Slot’s new Feyenoord

blog WC2022
by Jan

The price of success. When you do well, as a Dutch top club with money needs (AZ, Feyenoord, PSV), bigger clubs will come and rob you of your top players.

Feyenoord is slowly climbing out of a deep abyss. Financially that is. In the past season, Feyenoord was able to perform well thanks to two loan players (Dessers and Til), among other things. Sure, Slot is a top notch coach, we know this, and Aursnes and Trauner were great signings while Sinistera, Malacia and Kokcu played the season of their lives.

But Dessers and Til left. Sinistera and Malacia made big money moves and now Marco Senesi has joined Bournemouth (…). I think Wim Jansen will turn around in his grave knowing that the Argentine CB thinks a move to newly promoted Bournemouth is a step up. No international tournaments for him and potentially a relegation. And before we know it, Aursnes is off to Benfica.

Sad to see this top class player go. Bought for 450k, leaving for 15M

Nice for the Feyenoord CFO, to see the millions come in, partly to cover the debt and partly will the money be spent on new signings.

Arne Slot can be seen as the man who created all this value. Kokcu was a question mark for long. Malacia was considered to wild and not good enough on the ball. Sinistera was struggling with fitness. But Slot brought confidence, joy and a positive playing style to Rotterdam and the players embraced it.

Can he do it again. Because with more than half the Feyenoord team from last season towards the exit (Linssen is now at Japan, while Raymond Hendriks is seriously injured… Jorit Hendrix never convinced Slot), the Rotterdam behemoth is on the look out for new blood.

New blood

Santiago Gimenez is only 21 years old but the Mexican has already 4 years as a pro under his belt in Mexico. The sports reporters in Mexico compare the tall striker with Graziano Pelle, the Italian striker who mesmerized the Feyenoord legion. He is a left footer, tall and strong. A good target man, but he also has depth in his game and he’s quite skilled too. The madness in Mexico around him is such that ESPN will broadcast every Feyenoord game live in Mexico.

23 year old Danilo Pereira already made an impression. The 11th player in history to go from Ajax straight to Feyenoord. Feyenoord lost 39 goals from last season and needs players who know what scoring is. Danilo is that player. He is effective, threatening and direct. He scored 17 goals in one season for FC Twente and the Brazilian was also on a free, so hardly any risk involved with him. Danilo scored twice in the first game versus Vitesse, last weekend.

Oussama Idrissi is back at the club where he started his career. The Moroccan international worked with Slot at AZ where he had a tremendous time. He’s a right footed Robben, once could say. Threatening to go on the outside, cutting inside with his light-footedness and then curling the ball in to the far corner. He is on loan from Sevilla (which paid 12 million for him but he never played the full 90 for the Spanish club).

Maybe the biggest signing for Feyenoord, Quinten Timber. Also a player who is returning to his old home. He played 6 seasons in the youth academy but moved to Ajax where his twin brother was (and still is). He impressed at Utrecht last season and was on many a scouting list. The youngster finds 21 years too young to make the move abroad. He will definitely make that jump one day – like his brother – but will hopefully spend two good seasons in De Kuip. He would be the natural successor to Fredrik Aurnses. Timber is really multfunctional and reminds me of Edgar Davids. He has grit, he can tackle but he’s also very skillful and has the ability to ghost past opponents Frenkie-style.

Mats Wieffer caught my eye when I saw him play with Excelsior against ADO Den Haag for the promotion game from the lower division to the Eredivisie. A game Excelsior – and Wieffer – won. The 22 year old playmaker was developed at Twente but never broke there. Via Excelsior he’s now a Feyenoord midfielder. As a creative player, he did have the most ball winning actions in the second division. Another multi functional midfielder. He can play the 6 and the 8 role and his former coach used him as a central defender at times as well.

24 year old Javairo Dilrosun has a promising CV: Ajax, Man City, Hertha BSC, Girondins Bordeaux… But he never really settled anywhere. In three seasons in Germany, he only played 29 matches. He will probably do well in Rotterdam, where his speed, his guile and his skills will be too much for most of his opponents. He is a one time capped international and will have the ambition to show himself to the NT manager as well. He scored a tremendous goal versus Vitesse for Feyenoord.

Sebastian Szymanski would normally never play for Feyenoord. The 23 year old is one of the biggest Polish talents and he seemed in the right place at Dynamo Moscow, with 6 goals and 8 assists in 27 games. But the Ukraine situation helped Feyenoord, as Seb is able to play elsewhere on loan as a result of the war. Szymanski is a real left footed #10 but can also play on the 8 position or even as a false right winger, Steven Berghuis style.

