The manager Daniel Levy gave his verdict on Tottenham Hotspur's modern-day team. "They are always a joy to watch," he said. He had been an interested onlooker for years, watching on from abroad, seduced by the glamour of their flair players. "I watch a lot of Match of the Day and [with] David Ginola, Paul Gascoigne, Luka Modric, Gareth Bale, Rafael van der Vaart.
They have always been a certain brand and a certain identity," he added.
It could have been his brand, too. Because the man eulogising about Spurs had turned down the chance to coach them. He did not say so explicitly, because that is not Arne Slot's way. He prefers not to talk about the expiring deals of his players, in Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk.
Nor does he want to discuss Tottenham's attempts to appoint him in 2023. "I think it's the same answer that I always give you about Mo's contract situation and those things," he smiled.
Slot is more comfortable celebrating the man they appointed a couple of weeks after he decided to stay at Feyenoord and signed a new contract. An exhaustive search that seemed to take in Julian Nagelsmann, Mauricio Pochettino, Vincent Kompany, Roberto De Zerbi and Luis Enrique ended with Ange Postecoglou becoming Tottenham manager.
It would be out of character for Slot to suggest that he ranked higher than the Australian on Spurs' shortlist. He prefers to praise Postecoglou and otherwise keep his counsel.
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