Funny video has surfaced showing Arne Slot, the new head coach of Liverpool, shooting the ball high into the sky right after kickoff while he was a player for PEC Zwolle.
It supports a recent Telegraph feature on the Dutchman written by Oliver Brown, who visited Slot’s hometown of Bergentheim, The Netherlands.
Brown conducted interviews with Slot’s closest friends and family members, as well as previous coaches, as part of the thorough biography. A fascinating aspect of Slot’s playing career came to light.
While he was an attacking midfielder, he wasn’t the fastest player on the grass. Nevertheless, he had a respectable career as a No. 10, getting promoted to Zwolle to the Eredivisie in 2001–02.
He rose to fame for his inventive kick-off methods, which included receiving the ball within the center circle, flipping it up into the air, and aiming it high so that it would land where the opposing center backs would be.
Though detractors would often exclaim, “What an idiot!” Gerald Van den Belt, a personal friend of the coach, claimed that there was truly a reason to his craziness.
According to Brown’s account of events, “His attention to detail has been relentless throughout his career.” He made it a habit in Zwolle to boot the ball high into the air during kickoff, as evidenced by the enormous picture of him on the team’s wall of heroes.
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“He was brutally ridiculed by Dutch TV analysts for it. However, Van den Belt claims that they failed to see that he was doing it on purpose to surprise the opposition by having them face the sun.
“What a fool,” his detractors chuckled. Nevertheless, Zwolle scored seven goals in the first 30 seconds of that year.
And now, ahead of Slot’s scheduled June 1 arrival to Anfield, Liverpool supporters have discovered the video.
And there he is, in his hooped blue and white uniform, Slot, punting the ball high into the bright sky as soon as kickoff occurs.
“Wahey! “HA! HA! HA!” exclaim the Dutch pundits as the ball soars through the air and lands back down.
Even though the high vertical punt did not result in a goal on this occasion, it is encouraging that Liverpool’s new coach is searching for such tiny advantages.