That was the headline in the British newspaper Evening Standard on Thursday. It highlighted Tottenham’s new number one choice for manager, Slott, and was busy listing the many positives of his time in charge of Feyenoord.
Tottenham are slowly coming out of a difficult period. Expectations were high before the lid was lifted on this season. Tottenham gave Antonio Conte the power to sign players and made significant additions in positions where they were lacking. They spent a ton of money in the transfer market and came out of the gate with high hopes, only to have the worst possible results.
Conte resigned midway through the season and his assistant, Christian Stellini, took over for a while, but he wasn’t a fireman. Ryan Mason was handed the reins again to finish the season, but Spurs slipped to eighth place with a game in hand and a rebuild became urgent.
Slott is the man Spurs want at the helm next season. Slott began his managerial career at AZ Alkmaar in the Netherlands in 2019 and quickly established himself as a coach to watch in the big leagues with his aggressive tactics.
After leading Alkmaar to a runner-up finish in his first season, he moved to his current club Feyenoord in 2021. Feyenoord was also a success story. 스포츠토토 After finishing runners-up in the UEFA Europa Conference in his first year, he has led Feyenoord to the top of the league for the first time in six years with just one loss this season.
Pep Guardiola has made Man City one of the Premier League’s strongest teams ⓒYonhap/REUTERS/AP
Slott also favors an attacking style of play
Along with results, Slott’s philosophy is something big clubs want to see. The Dutchman inherited Johan Cruyff’s offensive-minded philosophy, and his strategy of pressing up the line and attacking immediately is outstanding. Tottenham have been looking to move away from a defensive-minded coach for some time now and want a manager suited to modern football, which is why Slott has been touted as their next manager.
The Evening Standard described Slott as a Dutch Guardiola. Guardiola is currently enjoying his best years at the helm of Manchester City. He previously led Barcelona to European dominance and has been setting trends in European soccer for over 15 years.
“Slott favors attacking, pressing football as a leader who will inject youth into the team,” the outlet said. “Characterized by possession and non-stop pressing, he has been frequently compared to Guardiola, Marcelo Bielsa and Roberto De Zerbi.”
“Tottenham’s last three managers have all played a counter-attacking style. Slott will take a completely different approach. He’s not a big name yet, but he’s charismatic and strong-willed, which endears him to the players.”
Based on his success at Feyenoord, a club with a small budget and a lot of promising young talent, he is confident that Slott will be able to create synergy with the young players. The Evening Standard said: “He has shown the quality of rebuilding a team on a shoestring budget. Spurs have a number of players under the age of 25, including Destiny Udoji, Pape Mattharsar, Jedd Spence, Oliver Skip, Pedro Foro and Dejan Kulusebski. It’s going to be a very interesting challenge.”
Slott has a contract with Feyenoord until 2026. He is seeking to terminate his contract to join Tottenham midway through. On April 24, Fabrizio Romano reported that “Slott’s representatives and Feyenoord are opening talks. An agreement on penalties is an important topic,” signaling a move to Tottenham.