‘Then he will be the next to leave the field in De Kuip’

Valentijn Driessen can understand Feyenoord’s decision for Marino Pusic. The born Bosnian is clearly in the minds of the Rotterdam team as a successor to Brian Priske, who will probably be fired in Rotterdam.

Pusic previously worked at Feyenoord as assistant coach to Arne Slot. ‘Now Pusic must return as main responsible and lead Feyenoord in the spirit of Slot. Because many players from that time are still under contract, the choice for Pusic is understandable,” Driessen said in his column in De Telegraaf. ‘At the same time, being a head coach is very different from the assistant role. For example, Slot handled this well at AZ, but Alfred Schreuder fell through the ice at Ajax.’

According to Driessen, general manager Dennis te Kloese is playing with his own future at the club. ‘He was the great advocate for Priske at Feyenoord last summer. He had followed the Dane for years and his data impressed Te Kloese,” said the columnist. ‘However, from the very first moment it has been a mismatch between Feyenoord and the Dane, and it was strange that Priske van Te Kloese was allowed to just throw Slot’s successful philosophy over the fence. Te Kloese had not done enough homework.’

“A wrong choice is possible, but the general manager – previously also technical director – cannot afford a second mistake in terms of coaching,” Driessen continues. ‘Pusic must be right. If the coaching coin falls wrong again with Pusic, then Te Kloese’s role at Feyenoord is over and he will be the next to leave the field at De Kuip.’