Robin van Persie aims to continue Arne Slot's legacy at Feyenoord as ex-Arsenal & Man Utd star reveals lessons he learned from Arsene Wenger & Sir Alex Ferguson

After becoming Feyenoord head coach, former Netherlands striker Van Persie says he is "happy" to continue the legacy left by Slot - who departed for Liverpool last summer. He also revealed that his ex-Arsenal boss Wenger and former United manager Ferguson passed on some salient advice that he will use in the dugout going forward.

He told The Mirror: “We should all be very proud that Arne has worked here at Feyenoord for three years. He did a really great job, absolutely raised the level, and if you see how he is doing now at Liverpool that is really something we are proud of. I am happy to continue the work with his legacy. I won’t suffer from it, on the contrary, I see it as a plus because a number of players who worked under Arne know the patterns I like to see.

“The best coaches I have had, like Wenger and Ferguson, kept everything as simple as possible. Football is not simple. There is an incredible amount involved. But the trick in management and training a style of play, is to constantly make everything simpler. This is something I have learnt from them.”

Van Persie added: “I have had a good talk with the players and I know what I want to achieve. I was lucky that after Arsene Wenger I also got to work with Sir Alex Ferguson. I really learned from Sir Alex. One of his best pieces of advice was that everything you say to your players, you have to keep your word. He was great at that.

“If he promised something, he kept it. I strive for that too. If you say something, it has to mean something for your players and staff. I’ve had the opportunity to work under fantastic managers. Arsene was great at giving confidence and chances to players. I try to include that in my own approach and make it part of my man-management skills.”

Van Persie has been fortunate enough to work with some of the best managers of all time in Ferguson and Wenger. He made a positive start to life as a manager with Heerenveen and now the Dutchman has a bigger test at Feyenoord. This may be a sink or swim moment for the former striker as many ex-footballers have shown that good players do not necessarily make good coaches.

Van Persie's first game in charge of Feyenoord is at home to NEC on Saturday night in Eredivisie action.