Tottenham Hotspur fan favourite Rafael van der Vaart has commented on an "ultra-attacking" coach who he wanted at Spurs over Ange Postecoglou.
Postecoglou enjoys terrific debut season at Spurs
The Lilywhites have been given a new lease of life by Postecoglou's arrival last summer, with the popular Australian introducing an electric brand of football and one which has Spurs as favourites to qualify for the Champions League.
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ByEmilio Galantini
Spurs soundly beat top-four rivals Aston Villa 4-0 on Sunday in a major boost to their European hopes, with goals from James Maddison, Brennan Johnson, Son Heung-min and Timo Werner putting Unai Emery's side to the sword.
Tottenham now hold all the cards mathematically, possessing a game in hand on Villa who are now just two points above the north Londoners in fourth.
Fulham (away)
March 16th
Luton Town (home)
March 30th
West Ham (away)
April 2nd
Nottingham Forest (home)
April 8th
Newcastle United (away)
April 13th
While they're set to go another season trophyless, Spurs have been exciting to watch, and if they seal a place in the Champions League group stage pot for 2024/25, you can say Postecoglou's debut campaign has been a success.
Chairman Daniel Levy appeared to make the right choice in selecting Postecoglou as Antonio Conte's replacement last summer, but van der Vaart actually wanted another forward-thinking boss in the Spurs dugout.
Van der Vaart says Spurs "need" a coach like Arne Slot
Speaking to 1908.nl, the former Lilywhites star said he was a big fan of Feyenoord boss Arne Slot for the job last year. The Dutchman guided Feyenoord to their first Eredivisie title since 2017 last year, and van der Vaart says Tottenham "need" a coach like Slot.
“I don't think so, at least I know that," said van der Vaart on whether Slot rejected Spurs.
“Spurs has chosen a different path, I know that. Although I would have liked Slot to be the one, because my Spurs heart says that that club needs such a trainer. He's [Postecoglou] a really nice guy. He also did well at Celtic and is now also doing very well at Tottenham."
Tottenham certainly won't have any regrets over picking Postecoglou over Slot, but if things don't work out with the 58-year-old in future seasons, perhaps he is someone they can turn to in the coming years.
"The best thing about Arne Slot is that he is probably the best attacking coach I have seen in the last 35-40 years at Feyenoord," said journalist Marcel van der Kraan to talkSPORT (via FFC).
"He is very similar to Pep Guardiola, his ideas are very similar, he is a massive fan of Pep and he plays the same time. He goes ultra-attacking, he is almost like a maniac. Not on the touchline but it is fantastic to see how he has turned an average side into a wonderful attacking machine."