Guus Hiddink was the first to acknowledge he should not have been here. Christmas in Cobham is all well and good but the Hiddinks had plans. There was a trip to India booked, the intention to maintain a recent family trend of spending the festive season outside Europe, only for a call from a former employer in need to scupper the plans of his wife, Liesbeth Pinas.
“At home they were, what’s the expression? pissed off,” said the Dutchman. “But they know me. The second reaction was: ‘Clearly, you still have that desire and passion to do your job.‘ They could see it in my eyes. So they’re going without me.“
That was said in jest but, regardless, the 69-year-old’s focus is fixed. Hiddink’s second spell as Chelsea’s interim manager begins on St Stephen’s Day against the same opponents he faced in his opening game last time round. Watford, then of the second tier, were swept aside in an FA Cup fifth-round tie at Vicarage Road six years ago as the caretaker watched Ray Wilkins pick the team.
Proper test
On Saturday Watford arrive at Stamford Bridge 10 points and eight places better off than the faded champions. Quique Sánchez Flores’s side will pose real problems and are anything but ideal rivals to take on first up. A proper test awaits.
It is a fixture that already has Hiddink’s juices flowing. He has taken up the reins apparently aware of the issues that so undermined José Mourinho‘s position but anxious not to linger on them. He would prefer to offer everyone a fresh start as he seeks to instigate a revival.
Player confidence can be addressed. Those who have been most underachieving may be reassured by a new man at the helm. Any dissenting voices within the ranks, figures who might not be up for the fight and whose commitment to a short-term appointment could waver, are welcome to make themselves known, but sympathy will be in short supply.
“There must be a great desire to play,” Hiddink said. “If you don‘t have that desire, please knock on my door and we’ll talk. We’ll talk briefly. I am making a strong appeal to them, not begging them, but they have a profound obligation to perform. They are here at a big club. They are well paid. They must have this heart full of desire.
“If they don‘t have that desire, then I will say: ‘Thank you very much. Goodbye.’ I don’t need players who don’t have the desire. Theoretically, I shouldn’t be here, halfway into the season. It means things have not gone as well as had been foreseen at the beginning of the season. So I shouldn’t be here, but I am. And I’m glad to be.
Be hypercritical
“I’ve spoken fully to the squad and we talked a bit about the past. Why I’m here. The reasons why we are down. But, on the other hand, I told them I want everyone to look in the mirror, not just for two seconds but for longer, and see what they can contribute from now on to raise us up.
“We cannot ignore what has happened but I told them to look in the mirror and be hypercritical. In the two sessions I’ve overseen so far, I cannot complain about the attitude or ambition. They have to show what they are capable of and wash away the last half year.”
The sense of deja vu is obvious. Retreat to February 2009 and Hiddink had sat in the same chair, flanked by the same head of communications, and outlined pretty much the same objectives. Mathematically, it is still possible to claw back the 11 points to the top four and secure Champions League qualification. The FA Cup, the last of the 14 trophies he has claimed as a manager, sees Scunthorpe United visit Stamford Bridge next month. There is a Champions League knockout tie against Paris Saint-Germain to come in February and, as Hiddink pointed out, “we didn’t even lose to Barcelona in the semi-finals back in 2009”.
Tie surrendered
Indeed, while that tie was surrendered controversially to Andrés Iniesta’s away goal, the interim manager lost only one of 22 games in charge. His side dropped only five Premier League points in 13 matches.
“But that was a different group of players. That was the team of Drogba, Lampard, Ballack and Essien, big players at that time. Leaders. Now we also have big players, but it’s difficult to compare. And this league is different. It is very strong, as is proven by clubs who are not usually at the top – Leicester, Crystal Palace, Watford – being there, amazingly and refreshingly. That means all the teams can kill each other. It is much more competitive now.”
That poses a new challenge, even if there is confidence he can eke out form from the players akin to that which earned last season‘s title. Roman Abramovich, he said, had been “hurting” when he took the decision to sack Mourinho but Chelsea‘s predicament on the brink of the relegation zone had been “frightening”.
The priority is to remind the squad of their collective capabilities, the targets all short term as they had been six years ago.
Back then, the players had conducted a lavish whip-round before the FA Cup final to buy Hiddink a limited edition Rolex watch worth €200,000 as a send-off. “I don’t wear a watch but it still has a very prominent place in my house in Amsterdam,” he said. “Now I’d like to earn myself another one for my right wrist.” Guardian Service