The last signing and least exciting one, is 25 year old Jacob Rasmussen, who came in on loan from Fiorentina. The Dane went to the Italian club for 7 million euros and never played a single game there. He played for Empoli, Vitesse and Erzgebrige. His key assets: passionate defending and taking-no-prisoner defending. Rasmussen impressed at Vitesse alongside Bazoer but might lack the speed needed to play in Slot’s system.

Tactical differences

How will Slot’s preferred eleven play? No one knows. Not even Arne Slot. After the last pre-season game versus Osasuna, he muttered he needed to study mathematics, to sort it out. Too many moving parts still, with players still leaving (Senesi, Aursnes) and players still coming in.

Arne did sign a new deal this summer yet again and has commitment towards the club and the process. In the last season with Til as #10, he played with two controlling midfielders behind the current PSV player. With Slot, it’s the players who determine the shape. With Toornstra and Kokcu, Slot plays them side by side. With Aursnes in the team, Kokcu is pushed further up, as the Norwegian midfielder has the legs to control the space in front of the defenders. Til’s exit has a big impact on the Feyenoord structure as the former AZ player was the first player to press. The wingers usually benefitted from Til’s press. There were no other Eredivisie players last season with the many touches Sinistera and Nelson had in the final third. Now, it seems Slot wants his wingers to be the first to press, allowing the midfielders to take control of the ball. It’s basically the same principle Slot used previously. Control the axis of the field and create a man-more situation on the wings. The execution is different, though.

This is already outdates, with Aursnes going to Benfica and Senesi off to Bournemouth. There is also interest in Kokcu and Pedersen…

This season, Slot expects to have more variation in his game. He wants to be able to make subtle changes per match, if the opponent “asks” for it. For this, Slot will need more width in his squad. For the coming weeks, it’s all still wishful thinking. Slot does not have that much to choose from, due to late signings, visas not yet done and injuries.

Still, their first Eredivisie game versus Vitesse tells you they will yet again be a force this season. That is also the expectation the legion has, as they hold Arne Slot in high esteem in Rotterdam.

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58 comments

  3. Fc Twente also looks to be in good rhythm. They will meet Portguese side Gil Vicente in the final qualification rounds.

    Philippe sandler has joined NEC. Injuries just didnt help him in his development other wise he showed good attributes with minutes he played. One of the reasons why feyenoord let him go.

  4. Sam lammers also joins Empoli from Atalanta on loan. He loan last season at Eintracht Frankfurt was disaster. Hopefully he will revive his fading career this season with more playing time guaranteed at Empoli.

  6. Very happy with the three Dutch clubs results in Europe so far, psv, twente and AZ, hopefully psv can beat rangers 🙏, but one thing I am very disappointed with is Cody Gakpo level over both games with Monaco, the guy was non existent, not only that his control even his passing , I don’t think he will do good at the highest level….

    1. I think Gakpo is working on a transfer and he’s probably not 100% focused. If they beat Rangers, and get into the CL, he might stay. But there is a lot of pull at the moment and he’s still young and a tad sensitive so he might struggle as a result with his form.

  7. I dont think it has anything to do with level but rather style. His tendency to only cut in from the left is always predictable and with good defensive line, he will look dull and that’s What happened. PSV were lucky to escape with a draw in Monaco. Monaco have a good backline and their Brazilian RB did a good job on Gakpo. He closed him off in positions where he is usually decsive and forced him to go deeper into traffic.

    This is why Gakpo needs to stay put at PSV and make a gradually step up. Not forgetting Memphis here.

  8. Didn’t manage to catch any replay of PSV games. But Joey Veerman seems to be doing well. Do you guys think he now deserves a call-up to the NT? He seems to be similar situation we saw with Karsdorp, playing well for Club but never make it for NT.

    1. Well the Veerman – Karsdorp comparison is not a good one. Karsdorp plays top level football for more than 5 years. Veerman only half a season at PSV. Karsdorp already has had his caps for Oranje, which changes his status, Veerman has not.

      Karsdorp is a RB which we do not have many options for. Dumfries, yes, but then? Hateboer? Tete? Veltman? Rensch? Geertruida?

      Veerman is a midfielder, of which we have many.

      But yes, Veerman definitely deserves a chance in Oranje now. He is playing well and is becoming more aware of his positioning defensively. On the ball, he’s an 8,5. Without the ball he used to be a 5.

