played 31 games under Slot on loan at Feyenoord
“I felt like Arne Slot is a great manager. He really got me into my rhythm.
“He gave me a lot of opportunities to play and I excelled.”
He said: “Arne’s an obsessive — like all the best coaches are at the highest level. If you don’t have that obsessive streak you won’t make a positive difference to your team.
“People like Arne, Klopp, Pep Guardiola and Erik ten Hag, all have this obsessive quality in common.
“When they come home from away games, they won’t go to bed, they’ll watch the game three times to see everything.
“I was instantly impressed with his all-round leadership qualities. We’d been struggling but it wasn’t long before he identified our weakness and we were soon on the up.
“I knew he would go on to become Holland’s top, top coach because he had an aura and worked with real authority.”
Rookie boss Slot did not hang around at Cambuur for long. After one season he headed to AZ Alkmaar, then took the reins at Feyenoord before heading to Anfield this summer.
Schilder said: “I told my team-mates Arne was destined for the top. That’s because he had the whole package.
“He’s a nice guy, but above all he’s a great leader. I say that because he’s confident about his vision and knows how to get that vision over to the group.
“That vision focused on very high intensity with a very high line because the pressure was so good, led by the strikers.”
And when it comes to man-management, Slot will never be fazed by dealing with multi-millionaire footballers throwing toys out of prams.
Schilder added: “He’s a smart thinker and knows what to do in every scenario. I heard him say he focuses on problem-solving and not things that are going well.
“And he’ll think about how to relay a tough message to a player without losing the trust of the squad.
“He’s very charismatic, good fun, great company and knows how to treat people to get the best out of them.
“Arne never really lost it in the dressing room or on the training ground. He wasn’t always happy but even when he was being hard, he did things in a direct, honest and fair way.
“The players would sometimes say something back in the beginning but he’d get them onside and they’d accept he was right all along.
“So, if a player mouthed off after a match, he’d just say, ‘OK, let’s watch the clips and you’ll see the evidence’.
“And we all knew that the clips never lie. If you don’t defend well, or run back or make incorrect decisions, the video clips will show it.
“When he would say, ‘We’ll watch the clips together’ the player already knew who was right and who was wrong. It showed everyone who was boss.”
Slot snubbed Spurs, hates defending and has a PASS named after him
By Dan King
LIVERPOOL’S new manager Arne Slot was a good enough player to have a type of pass named after him.
But it is as a manager that the Feyenoord head coach is really making his mark.
Like another bald Dutchman, Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag, Slot earned his stripes bossing smaller sides before being given a chance at one of the Netherlands’ big three.
But the question Liverpool are pondering is whether Slot would make a better fist of running one of the biggest clubs in the world than Ten Hag so far has at Old Trafford.
Slot, 45, was certainly easier on the eye as a player than centre back Ten Hag.
“The Arne Slot Ball” was something he perfected as a silky No 10 – a back-to-goal, first-time, 180-degree spin and flick behind the defensive line for a winger to run on to deep in the opposition half.
Click here to read all about the incoming Liverpool boss.