Whenever Manchester United and Liverpool clash it grabs international attention but across the Netherlands on Sunday interest will be higher than normal. In one dugout at Old Trafford: Erik ten Hag. In the other: Arne Slot. There is an undisguised pride in their home country that two of the world’s biggest clubs have put their fate in the hands of Dutch managers.
The mood was captured this week by Marco van Basten. “It will be a fantastic match, especially as Ten Hag just lost,” the former Netherlands striker said, referring to United’s injury-time defeat at Brighton last Saturday. Can Slot, who has started with two wins from two at Liverpool, achieve something that was beyond Jürgen Klopp and beat a Ten Hag side at Old Trafford?
In 2015 four Dutch managers had Premier League jobs in Guus Hiddink (Chelsea), Dick Advocaat (Sunderland), Louis van Gaal (Manchester United) and Ronald Koeman (Southampton). But there was a need for a new, modern generation. Dutch coaches seemed to lack what their German, Argentinian and Spanish counterparts could offer.
Slot, who is almost 46, and Ten Hag, 54, are the new standard bearers. In the Netherlands at the moment Slot is held by many in higher regard and carries the greater expectation, even though Ten Hag has more trophies. Ten Hag’s first two seasons in England have shaped that. He won the Carabao Cup, FA Cup and survived an ownership revamp but they were difficult campaigns with third- and eighth-place league finishes. That he remains at United, continuing to shape the squad and staff, is regarded as a surprise in his homeland.
Ten Hag is not getting the consistency or quality he achieved at Ajax, Utrecht and Go Ahead Eagles. “If you see what he is allowed to invest, it is just very bad,” the former Tottenham player turned pundit Rafael van der Vaart said last season.
That Ten Hag brought in a lot of countrymen and acquaintances this summer isn’t regarded as wise. Van Gaal did the same at Barcelona at the end of the last century and lost credit with the public and press. The difficult circumstances at United and Ten Hag’s achievements at Ajax, where his team humiliated Real Madrid and Juventus in the Champions League in 2019, are drawn to the background a bit.
The Dutch former manager Co Adriaanse once noted that coaches in the Netherlands are regarded like cars. A dent is forbidden, even though a coach might learn how to avoid the next dent because of the first one. The Dutch want cool, new cars without scratches.
And Slot is that flashy, undamaged car. He made Cambuur, AZ and Feyenoord perform much better, but also – and this is very important to Dutch football lovers – played attractive, energetic football.
The circumstances weren’t always easy. Slot joined Feyenoord in 2021 when the club had almost hit rock bottom, in financial and sporting terms, and Ajax, under Ten Hag, were on top of the world. But after three years with Slot at the helm Feyenoord had the upper hand over their arch-rivals in almost every way.
Now Ten Hag has a dent. And there is another big difference between the pair: their media appearances. Even in the Netherlands Ten Hag struggled for a long time to come across as relaxed in front of the camera. He could stumble over his words and would quickly go into defensive mode, eyes looking everywhere but at the interviewer.
His English remains a work in progress. Slot walks around in England as if he has been coaching there for ever. In decent English he explains his vision, gives clear and honest analysis and jokes not only with journalists but with pundits such as Jamie Carragher, as if he shared the Anfield pitch with him for years.
Slot, whose father was a teacher and who is married to a teacher, is quite clever with words and anxious not to step on toes. He will more subtly point out his achievements, dropping in for example that Feyenoord were not able to get experienced players in the way Ajax and PSV were.
Slot, like Ten Hag, grew up in the more rural east of the Netherlands where big mouths are not appreciated. Ten Hag, though, has been more forthright in his media utterances lately. “If they don’t want me any more then I go anywhere else to win trophies because that is what I did my whole career,” he said after beating Manchester City in the FA Cup final.
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In an interview with Voetbal International he also said people in the Netherlands were “overly lyrical” about Slot’s Feyenoord last season. But there is no real rivalry or tension between the pair.
“They are both quite relaxed before the match because they have their plan ready,” says the former Heerenveen coach Kees van Wonderen, who often crossed swords with Ten Hag and Slot. “But they are alert to what can happen. Erik is perhaps a bit more pragmatic at the moment, adapting his team a bit more to the opponent. Arne is a bit more attached to stick to the neat, attacking football that [Pep] Guardiola advocates, but he is always keeping an eye open for new trends. You saw a bit more [Roberto] De Zerbi influences last season.”
Ramon Leeuwin, who played under Ten Hag at Utrecht and Slot at AZ, says: “I’m very enthusiastic about both of them as coaches and people, and I don’t know any player who isn’t. Arne comes across very charming from the very first moment. He wins everyone over in a natural way: the media, the staff, the players. He is just very clear, good and quick-witted.
“Erik, we had to get used to in the beginning. His way of training was very tactical and training was often stopped – sometimes you felt like a PlayStation figure. But if you feel that you are improving as a team and as an individual, that you are always excellently prepared for the match, you start to believe in it. And Erik also has a very good sense of humour and is extremely loyal to people.”
Bert van Marwijk, a former Feyenoord and Netherlands coach, said in his De Telegraaf column that he could already see the style Slot wants from Liverpool. “Most trainers think that they don’t get enough time to put their signature on a team, but that’s nonsense,” he wrote.
Of Ten Hag he said: “Against Brighton I saw much less of the recognisable things about the style of play he wanted. Ten Hag is more in a phase with United of a ball that just does or doesn’t fall well. That is not yet a solid foundation.”
In the same newspaper the former striker Wim Kieft stated that Slot had a “better vision” than Ten Hag. “He demonstrably makes players better,” he said, though he warned Slot would soon see “the pressure in England is much greater than in the Netherlands”.
Ten Hag could tell his countryman all about that this Sunday.