  9. I think Gakpo is working on a transfer and he’s probably not 100% focused. If they beat Rangers, and get into the CL, he might stay. But there is a lot of pull at the moment and he’s still young and a tad sensitive so he might struggle as a result with his form.

  10. I will point out as well here,last season when PSV and Benfica met in the final qualification round, the story was the same for Gakpo. This is why I feel he should make gradual steps going up rather then a giant step to a league where it becomes hard for him in transitioning. Serie A or bundasliga would be good for this.

    For Veerman, it will come down to bigger and stronger oponents/ games to really gauage him as to what level he is at. Especially defensively. There where the big question mark is atm. Hopefully If they qualify for CL this will be on the cards.

  12. I hope Gakpo makes a smart decision and stays through the winter and the world cup, and then maybe makes a January transfer. Would be good for PSV to have him in the CL, and good for him to earn his WC spot.

  13. FDJ is in very bad situation. Barca want him out, but MU is a dumpster fire at this time. I hope Chelsea can sign him.

    ETH with a 0-4 loss. How many games will he last? I thought he is better than most of Dutch coaches but this is getting ugly real quick. He came to MU without zero backing in transfer market. He is only interested in signing players that are Dutch or have worked with him before. And now result is very bad.

    1. Both Depay and FDJ are on the bench. They need to get out. But it would be very hard for FDJ. In the end, they can just sit there and take the salary.

      1. The issue with FDJ is the money he is owed by Barcelona. It’s looking likely he’s going to move to Chelsea spectacularly.

        Depay has a lot of suitors and Barcelona have dropped their price, so it’s very likely he’ll get out.

      1. I read that he visited a mafia member in prison and let a mafia borrow his car. It seems that he is in close contact with those people. I think Ajax want to terminate the loan deal as they do not want their player to get involved with the mafia. He got many problems with his life but it has been 2 years since his father passed away, if he want to succeed at top level, he need to be professional.

      2. Mo Ihattaren got involved with the wrong crowd and has a girlfriend or something who’s family appears to be a bit…dodge. Something happened and he’s threatened now by this family. Apparently there is a history, even at PSV with violent stuff happening, among other things, his PSV lease car being torched…

  15. Erik Tenhag andanf manchester are in big trouble after the latest drubbing at the hands of brentford by 4-0 Margin. If this continues Manchester and ronaldo can play europa league.

  16. I said This, the transfers will decide his fate and that’s exactly whats happening to him.he thought by bringing in players he knows he can do it but that has already backfired. Imagine he wanted to bring the big Ajax contingent.

    When he brought in Eriksen and Martinez, malacia,I just knew he is in big trouble. He was suppose to upgrade on what mourinho and Ragnick did . I mean you look at his transfers. Malacia is no way upgrade to luke shaw even though shaw being player who clearly is passed his prime and on decline. Same goes with Martinez, even at Ajax he had Ariel issues and you bring him to the play with the big boys. What do you expect . I really didn’t understand Ericksen’s transfer when lingard was in such good form returning from west ham.

    It’s gonna be difficult for Ten Hag with the current backline they have. Even with the transfers it still needs facelift. Lets see how long he can survive there. But defintely he will be accountable for his transfers.

    1. wilson i dont know what nonsense you are talking…Ten haag needs his won sigingins to suceed which he is not getting…i follow MANu very close….those players looked sh@$$t under Ole,Jose and Ragnick .. what you expect from them….
      10 maguire =1 martinez..
      10 luuk shaw= 1 malacia
      Erikson is a calss playmaker 10…
      Rashford is trashford…he has no vision,,his dribbling skills are not great…poor connectivity with team mates….they have only 1 good foward for Ten haag system that is martial who is injured…Ronaldo is selfish and he doesnt fit that pressing style…Sancho is somwaht okay not great…i hope the get Frenkie de jong ,hakim zyech,Antony….but gettig rid of Maguire(who is walking fridge on feild)…De gea has one of the worst ball distributor ….they need a ball playing GK as well….i think ten haag knows this partially…

    2. Wilson, what are you talking about? Mourinho and Rangnick both said that MU squad is rotten and need to be replaced. Rangnick even recommended 10 new players to buy.

      You cannot blame ETH for the transfer so far because he got zero backing in this market. Eriksen is free transfer, Malacia is cheap buy. So far he got only Martinez. Now you look at the top 6, how much money they got to buy players then you will understand. The problem with ETH is he has no plan. He came to MU, he did not research that the squad is rotten, he did not talk to MU to make sure they back him to buy new players, he has no flexibility in choosing targets, he only want players that are Dutch or someone he worked with before. So he spent the whole summer to get FDJ and that does not happen.

