Arne Slot Aims for Spurs to Win a Trophy Despite Snubbing the Club

Arne Slot may have turned down Tottenham Hotspur’s offer to become their manager, but he still hopes the club lifts a trophy.

The Liverpool manager is a big fan of Ange Postecoglou’s attacking style and believes it would be a positive for football if the Australian’s bold approach leads to Spurs ending their long trophy drought.

Slot, who chose to remain at Feyenoord when Spurs approached him in the summer of 2023, is looking forward to Sunday’s matchup between two of the Premier League’s highest-scoring teams this season – Liverpool, with 54 goals in all competitions, and Spurs, just one goal behind.

The key difference lies in their defensive records. Liverpool, leaders in both the Premier League and Champions League, have conceded only 18 goals and kept 12 clean sheets in 24 games, while Tottenham have conceded 31 in 25 matches, with only six clean sheets.

Despite some critics of Postecoglou’s attacking style, known as “Angeball,” Slot is not one of them, even though it means he could prevent his counterpart from winning one of the available trophies, with Liverpool and Tottenham set to meet in the Carabao Cup semi-finals.

“It’s great work that Ange is doing,” Slot said. “I hope, hope, hope that he wins a trophy – not the League Cup obviously but I am completely a fan of his team for the Europa League.

“People talk about trophies, trophies, trophies and that is so important. For me, his brand of football is so much more important.

“If he can combine it with winning something that would be so good for football in general because then people can stop talking about ‘is it too attacking?’ How on earth can you play too much attacking football?”

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Slot grew up watching Tottenham on TV in the Netherlands and can easily name some of their most memorable stars over the past 40 years, including Glenn Hoddle, Paul Gascoigne, David Ginola, Luka Modric, fellow Dutchman Rafael van der Vaart, and Gareth Bale. He believes that Spurs' season ticket holders are certainly getting their money’s worth in terms of entertainment this season, even if results aren’t always guaranteed.

He added: “I don’t think many season ticket holders in the country can say they watch so many exciting games. Maybe the ones here at Liverpool! But I think it’s a privilege to be a season ticket holder at Tottenham because they play such an attractive style.”

‘Every time, it is a joy to watch them’

Tottenham have scored 36 goals in the Premier League this season, making them the second-highest scorers, just one behind Chelsea. However, their form has been inconsistent, with seven wins and seven losses from their 16 league games. While they have earned impressive victories over Manchester United, Aston Villa, and Manchester City, these successes have been overshadowed by defeats to Crystal Palace, Ipswich, and Bournemouth.

“I really have to give them credit,” added Slot. “They have always been a certain brand of football for me and a certain identity and Ange Postecoglou gives them that identity back completely.

“Every time, it is a joy to watch them. Once in a while results go against them but I think they are one of the teams to beat Manchester City like us.

“Not all of those teams beat City in the manner like we and Tottenham did, because it was completely deserved in these two situations – it’s great work that Ange is doing over there. I hope that he wins a trophy – not the League Cup because we play them in the semi-finals – but I’m completely a fan of his team for the Europa League.”

Slot is set to recall key players Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Alisson Becker, Ryan Gravenberch, Dominik Szoboszlai, and Luis Díaz for Sunday's match, after rotating his squad during the midweek Carabao Cup victory over Southampton.