Bolo Zenden believes the perception that Arne Slot joined Liverpool from a “Mickey Mouse league” has been well and truly banished after the Dutchman led the Merseysiders to the title yesterday.
Slot became the first man from the Netherlands to coach a Premier League-winning team following a hugely impressive debut season at Anfield in which Liverpool have dominated from start to finish.
The title was wrapped up with a 5-1 demolition of Spurs yesterday with Slot justifying his appointment as successor to Jurgen Klopp 11 months ago.
Arne Slot: The meticulous head coach who won the Premier League in his own way 🔴
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) April 27, 2025
Slot justifies Liverpool faith
The 46-year-old moved to England from Dutch side Feyenoord, with whom he won the Eredivisie in 2023, and has silenced the doubters who wanted someone from one of the big five European leagues.
Former Liverpool midfielder Zenden told BBC Radio 5 Live: “For [Slot] to make the move to the Premier League, especially to a big club like Liverpool into the footsteps of Jurgen Klopp, I think no-one expected him to actually do what he did with his staff and his players.
“In the beginning people were thinking someone’s coming in from a Mickey Mouse league, what’s he going to do at Liverpool? But very soon he turned around the criticism with beautiful football, with charisma and I think everybody now sees what he’s capable of doing and the most interesting thing is probably still to come.
“I’m sure he’s not going to sit still. It’s strange to talk about it when you’ve just won the league but I’m sure that in the back of his mind he’s already planning for next season.”
Zenden also says it is a proud moment for the Netherlands with Slot becoming just the fifth man to win the title at the first attempt, following on from Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Manuel Pellegrini and Antonio Conte.
He added: “I think they fully deserved it.
“To be able to do it at home four games before the end of the season, it shows how strong they’ve been. I think in the end every team that wins the league goes through a patch where maybe it isn’t the nicest football to watch but they still manage to get results.
“Obviously for us as Dutch men with Slot being the first Dutch manager to win the Premier League and Virgil van Dijk being the first captain to win a Premier League, it’s something special for us. It really puts the Dutch managers and Dutch football on the map again.”
Returning the favour 🎶❤️ pic.twitter.com/FfntxA0Zu2
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) April 27, 2025
Neville praise for Liverpool and Slot
Sky Sports pundit and former Manchester United full-back Gary Neville also hailed the impact Slot has made and, in particular, the way he has not allowed the contract situations regarding Trent Alexander-Arnold, Van Dijk and Mohamed Salah to derail the squad.
Neville said: “I think they deserve great congratulations. I think it’s one of the great coaching performances that we’ve seen – to come in from Jurgen Klopp, to not get the players he wanted in the transfer window, to have the shadow of the three, probably the best players in their positions in Europe, hanging over him all season, you’ve got to hand it to him.
“It’s absolutely a brilliant achievement.”
Liverpool are now 15 points clear of second-placed Arsenal with just four games remaining.
Next up is a trip to Chelsea at the weekend before they finish with games against Arsenal, Brighton and Crystal Palace.
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