Arne Slot ruined the title dreams of the Liverpool player who tormented him four times

Cody Gakpo is perhaps more familiar with his new manager, Arne Slot, than any of his Liverpool teammates.

The Dutchman became the latest Red to speak out for the Feyenoord boss after scoring in Liverpool’s 4-2 win over Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

Speaking to Viaplay, he admitted he was “very curious” at the prospect of his compatriot replacing Jurgen Klopp in the Anfield dugout, recalling the “often difficult games” he played against Feyenoord at the Slot in his time in the Eredivisie.

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Virgil van Dijk once met Slot when his compatriot was still a player for PEC Zwolle and was still on the books of FC Groningen, while Ryan Gravenberch faced his Feyenoord side twice in his final season with Ajax. Meanwhile, the future Reds boss was assistant manager at AZ Alkmaar when he twice clashed with a Willem II side that contained loanee Kostas Tsimikas.

However, it is Gakpo who boasts the most experience against the Slot team after enjoying a breakthrough season with PSV Eindhoven in 2018/19.

Having given up two meetings with AZ in 2018/19 when Slot was still assistant manager, the Liverpool forward has locked horns with his future boss four times between October 2019 and September 2022 – losing twice, drawing once and winning the last meeting .

Notching three goals and three assists from such outings, the now 25-year-old certainly impressed individually against Slot’s sides. However, his future manager boasts the advantage, with such results proving costly for Gakpo in more ways than one.

Gakpo first faced a Slot team when his compatriot was enjoying his first season in charge of AZ Alkmaar. The then 20-year-old started straight away for PSV, completing 77 minutes, but a red card to Ryan Thomas midway through the goalless first half ultimately doomed the now-Liverpool striker and the team since then.

Slot’s side would go on to claim an emphatic 4-0 win at PSV’s Philips Stadion. With the coronavirus pandemic causing the Eredivisie to be abandoned in the 2019/20 campaign, the two sides were denied a return meeting in Alkmaar.

Fourth-placed PSV were seven points behind second-placed AZ, having played a game more, when the campaign ended, however, with Slot’s side securing qualification for next season’s Champions League qualifiers.

Slot had already been sacked by AZ, having already agreed to take over at Feyenoord from the start of next season when PSV clashed with them both times in 2020/21. Consequently, Gakpo would meet again with his next manager by September 2021.

Again, it would prove to be a miserable day for PSV. Until now, club captain Gakpo started on the left at the Philips Stadion as Slot’s side won convincingly 4-0 in September 2021. The defeat left PSV third in the table, with Feyenoord above their rivals in second place.

Fast forward to May 2022 and they would battle to a 2-2 draw at De Kuip, with Slot once again frustrating Gakpo – despite his best efforts.

The forward, once again captaining his side on the left, scored a brace to put PSV 2-0 up inside the first half hour. However, after Cyriel Dessers halved the deficit in the 86th minute, he was withdrawn in favor of Marco van Ginkel as PSV, chasing title glory, looked to protect their lead.

Unfortunately, they did not last as a penalty from Dessers in the 96th minute gave Feyenoord a share of the spoils. The stalemate, which comes with just two games of the season remaining, would prove particularly costly for PSV as they finished second in the table and missed out on the title by just two points to Ajax.

Had they not won just one point from two meetings with Slot’s men, they would have been crowned champions. Meanwhile, Slot’s side finished the season in third place, 12 points behind the champions and 10 points behind PSV.

Meeting for the last time in September 2022, Gakpo produced an eye-catching performance from the left at Phillips Stadion to help PSV run out 4-3 winners.

Trailing after just three minutes, Gakpo set up Jarrad Branthwaite to equalize from a corner before firing PSV into the lead. Slot’s Feyenoord would have restored it on the stroke of half-time, only for the Liverpool striker to cross to Guus Til to make it 3-2 just after the restart.

And as PSV were pulled back again, Gakpo set up a late winner for Armando Obispo from another corner.

The win saw PSV climb to the top of the table, overtaking Feyenoord, who would drop to fourth. However, a 1-0 defeat at home to AZ Alkmaar in what would prove to be Gakpo’s last appearance for the club in November, before his move to Anfield, saw them relinquish top spot ahead of 2022 World Cup.

A 5-1 win for Feyenoord in Slot over Excelsior the next day saw them top for the first time since the season opener. And they kept it up for the rest of the campaign to win the Eredivisie title for the first time since 2017 as they finished seven points clear of a now Gakpo-less PSV in second place.

Both Slot and Gakpo have shared admiring glances at each other during their overlapping spells in their homeland, with the Liverpool forward inevitably delighted to link up with his former rival.

While he can boast three goals and three assists against his future manager’s sides in four meetings, such fixtures have seen the 25-year-old twice on the receiving end of heavy defeats at home and missing out on both Champions League qualification. and two Eredivisie titles.

And having seen Gakpo up close, both as a striker and as a left-back, it will at least be interesting to see where Slot feels about launching the versatile forward when he ties up at Anfield next season.