Feyenoord coach Arne Slot calls overly critical Mats Wieffer to order: ‘That’s something you’d rather not have’ | Dutch football

Slot called two of his midfielders again this week. After the disappointing 0-0 against Fortuna Sittard, the coach of Feyenoord was already thinking about how he can beat Sparta with his team and so the clocks had to be set this week.

Mats Wieffer was the first to face Slot. ,,I talked to him about his self-criticism”, says Slot. “I think he exaggerated. I said he drew full attention to it. Soon the statements about loss of ball will soon come to the surface if he would have made the wrong choice a few times. While Mats just played well in the second half against Fortuna. The first half was bad, but he recovered. But this is also how Mats is.”

And that could be a little less, thinks Slot. “He has something about him that when things go wrong, the whole world sees that things go wrong for a while. That’s something you’d rather not have. If you radiate that, the opponent will receive energy from it. It’s really good if you’re self-critical. But you have to add a certain nuance to that. He’s out of shape, I read. We are in two games. I told him what my grandfather, who unfortunately passed away, used to say. Once you get the name of getting up early, you’ll never be late again.”

Ramiz Zerrouki was also featured. The Algeria international had to give up his place early on. ,,So it makes sense to talk to him about it”, says Slot. “To explain what the idea was. He showed disappointment after the substitution. That didn’t happen once with us last season, but I didn’t change a player before half time last season either. But that’s what you talk about.”

Marcus Pedersen and Bart Nieuwkoop are not available for the derby Sunday at the Kasteel. The Norwegian moves to Sassuolo, Nieuwkoop is suspended for two games. Gernot Trauner is normally back in the match selection, but it seems too early for the Austrian to be able to start a match. That offers perspective for Thomas Beelen, who had already been put to work as a substitute against Fortuna. ,,Then he showed why we consider him very talented”, says Slot. “But of course there is more to it to confirm that.”

Slot did not respond to Luka Ivanusec, who has been coveted by Feyenoord for months. The Croat from Dinamo Zagreb has been on his way to De Kuip for weeks, but internally in Rotterdam patience is starting to run out. Ivanusec now really has to come to De Kuip and if Zagreb again puts something on the table that delays the transfer, Feyenoord will consider switching to alternatives. ,,We have that”, director Dennis te Kloese says. “But they can’t wait.”

Feyenoord especially wants to prevent it from being left empty-handed. The arrival of Oussama Idrissi, on a rental basis, is still considered very realistic in Rotterdam. Slot says he is mainly busy with the match against Sparta. “Do I feel pressure? Yes, but I hope my players too. After the 0-0 against Fortuna Sittard, we immediately want to put something right.”