      As for if his method will work, who knows? It might happen at different club but he chose MU. The current set of players are bad, the coaches before him confirmed it. He did not give himself a decent chance. I hope he turn it around for Dutch coach reputation but at this moment, there is nothing suggest that he can change MU.

  18. @ Kevin

    Im sick and tired of hearing the crap that ETH has no backing from the owners in the transfer market.if this was the case then ETH shouldnt have signed the contract. He should have know better, even he was told what he was walking. Its clear the backing which the board doesnt want to provided is to that of MU going dutch given the wish list of Ten Hag going for Ajax players. The board seems to be sceptical now with the types of players ETH wants to bring and why not when VDBeek has failed to flourish. I mean this would defintely be a talking point for the board with respect to eredivisie players. (Indicator/ bench mark)

    Then there is also delimmea of no big players coming to MU given the state they are and because of no CL football. I’m sure if Man United were in CL, the owners would have splashed like they did buying varane and sancho the season before. There is also news that they are negotiating the transfer of Rabiot from juventus and again this shows the type of players they are looking at.

    For the record I never said any where the squad is rotten or not rotten. What I said on top was certain department needs a facelift especially in the back line and not bringing in players who are upgrade to current players won’t help the situation.

    If you are telling me ten hag needs the players whom he has worked with to salavage the crisis, I will say better show him the exist now and bring in a more experience coach like sam allardyce, pochettino or bring back Alex Ferguson who are jobless. They will salavage this same squad. I can bet you on that.

    I’m not entirely blaming ETH. But looks like he has gone in too hard and brought about how he wants them to play to the extent the players are in state of disarray (cohesion aspect)

    1. @wilson you have no clue about wats happening in Manchester…if any wise management would sign frekine for 80 milion as the dont have to pay 150 milion for declan rice who is is lower grade to frenkie….Chelsea is willing to pay the differed waged owed by barca to frenkie….Frenkie will leave to chelesa if Ten haag drops the interest…there are stupids like you saying frenkie wants to stay in barca,no way, his agent and family are furious towards barca mafia…if was at managemet of Manu player recruting team i would stright away sell Maguire,shaw,Rashford,Ronaldo,Dalot,Mc tominay,De gea these players cannot play one touch pressing style play which ajax used to play..by using spaces and finding spaces in between runs…Magurie is walking fridge….2 year old boy has better ball distribution than de gea…Chelsea has signed cucurella,kaolubaly etc….they will sign frenkie if Tena haag drops….chlesea know the value of frenkie….they play fantastic footbal;l under touchel…FFS..PLEASE STOP NONSENSE

      1. You d#$ck head, frenkie doesnt want to come to Man United. He has made it clear. Looks like you have been sleeping.

        Only with CL, they will be able to attract big players.

        2. you knuckle head the momnet frenkie admits that he prefres and wishes to go to chelski or Manu ,frenkie can forget 17 milion differd wage…He cannnot opnely sya that ST)))oo0ge..

        3. Language people, language!! Frenkie has been in contact with ETH, personally. They know each other. If Frenkie would have said to Ten Hag: no way I will consider Man U, Erik would have let it go. But he hasn’t. He tells everyone he does not want to leave Barca, because he is playing hardball to collect his 17million euros. And rightly so.

          I can still see him move to Man U. He will become a legend there if he picks them up.

          At Chelsea, he will be just one of midfielder between many.

    2. You said that “ETH has no backing from the owners in the transfer market” is crap. But then you also said “The board seems to be sceptical now with the types of players ETH wants to bring” which exactly mean no backing. So I do not know what is your point?

      Why point is exactly this “If this was the case then ETH shouldnt have signed the contract.” This is clearly the case now. He did not do his research before signing up for the job. He knows he has a mountain to climb and he did not make sure the club will back him. Same thing happened to Koeman, they chose big names without knowing the situation or talking to the club to make sure there is a plan.

      MU board’s best option now is to back him for 2 years. Same thing happened to Arteta’s first year at Arsenal. He need time to turn it around. But again, this is the same MU board that run the club to the ground so who knows what they will do?

  19. Watched Bayern vs Wolfsburg. Wanted to see Micky van de ven and offcourse the dutch contingent at Bayern. Van De ven has been starter at LB for Wolfburg but clearly looks like a CB material. Tall Lanky built with same degree of speed. Didn’t do much in attack but tried closing down opponents when the ball was on his side. His passing over head and crosses were exceptional and you expect him at some stage to move inside at CB. Still 21 and given the minutes he is clocking as a starter, defintely is a future prospect for growing list of CBs I would say.

