“Peter Bosz immediately gets into the car as soon as that call comes in.”

According to various media, the KNVB has been hit with a major setback. Arne Slot will not become the new national team coach of the Netherlands. That should not come as a surprise, but in Zeist they have been managing things quite aimlessly for months on end.

Arne Slot wants to return as a club coach in a major European competition, as reported among others by ESPN and the Algemeen Dagblad on Thursday evening. The coach sees the national team job as an honor and a dream, but for now Slot is focusing on a return to club football. That may not come as a surprise if you’re just 46 years old, but in Zeist nothing seems logical.

Nigel de Jong may indeed have a World Cup final to his name, but running a federation with hundreds of thousands of members is still something else than playing in a World Cup final and the global finals, or selling old-timers in Hamburg.

Soon after the World Cup, the paths diverged between the KNVB and Ronald Koeman. Since then, the Dutch football association has been looking for a successor, and Slot has been high on the wish list in recent weeks. Now it’s becoming known that the former Liverpool coach would rather focus on a return to club football.

According to multiple sources, the KNVB knows that Slot wants to become national team coach of the Netherlands in the future and that he would find the position and the dream and honor worthy. The step to Oranje, however, the Dutchman is not yet considering at the moment.

AC Milan and Fulham showed far-reaching interest, but Slot did not bite. Also, the Saudi club Al-Ahli wanted to appoint the coach, but Slot wasn’t swayed by that either.

In virtually all national media, the KNVB and Nigel de Jong in particular are facing tough criticism. However, Koeman’s successor is still up in the air and action must be taken quickly in the coming weeks. After all, international matches are just around the corner in the weekend of 12 September. At De Telegraaf, they criticize the KNVB’s mismanagement but also see only one suitable successor for Ronald Koeman.

'Peter Bosz gets into the car immediately when that phone call comes in', said PSV watcher Jeroen Kapteijns recently about the head coach of PSV, referring to a possible attempt by the football association towards Peter Bosz.