Why Arne Slot rejected Tottenham as Liverpool boss can pile misery on Thomas Frank

Liverpool faces Tottenham later today, with Spurs boss Thomas Frank coming under increasing pressure. Things could have been very different had Arne Slot made a different decision

Arne Slot turned down the chance to become Tottenham's manager in 2023(Image: Getty Images)

It certainly hasn’t been a stellar second season in charge at Liverpool for Arne Slot, but he’s far from the only Premier League boss under pressure - as he will see for himself later today.

After guiding the Reds to the title in his first campaign in charge at Anfield, Slot has found things much tougher this time around - both on and off the pitch. While his side’s form has been a long way off what it showed last season, the Dutchman has also had to deal with the chaos surrounding Mohamed Salah’s unexpected outburst earlier this month.

The Liverpool head coach has managed to arrest the slide somewhat in recent games, and the Reds will be looking to make it six games unbeaten as they head to Tottenham today, with their hosts having plenty of their own problems.

Thomas Frank finds himself under increasing pressure, just a few months after succeeding Ange Postecoglou as Spurs’ manager. The former Brentford boss has picked up just two league wins at home all season so far, with his own supporters quickly becoming restless.

Things could have been so much different for Tottenham - for starters, Slot could have been the man facing Liverpool today.

Spurs talked to Slot in 2023, when the club was looking for a replacement for Antonio Conte, but he turned the job down in favor of remaining at Feyenoord for another season.

Arne Slot could have been Tottenham manager before Thomas Frank

Explaining his decision at the time, Slot suggested that he was influenced by wanting to manage Feyenoord in the 2023-24 Champions League.

“The decisive factor was playing the Champions League,” Slot said. “The fantastic work with the staff and the players, the fact that I’m having a great time privately and being able to build on the past two seasons.

“I didn’t know what would happen [with Tottenham]. I weighed everything up, including whether the people who work with me would want to come with me."

However, addressing Spurs' interest in him again when speaking earlier this year, Slot said that his decision to snub the job was actually heavily influenced by his family.

"Not going to Spurs was 99 per cent a family decision," Slot said. "I even told my kids they could easily visit me in London during the school holidays. My daughter said that during the school holidays, she wanted to spend time with her friends.

"I thought moving directly from Feyenoord to Spurs was a huge deal — because who goes from Feyenoord straight to Tottenham? At Spurs and another club — I won’t mention the name myself — I had to give a presentation, explain my tactical approach, and compete against other coaches."

Arne Slot became Liverpool head coach in 2024, a year after he spoke to Tottenham(Image: Paul ELLIS / AFP via Getty Images)

Slot added: "When Liverpool came along last season, everything was completely different. Nothing surpasses Liverpool. I did tell my agent, Rafaella Pimenta, that I wanted to know whether I was the only candidate. If that hadn’t been the case, I don’t know if I would have gone through with it.

"Liverpool acted completely differently. Sporting director Richard Hughes came to visit me and I was surprised by how much he already knew about me.

"A few months earlier, (technical director) Julian Ward had called me. I knew him from the time when he was responsible for Liverpool’s loaned players.

"He told me he was doing a tour around Europe, visiting clubs. He asked if he could come and watch me. Later, I realized that his visit served a different purpose. It shows how meticulous Liverpool is in their approach."