Former Liverpool coach Arne Slot broke his silence and spoke about the rumors that emerged in the past period regarding the possibility of him taking over as coach of the Netherlands national team, succeeding Ronald Koeman, who was dismissed from his position.
Slot's name was linked during the past period with coaching the Netherlands, as the Dutch Football Association seeks to settle on a coach to lead the Oranje after the failure under Koeman's leadership at the World Cup.
In statements to the magazine "Voetbal International", which were reported by "BBC Sport", Slot acknowledged the Dutch Football Association's negotiations with him to coach the national team, but he rejected the position, as he wants to continue coaching a club.
Slot said: "Over the past weeks, especially during the past few days, some reports emerged regarding the position of coach of the Netherlands, which indicate that I apologized for coaching the national team, including matters related to salary and contract duration, but these speculations are incorrect, as we did not reach this stage of negotiation".
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He added: "At this stage of my career as a coach, I prefer to be on the pitch every day with my team's players, and this will not happen in the same way with the national team. This is the reason I chose not to continue the talks with the Dutch Football Association and not to start negotiations regarding the potential contract duration".
He clarified: "I have great respect for the national team and the Dutch Football Association, and I can only be positive about the professional way the talks proceeded during that week".
Slot concluded: "At the present time, I believe that coaching clubs is still better and offers me a lot in my career. It would be a great honor for me to coach my country's national team, but this is not the right time for me".
Roberto Martínez, the former Portugal coach, has become the frontrunner to succeed Koeman in coaching the Netherlands in the coming period, according to the latest reports (details here).
