After resigning as a Vitessa mentor, Leonid Slutsky has been unemployed for more than two weeks, but remains in the information field. The Russian specialist posts self-ironic posts on social networks and actively communicates with reporters: he gave a great interview to Alexander Golovin and visited Match TV, where he told a lot of interesting things about working in the Netherlands and about his future prospects. In particular, the trainer explained why he did not succeed at Vitesse.

“In my opinion, a foreign coach is ineffective in the Dutch system. This country is not for foreign specialists with fundamentally different views on the game, ”said Slutsky in the Insiders program on the Match Premier television channel.

“I could no longer hear endlessly about defensive football. The local journalist who hated me said: "Volga Catenaccio." I answered: “70 goals scored. 70! ”Added the specialist.

According to Slutsky, he did not see the future for himself in Dutch football and could not influence the situation. Also, Russian failure was prompted by the Russians to leave Vitesse.

“In general, I am very proud of my work both in terms of team results, and in terms of performance, and in terms of the development of players and their sales in an endless turnover of personnel. It was a great experience, but at some point I decided that it should not be continued. In general, an understanding of the processes took place during the course of the last season. I had a contract until the end of the year, and I realized that I would work it out completely. In such a situation, it makes no sense to resist - the local specialist will be more effective, he will suit everyone, ”added Slutsky.

The specialist also told how he managed to become so popular in the Netherlands, where the trainers were very fond of both journalists and ordinary fans. According to him, people were bribed by kindness and a sense of humor in him.

“They treated me great, loved and adored. This is all my demeanor: Russian is such a direct style when you say something in the forehead, but they are not used to it. Plus, my sense of humor and deep adaptation in the Netherlands, because I participated in all programs, studied history and traveled a lot around the country. I can’t complain about anything. The attitude towards me as a person was great. One person even came up and said: “I have a feeling that Vladimir Putin sent you to us in the Netherlands in order to create the most positive image of Russians among the Dutch.” Of course, this flattered my vanity. I have not heard a single bad word. The attitude was super, ”said Slutsky.

The coach also spoke about a possible return to Russia, where he had not worked since the end of 2016, after leaving CSKA. The specialist emphasized that "everything will depend on the proposal."

“I know myself very well: if it starts to burn inside me, which I really want, then I begin to choose, not wait. Maybe the internal state will be calmer and it will take me some time to make a choice if it is, ”said Slutsky.

At the same time, the coach emphasized that he would never go to work in Spartak in his life.

“This would be wrong from all sides: from the point of view of the club, from the point of view of the fans, from the point of view of the leadership of the team that owns part of my heart. I’m talking about CSKA, ”said the former mentor of the army.

Finally, Slutsky admitted that in early December he was really interested in the Greek AEK. Then the media reported that the club made the Russians an offer, but he refused. This was later confirmed by specialist agent Christian Emile. Now Slutsky himself spoke about the reason for this decision.

“I met with the sports director. Firstly, they demanded that I be dealt with immediately in two days. I was emotionally tired, and they need a "firefighter trainer." Secondly, I’m not ready now to make a decision very quickly, to run for the first offer I get, ”the coach explained.

As a result, AEK was headed by another specialist, not foreign to Russia, Massimo Carrera, and under the leadership of the Italian, the away team beat Xanthi with a minimum score.

Returned to the victory path and Vitesse, which after the departure of Slutsky was accepted by the former team coach Joseph Osting. In the match of the 17th round of the Eredivisi, the Arnemians defeated Twente (3-0) thanks to a double from Brian Linssen.

Slutsky himself, as already mentioned, rather ironically assessed the stage of work in the Netherlands and his dismissal. So, for example, he posted a funny video with a jumper in the water and the caption: "Briefly about my season in Vitesse."

View this Instagram post

briefly about my season in Vitesse 2019/20 Briefly about my season in Vitesse 2019/20

Posted by Leonid Slutsky 🇷🇺 (@ leonid.slutsky) Dec 9, 2019 @ 12:30 pm PST

And a little later, the trainer on his Instagram page posted another funny video with the caption "When I got home - and it's been ten days without work."

View this Instagram post

when returned home and was already ten days without work When he returned home and has already been ten days without work 😁

Posted by Leonid Slutsky 🇷🇺 (@ leonid.slutsky) Dec 12, 2019 @ 1:43 am PST