Atletico Madrid boss got physical with his Dutch counterpart after Feyenoord beat them in a friendly from legendary kensei gear for honor Watch Video

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✓ Published: 24-Apr-2024

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Diego Simeone isn't the most difficult football manager to wind up but Arne Slot's reaction spoke volumes.<br/><br/>The Atletico Madrid boss got physical with his Dutch counterpart after Feyenoord beat them in a 2021 friendly, shoving Slot in the chest and launching a verbal volley.<br/><br/>Slot's Stone Island gear suggested he might have been up for a scrap but instead, he just stood his ground and smiled mockingly at Simeone, who backed down.<br/><br/>It was the sign of a man who doesn't shy away from a challenge.<br/><br/>Feyenoord's coach is ruthlessly ambitious and a control freak who demands total control at the club. But he also has emotional intelligence, knows how to create a team ethic, and plays attractive football.<br/><br/>So there are reasons both for and against his suitability for the unenviable task of succeeding Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool.<br/><br/>Slot, 45, who has just backed up last season's Eredivisie title win by delivering the KNVB Cup to Rotterdam, has emerged as a strong contender for the Anfield gig.<br/><br/>Indeed, on Wednesday morning it emerged talks have already begun between Liverpool and Feyenoord with the compensation fee set at £8.5million. <br/><br/>On the face of it, Slot's 4-3-3 formation, intensity of pressing, and high-energy attack bear many resemblances to Klopp's 'heavy metal' (Slot is more into his rap music).<br/><br/>But the Liverpool vacancy requires so much more than just a good tactician.<br/><br/>For nine years, Klopp has carried not only a club but at times a city defiant in its own identity and independence.<br/><br/>That emotional burden has ultimately caught up with him but not before he won the biggest honours in the game.<br/><br/>Liverpool's new manager must not only perform in Klopp's lingering shadow but somehow keep up his boundless energy and forge the same bonds with a demanding fanbase and players that aren't his own.<br/><br/>The experiences of David Moyes and Unai Emery, after Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United and Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, have shown just how difficult it is to follow a manager of legendary stature.<br/><br/>Some would say the man who follows Klopp is in a similar hiding to nothing even if Liverpool fans would surely be sympathetic and patient if there was regression next season.<br/><br/>Like Klopp, Slot had a respectable but hardly spectacular playing career at the likes of FC Zwolle and NAC Breda rather than Ajax or Feyenoord.<br/><br/>But when it comes to coaching, Slot sees no reason to curb his ambitions, even if it has rubbed people up the wrong way.<br/><br/>AZ Alkmaar abruptly sacked him in December 2020 because owner Robert Eenhoorn learned he'd attended a clandestine meeting with Feyenoord and agreed to replace Dick Advocaat.<br/><br/>Even as he wins trophies at Feyenoord, Slot has been unafraid to speak about his career trajectory.<br/><br/>'My next step will not be a club in Holland,' he said in 2023. 'If that is my next step, then I've failed.<br/><br/>'The normal next step will be to go abroad and I've always said the best league in the world is the Premier League.'