How Liverpool boss Arne Slot changed Cyriel Dessers' career as Rangers star reveals touch of class that stays with him
Cyriel Dessers has revealed how a touch of class from now-Liverpool boss Arne Slot changed his career – and has urged fans to take a lesson from the man who showed him empathy.
The Rangers striker admitted this week that he may have to look for a new challenge at Ibrox after losing his place to Moroccan sensation Hamza Igamane. But you won't catch Dessers sulking....after a heart-to-heart with Anfield boss Slot when he was manager at Feyenoord who dropped his then-star striker. Dessers recalled: "When I was at Feyenoord, there was a match Arne Slot started with Bryan Linssen instead of me against Heerenveen.
"I was so disappointed. I came on ten minutes before the end. It was freezing cold, the match was already over, nobody really wanted to go forward. I came on with a really poor attitude because I was so disappointed that I wasn't allowed to start. After the match, Slot sat next to me on the bus.
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"I've had managers who got angry in such a situation. But he actually said in a very normal and calm way that he understood how I felt. He also explained why he had made his choice. I apologised, he said again that he could imagine my emotions.
"I walked back to the back of that bus and felt like it was out of my system. I still think back to that one conversation sometimes. There, Arne proved to me that he is not only a good manager, but also a good person.
"I sometimes miss that empathy in football with the media, with the fans too, who sometimes forget that a player is only human. The world of football is hard, sometimes unreasonable. So it's worth its weight in gold if you have a manager who treats you normally, honestly and with understanding."
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