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LIVERPOOL, England (Reuters) -Dutch coaches have worked for decades across European leagues but Arne Slot is the first to win the top flight in England where many of his compatriots have suffered dents to their reputations over the years.
The 46-year-old led Liverpool to the Premier League title with Sunday's 5-1 thumping of Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield, sealing the championship with four games to spare and bolstering the image of coaches from his country.
"(It feels special) because the country I'm from has a lot of great football players, had a lot of great managers as well," Slot told reporters on Sunday. "To be the first one is so special, because that will always be, that will always stay the same."
Taking over from German Juergen Klopp was always going to be a tough job but Slot proved a more than capable successor and joins Rinus Michels, Johan Cruyff, Leo Beenhakker, Louis van Gaal and Frank Rijkaard in winning a championship outside the Netherlands.
Michels was the first at Barcelona, where his concept of ‘total football’ encouraged players to frequently interchange positions and create devastating attacking play.
Cruyff and Rijkaard continued those principles and were also Spanish league winners, while Beenhakker, who died earlier this month, had LaLiga success with Real Madrid.
While Van Gaal was successful in both Spain with Barcelona and in the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich, he also tops the list of Dutch coaches who arrived in the Premier League to much fanfare only to depart with a tarnished reputation.
His two seasons at Manchester United saw them finish fourth in 2015 and fifth the following year, with his last game in charge an FA Cup final victory over Crystal Palace.
Like Van Gaal, Erik ten Hag made his name at Ajax Amsterdam but his tenure at Manchester United was equally disappointing and brought to a premature end with his sacking last October, early into his third season at Old Trafford.
Ruud van Nistelrooy was the other Dutch coach in the Premier League this season but is awaiting his fate after relegation with Leicester City,who have lost 11 of their last 12 fixtures.
Frank de Boer, Ruud Gullit, Guus Hiddink, Dick Advocaat and Ronald Koeman are among the other high-profile Dutch coaches who failed to make the desired impact in England.
However, Slot’s success could help bring more opportunities to his countrymen in England and other top European leagues.
"We’ll have to wait and see. What Slot has done is unique and truly magnificent," Mario Captein, director of the professional coaches association in the Netherlands, told the daily Algemeen Dagblad.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
