ARNE SLOT is 90 minutes away from leading Liverpool to a record-equalling 20th title — in his debut season as Kop chief.
A point against Tottenham on Sunday will also crown him as the first Dutch manager to win English football’s most prestigious trophy.
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The man born in the tiny village of Bergentheim in Holland’s Bible Belt nearly 47 years ago is being hailed as a better boss than Anfield legend Jurgen Klopp.
But in his early playing days, a teenage Arne was nicknamed “Miss Slot” — accused of being an unfit, lazy and slow footballer who refused to get his shirt dirty.
FC Zwolle’s coach at the time, Jan Everse, was one of the most important people in Slot’s early life.
But he admits their relationship did not start well.
Everse, now 71, told SunSport: “Nobody could play with one touch like Arne.
“But his physicals . . . he wasn’t quick. The way he ran, it looked lazy.
“If the weather was bad, if the field was muddy, he was always clean. You could put his shirt in the closet.
“If you gave him the ball, almost every time, something happened. He had a very good technique.
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“But I was honest with him. I said, ‘Arne, you’re one of my best players but your problem is your opponent is always the best player’.
“You’re going to play for Zwolle if you’re the best player and your opponent is less. But I don’t see it.
“You have to do a lot about your fitness. You are too easy, too lazy.”
Everse branded the 17-year-old attacking midfielder “Juffrouw Slot” — translated as “Miss Slot” — because of the way he played and how “he never made a big tackle”.
The coach, capped twice for Holland’s 1970s Total Football team, added: “Then he started training.
“In the beginning we didn’t have a very good relationship because he wasn’t playing.
“So he was angry at me — but he was clever enough to understand why. He is using that now.
“I’m sure I changed Arne’s mind on how to behave as a footballer.
“He was too easy. When he was injured he thought, ‘When I’m fit again, I’ll immediately play’. But he waited for 1½ years.
“He had the patience. I saw him practise and said to my assistant, ‘Wait a few months and Arne will be the player we want’.”
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Slot listened and understood he needed to get fitter, to be more athletic, more dynamic.
And once he established himself in Everse’s starting XI, he was never dropped again.
Slot has also defied the sceptics who thought he would struggle to emerge from Klopp’s shadow.
His Reds are a massive 12 points clear of nearest challengers Arsenal and can wrap up the title with four games still to play.
Villagers in Slot’s home town will be glued to the telly on Sunday to hopefully watch his crowning.
He has a strong work ethic, is disciplined and can make players better. He lets them do what they are good at.
Bert Nijenhuis
Bergentheim, population 3,500, stands next to the busy Emmen-Zwolle train line and is dissected by a canal.
It consists of two churches, one supermarket, a couple of primary schools and is home to local football team VV Bergentheim, where Slot learnt to play the game in the 80s.
He would walk a mile or so to the Sportpark Moscou via the only bridge in the village and played there until he was spotted, aged 12, by Zwolle scouts.
He joined Everse at Zwolle. But, for many years, it was his dad, Arend, who was the community’s most famous son.
The former headmaster, considered to be a better player than his son, was a member of the Dutch amateur team that went close to qualifying for the 1976 Montreal Olympics.
These days Slot Sr watches Liverpool on TV and is an honorary member of VV Bergentheim, where his portrait is displayed in the immaculate boardroom.
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Bert Nijenhuis, 66, has been the club’s chairman for seven years and played with Arend all those decades ago.
And he revealed: “We’re all really proud of Arend’s boy. Arne’s smart, knowledgeable, tactically very strong and has a big football heart.
“He also has a strong work ethic, is disciplined and can make players better. He lets them do what they are good at.
“His father is his coach. Arne used to sit in the team meetings as a little boy and listen to his dad.
“We’re modest people in a down-to-earth village. But there is much respect for what Arne is doing now.”
I don’t think Arne would want a statue – he’s a humble man
Bert Nijenhuis
Some locals have raised the prospect of building a statue for Slot Jr in the village once he is crowned as a Premier League champion.
But Nijenhuis replied: “A statue? In 1945, many people died in the war for our freedom.
“Those kinds of people deserve it. We honour those people. I don’t think Arne would want a statue. He’s a humble man.
“He used to go to the church in this village with his father, mother, sister and brothers.
“From the Bible, you learn how you can handle this world.”
Nijenhuis also revealed how a 12-year-old Slot was fascinated by the parable of the Good Samaritan.
He recalled: “That story had the most impact on him. A good story to have respect for each other. Don’t make war, make peace.
“When Arne listened to the preacher, he was impressed with that story. That got him in his heart. That’s Arne — both feet on the ground.”
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Everse, who was left-back for Feyenoord and Ajax until injury cut short his career, always believed Slot would fare better in English football than his countryman Erik ten Hag — who was sacked by Manchester United in October after struggling to turn them into a Premier League force again.
Everse said: “Arne’s clever, counting to ten before he says something. He knows exactly what to say.”
However, Slot was sent off, hit with a two-game ban and fined £70,000 after his X-rated rant at ref Michael Oliver at the end of an explosive 2-2 Merseyside derby draw with Everton in February.
The FA revealed Slot had accused Oliver of “f***ing giving them everything” before blasting: “If we don’t win the league, I’ll f***ing blame you.”
Nijenhuis admitted: “That is the one time his emotions got the better of him. But that’s not Arne. He is always calm.”
And Everse added: “He has a good philosophy. I know because it was my philosophy.
“You have to prepare players for the match so they’ll never be surprised by anything.
“You have to train your mind because you play football with your head.”
Slot’s coaching style was developed as an assistant at Cambuur and AZ — where they finished second behind Ajax — between 2016-2020.
Guiding Dutch giants Feyenoord to the 2022 Conference League final (which they lost to Jose Mourinho’s Roma) and then winning the 2023 Eredivisie title, breaking the Ajax monopoly in his home country, put Slot firmly on Liverpool’s radar.
And Everse predicted Slot would be an instant success on Merseyside — even though he was replacing German serial trophy winner Klopp.
Everse (right) added: “At the beginning of the season, I said, ‘He’s a better coach than Klopp’.
“You need luck. Arne, as we say in Holland, has the luck on his a**e. Every good coach is lucky.”
Sometimes when Slot — who has children Joep and Isa with wife Mirjam — visits his parents, he pops in to coach kids at VV Bergentheim’s football clinic.
The next time he does, it will almost certainly be with a Premier League winners’ medal tucked in his pocket.
The final word went to Nijenhuis, who said: “Our big wish is Liverpool will play Bergentheim here. It’s almost impossible but it would be great.”
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