Slot Becomes First Dutch Manager to Win the Premier League | OneFootball

The Premier League is a division that has seen a wealth of different personalities and nationalities working in it over the years. In spite of the fact that it has been dominated by a select few personalities, with the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger and José Mourinho springing to mind, there have been opportunities for others to step up to the plate and more than a few Dutch managers have had a go at one point or another.

Yet Arne Slot has become the first person from the Netherlands to manage a title-winning team, which he’s achieved with Liverpool this season.

Which Other Dutch Managers Have Had a Go?

Were you to say that Arne Slot is the first Dutch manager to win the Premier League and then it turned out that he was the only manager from the Netherlands to take on the challenge, then it would be distinctly less impressive an achievement. Yet not only is he not the only Dutch manager to work in the Premier League, you could argue that others have been better placed to succeed during their time working in the English top-flight. Here is a look at all of the ones that have come before the title-winning Liverpool manager:

Frank de Boer – Crystal Palace

Frank de Boer was brought in to manage Crystal Palace after having previously been in charge at Ajax and Inter Milan, winning four Eredivisie titles with the former. Brought in to take over from Sam Allardyce, he lasted just four matches in the top-flight and lost all of his games.

It says something for his disastrous spell in charge of the club that Palace decided to bullet him and brought in Roy Hodgson as his replacement. Sure, the former Liverpool and England manager got them to finish 11th, but if ‘Roy Hodgson’ is the answer then the question must be really depressing.

Rene Meulensteen – Fulham

There will be some people of a certain age thinking ‘I’d totally forgotten about that guy!’ It’s an entirely understandable reaction, given the fact that he was largely forgettable. He took over at Fulham and asked to work alongside fellow Dutch coach Martin Jol.

When the Cottagers were in the relegation zone a month later, Jol was relieved of his position and Meulensteen took sole charge. Things didn’t get much better, however, with the first three wins followed up with a draw and nine defeats, meaning he was sacked too.

Dick Advocaat – Sunderland

When Sunderland sacked Gus Poyet, they brought Dick Advocaat in as an interim boss. He steered the Black Cats clear of relegation and was seen in tears after the final whistle of the 0-0 draw with Arsenal that kept his club in the Premier League.

As a result, he was given a one-year contract but resigned in the early part of October 2016 after the club had failed to win any of the first eight games of the season. He was replaced by Sam Allardyce, who managed to keep them safe in 17th.

Ruud Gullit – Chelsea / Newcastle United

It is fair to say that Ruud Gullit was one of the coolest people to work in the Premier League, having arrived at Chelsea in 1995 as a former Ballon d’Or winner. He was given the player-manager role when Glenn Hoddle left to become England manager.

Having signed big money to bring in well-known stars, he won the FA Cup but was sacked the following February by Chairman Ken Bates. The following season he became Newcastle United manager, making it to the FA Cup final but losing before falling out with Alan Shearer.

Ronald Koeman – Southampton / Everton

When Mauricio Pochettino left Southampton to take the Tottenham Hotspur job in the June of 2016, Ronald Koeman was brought in to replace him. He took the Saints to seventh place and, with Virgil van Dijk as his central defender, finished sixth a year later.

That was enough to persuade Everton to give him the manager’s job for the 2016-2017 season, taking them to seventh in his debut season. The following one wasn’t as good, however, and the Blues were in the drop zone in the October, so he was sacked after 16 months in charge.

Martin Jol – Tottenham / Fulham

We have mentioned Martin Jol already, owing to his role at Fulham. His life in England actually began at Tottenham Hotspur when he took over from Jacques Santini and proved to be a popular figure at White Hart Lane, taking the club to consecutive fifth-placed finishes.

Things didn’t go as well in the 2006-2007 season, though, leading to Daniel Levy reportedly sacking him by text message midway through his final match. That didn’t stop the Cottagers from hiring him, but when things didn’t work out with Meulensteen as joint-manager, he was sacked.

Erik Ten Hag – Manchester United

Having won the Eredivisie three times as well as making it to the Champions League final whilst Ajax manager, Manchester United felt as though they were onto a sure thing with Erik Ten Hag. The bad news for the Red Devils, though, was that the club is an absolute mess.

He was the first manager since 1921 to lose his first two games in charge of the club and things didn’t get much better from there. He did win the League Cup against Newcastle United and the FA Cup against Manchester City, which fooled people into thinking he had something. He did not.

Guus Hiddink – Chelsea

If you want to talk about a Dutch manager that really should have won the Premier League title, then you need look no further than Guus Hiddink. He arrived at Stamford Bridge during the Roman Abramovich era, meaning that hundreds of millions of pounds had been spent.

In the end, though, his two brief spells as caretaker manager ended up with just the FA Cup in the 2008-2009 campaign, having taken over from Luiz Felipe Scolari. The good news was that he defeated Everton in the FA Cup final, meaning they still haven’t won anything since 1995.

Louis van Gaal – Manchester United

Another Dutch manager who should’ve done better than he did was Louis van Gaal, who took over at the club the season after David Moyes had succeeded Sir Alex Ferguson. He won some big games with the Red Devils, but ultimately failed to maintain a title push.

In the end, he did what other Dutch managers achieved by winning the FA Cup, yet he was sacked by the club just two days later. That might have been because they ended up fifth in the league whilst Leicester City won the title, but the good news is United have remained terrible since.

Ruud van Nistelrooy

There is little question that Ruud van Nistelrooy was one of the best strikers to grace the Premier League, helping Manchester United to win the likes of the title, the FA Cup and the League Cup during his time there. Questions do exist over his managerial prowess, however.

He was given the interim role at Old Trafford when Erik Ten Hag was sacked, impressing enough to mean that Leicester City gave him the job when they removed Steve Cooper in the 2024-2025 season. He did little to improve the Foxes, however, and Liverpool relegated them in April.

How Slot Broke the Dutch Mould

With a long line of Dutch managers having done no better than winning domestic trophies, many questioned the decision to give Arne Slot the role as Jürgen Klopp’s replacement at Liverpool. The German manager had brought the Reds back to life, winning the club’s first title of the Premier League era as well as making us one of the best teams in Europe. He won everything that there was to win, so many expected things to fall apart at Anfield after his departure. Slot had other ideas, however, coming in as his own man and quietly going about his business.

He decided that the Reds needed control first and foremost, putting tactics in place to mean that it was fairly clear to the nerds who look at the underlying numbers of football matches that he was the real deal early on. The players seemed to get on board with what he was doing and the defeat to Nottingham Forest was his only league defeat in the calendar year of 2024 across Liverpool and Feyenoord. He was fortunate the Manchester City fell off a cliff, but even if he didn’t his team was still good enough to challenge and thanks to him the Reds have won yet another title, this time when supporters can celebrate.