Arne Slot has candidly opened up on the time he was linked with the Tottenham job. The Liverpool FC boss, who is set to take his team to north London on Sunday, reflected on the period less than two years ago when he was touted as the man to replace Antonio Conte.
Although rumoured to be Daniel Levy's first choice at the conclusion of the 2022/23 season, Slot opted to stay put in the Netherlands. Amidst swirling speculation and contrasting reports - with Dutch insiders claiming Slot rejected an offer from Levy while Tottenham's camp steadfastly denied any formal approach – Slot simply grinned and remarked: "The problem is that the ones who know do not want to talk about it, and the ones who don’t know do want to talk about it. That sometimes happens in football.
"I’ve always preferred not to say anything about it. It might be true, it might not be true."
"I was really happy that I stayed at Feyenoord. That I can say."
Fast forward a year, Slot found himself managing at Anfield but maintains that when Spurs appointed Ange Postecoglou, they got it right.
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Heaping praise on Postecoglou’s impact on English football, he expressed his desire to see the Spurs manager win trophies, urging: "If a manager plays such an attacking brand of football, please support him, because this is what we want.
"Only one team can win the league and only one team can win the FA Cup, but the others have to play football as well and just be happy that we have managers like him that want to play this brand of football.
"That is why I even hope he wins something. Because when he starts to win something, people will start to get positive and then other managers will try to do the same.
"I always hope that the ones who play the most attacking football win trophies as well."
After tomorrow's Premier League contest, Slot will take on Postecoglou in a two-legged Carabao Cup semi-final in January and early February.
The Dutchman says it was good for the game that Spurs beat Manchester United in Thursday night’s last-eight thriller.
Slot elaborated: "What I saw was a very attacking team from Tottenham and I saw in the line-up of United one and a half attacking players. So, that is why it was a good thing for Tottenham that they won the game.
"I think it is a privilege to be a season ticket holder at Tottenham. I don’t think there are many season ticket holders in the country who can say they watch so many great games."
While he heaps praise upon them, Postecoglou’s Spurs trail Liverpool by 13 points in the Premier League standings, having also played a match more.
However, should Chelsea triumph over Everton in Sunday’s early kick-offs, Liverpool would ascend to second place starting their clash at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
