Arne Slot impact felt more than ever as Xabi Alonso exposes weakness
Life without Arne Slot is proving more than a little difficult for Feyenoord following the Dutchman’s move to Liverpool during the summer.
The Rotterdam side replaced the 46-year-old with Danish manager Brian Priske, although his European debut with his new team could not have gone much worse. Feyenoord was thrashed 4-0 in its opening Champions League encounter with Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen.
A Florian Wirtz double, plus an Alejandro Grimaldo strike and a Timon Wellenreuther own goal, resulted in a miserable night for Slot’s former side, and gives it a mountain to climb for the remainder of the league phase in the new Champions League format.
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Things don’t get much easier for the Dutch side, who still have games against Manchester City and Bayern Munich to come, as well as tricky trips to Girona, Benfica and Lille to contend with.
And the team's Eredivisie campaign hasn't got off to the best of starts either. Having finished second to PSV Eindhoven last year under Slot, Feyenoord made an encouraging start to the season by beating its rivals on penalties in the Johan Cruyff Shield - the Dutch equivalent of the Community Shield.
Since then though, Feyenoord has won just one of its league games, drawing the other three to leave them eighth in the table, already nine points behind PSV, albeit with a game in hand.
Leverkusen, on the other hand, continues to look a real force under former Liverpool midfielder Alonso. The German team will make the journey to Anfield in November, while also facing the likes of AC Milan, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid in the league phase.
Liverpool.com says: It’s still too early to declare whether he’s a success at Liverpool yet, but the Slot factor seems to have hit Feyenoord already. He clearly made a big impact during his time in Rotterdam, and his exit looks to have had a negative effect on the side.
Despite finding itself lagging behind in the Eredivisie, Feyenoord is nevertheless unbeaten, and will still have plenty of time to make up that ground on PSV. The Dutch champion is in ominous form though after its title success last season, scoring 20 goals in its opening five league games.
And that thrashing at the hands of Leverkusen leaves it with an almighty task if it's to make it to the knockout stages of the Champions League. Meanwhile, Slot has given Liverpool the perfect start to their European adventure following Tuesday’s victory over AC Milan.