Feyenoord general manager Dennis te Kloese has admitted that he made a mistake trying to replace Arne Slot at the club when he went to Liverpool.
Soccer News cover comments from Te Kloese today in which he admits what Slot offers is ‘unique’ and that’s been shown in Liverpool.
The Dutch manager moved to Liverpool last year to replace Jurgen Klopp after the German’s surprise decision to step down from his role at Anfield.
Slot has proven to be a worthy successor, winning the Premier League title at a canter last season and starting this season with four wins from four and an opening game win in the Champions League against Atletico.
While Liverpool have gone from strength to strength, Feyenoord have found things more difficult over the last year.
They initially hired Brian Priske as Slot’s replacement, but he only made it to February 2025 before he was sacked, with Pascal Bosschaart stepping in as caretaker manager before Robin van Persie was then appointed in February this year.
Things are going more smoothly under his leadership to date, but Te Kloese admits he made a mistake initially in thinking they could replicate what they’d had under Slot before his move to Liverpool.
“I take it personally that things didn’t work out with Brian Priske, but it can happen that a club and a manager don’t click,” he said.
“He’s doing well now with Sparta Prague. What’s the reason for that? I have to say that the time with Priske also made us reflect. We took the culture Arne Slot established at Feyenoord for granted, as the Feyenoord culture.
“It was just going well, so we thought it could continue under a new manager. But look at what Arne is doing at Liverpool; it’s unique. So, we also had to assess ourselves: are the things we’re doing really that well and clearly?
“It all seemed so simple under Slot, but it’s not. The conclusion is that you can’t compare a new manager to Arne. That’s almost impossible.”
