Jaap Stam still follows the Dutch competition closely. The former trainer of Feyenoord is full of praise for the way in which Arne Slot manages to leave his mark on the people of Rotterdam.
”I am always curious whether I can discover the hand of the trainer and what ideas he has to arrive at attacks and opportunities”, Stam starts in conversation with The Telegraph. “With Erik ten Hag and Slot that is very clear, with Roger Schmidt I have a lesser picture of it.”
Stam failed to impress during his period at Feyenoord. In his view, this had several reasons. ”I wanted and had to make that change in De Kuip. That takes time because players were sold, while adequate replacements were missing. Many players were not fit enough for that cover and the more intensive game.”
”When the performance was disappointing, I felt the atmosphere around the club change towards me, making performing and getting time for the build-up difficult”, Stam continues. “A lot has changed within the club and the selection. The realization has dawned that something had to be done in terms of playing style and reinforcements have been brought in, who have the qualities to play the way Slot plays with Feyenoord.”
Stam still worked with Slot at PEC Zwolle. He made up for his lack of speed with cleverness. Arne deserves all the credit for the steps that Feyenoord is making. It is not an incident, because he also managed that at AZ and before that Cambuur Leeuwarden. Although as a trainer you always remain dependent on the qualities of your players and whether you get a chance at that level.”
