Arne Slot wants to take the final step with Feyenoord. The Rotterdam team still receives compliments for their field play. There were also some nice attacks during the lost away match against Celtic FC. In the end, Feyenoord was left empty-handed again. Slot does not accept the idea that the maximum has already been achieved with the current selection.
“I absolutely do not believe the latter,” Slot responds in Algemeen Dagblad. “If you see how we can dominate at Champions League level, we only have to take a small step to achieve results there. I don’t want to start talking about luck or bad luck anymore. You can’t hide behind that anymore. Looking forward to Celtic, I just have to say: you can’t concede a goal like that in the 93rd minute if it’s happened to you before.”
Should Feyenoord defend better? ”We defended very well at many times. In six Champions League games we have barely given away a chance. We have to get to the level where an opponent can no longer even get into our box. Like we did, for example, in the remainder against Ajax. We will see in the coming months whether or not that is possible. In any case, we do everything we can every day to take that last step.”
Slot also does not go along with the trend of Celtic being portrayed as a weak team. ”I can imagine that the outside world views it this way. But I have analyzed Celtic in their home games against Atlético and Lazio. Celtic was the dominant party twice. They deserved to win those games. I saw something different at Celtic – Feyenoord. If there was one team that should have won, it would have been us.”
Heracles-out
Now an away match in Almelo awaits after a disappointing period. Is Feyenoord mentally strong enough? ”I can’t promise anyone that that isn’t the case. But this Feyenoord always gets energy again once the match gets underway and my players see that they are playing good football and creating opportunities. The level of difficulty will mainly be when things are not going well. Like against Volendam, when we had a lot of difficulty converting our many possessions into opportunities. But even then I saw a team that never gives up. I expect to see that in the next two games as well.”