    Ryan Gravenberch came on late in the game.

  20. Since no one have commented on that, let me point it out. We are a few months away from the world cup and some of our keys player are not event playing at their clubs. jan, can you comment on that? FDJ hasn’t been starting, Depay isn’t even welcome at Barca anymore. lol Mathis De Light at Bayern is on the bench and some others like Malacia at ManU. Now, all of these guys have not been competitive for a while considering they just got back from summer vacation. So physically, how they would be able to compete at the world cup?

    1. If LVG stands by his principle of playing only players who play 1st team football half the current team would be out. The way things are going for our main players we will be lucky to get past the group stage. I am afraid to picture Depay’s weight without playing games.

  21. Ten Hag is completely out of his depth at Man U. Terrible move but I understand the ambition and the $$$ appeal. He sometimes comes across as comical too. After the loss at Brentford he cancelled the players day off and made them run for 10-15 km. He is treating those players like kindergarteners. They just don’t care as they make tons of $ anyway. His record is promising to be the worst in Man U history.
    Myself, I lost my faith in him when he couldn’t make his team defend a 3 goal lead for 45 mins @ home against Tottenham 3 years ago.

  22. @ Kevin

    I said its was crap because they did splash on Martinez and Malacia to lesser extent and remember this were areas that needed reinforcement. Malacia for telles and Martintez for bailey and other CBs. Probably RB and MF( probga’s replacement) and striker needs signings otherwise the options are stacked in other departments. Martial, Sancho, Rasford, Greenwood,Ronaldo,elanga,pellistri. Do you think the board will give green light for the need for more wingers or in the case of Anotny whom ETH wants. I dont know what happening with Mactominay or most of their seasonal players for that matter but they looked exceptional in pre season minus ronaldo. Liverpool drubbing 4-0 etc. What changed in few weeks ??? On the same account if the board approves another 5 or 10 players which ETH wants, what happens to the current players. Big wages sitting on the bench. This is why I said the board has to be sceptical about what ETH wants. If they sell some players then it becomes a different scenario and also legit to replenish but I dont think that will happen because of their quality which they are known for. I’m more talking about the forwards and mid department here. For Maguire and others whom are experiencing dip in their performance thats another story.

    Lastly it’s not that the board or who ever is scouting up players are not doing anything to back ETH. Rabiot and Icardi’s name both have been linked and negotiation is still going on but remember from players point view everything will be revolve around playing at highest level and vaying for the world cup spot which is coming up and this would be an obstacle come personal agreement.(Rabiot’s situation) . Again like I said with the state MU are in and with no CL football it’s gonna be hard.

    I agree with you on what you said about backing up ETH for next 2 season (Arteta comparison) and rebuild the team slowly. That’s the best solution.

  23. Hi guys,
    Fun to read your posts about the Netherlands “big guns” who are in quite deep shit now. It happens. Hopefully, ETH will find his way to get out of this crisis, although I doubt it. But even if he gets fired, he can come to AZ Alkmaar. AZ really needs more forward-looking coach than Pascal Jansen. Kidding of course as AZ will not be able to meet his financial expectations and ambitions. After Midtsjo’s departure and arrival of Bazoer, AZ midfield has become fully Dutch. Bazoer will have to complete with Tijjani Reijnders for the place and currently the latter is preferred as Rashidly still needs to improve his fitness. Tijjani is a good lad, but his play is inconsistent: some good games are followed by very bad ones. He is already 24 and I have not seen a very strong breakthrough. Do not think he will ever become an Oranje material. Clasie and BMI started this season just OK. BMI is our captain now and I think he enjoys himself in this capacity. I think he tries to mimic V. van Dijk’s playing style, but it looks a little clumsy. Honestly, after departure of Boadu, Stengs, and Koopmeiners, there is no promising Oranje material in AZ to watch out. However, AZ’s international contingent looks good. The attacking trio Karlson – Pavlidis – Odegaard yet to show how good they are, but I am very confident that it is going to be one of the best attacking trio in Eredivisie. My concern is our coach: inexperienced, no backbone, and tactically weak. How far AZ will go with Jansen, I do not know but it looks like he is in great rapports with Max Huiberts. Will it be enough for AZ’s success, I do not know. Fans hate him. That is so far. Take care

    1. @Wilson, I have not seen him playing. Obviously, Milos Kerkez is preferred left back. Mees comes as a substitute for the last 10 min and there is no enough time to judge his play.

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