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Guus Hiddink puts the pressure on!

May 6th, 2009 | By: Jan | 23 Comments »

The Chelsea players aren’t just playing for a spot in the CL finals tonight. Half the team will have to fight for their future at the club. That’s the message Guus Hiddink relayed to his players.

The semi finalist has a bunch of “veteran” players and before Guus returns to Russia this summer, the Dutch success coach will have to advice the board which players deserve a new deal. And which players don’t…

Roman Abramovich pays high salaries to his stars. And if they perform, he couldn’t care less. But not all the players seem to deliver. Tonight’s result could influence the Chelsea owner’s decisions.

It’s pretty logical that Hiddink has influence at this level now. The man has the Midas touch. But it’s also remarkable. In 2005, Chelsea paid Tottenham Hotspur millions to sign youth scout Frank Arnesen, but the Danish dynamite icon is now promoted to a board member position for 12 months. A deferred sacking, so it seems. In 12 months, his contract will be re-assessed.

Arnesen hasn’t been able to develop any youthful player for the first team. He spent millions on young players (to pay other clubs their development cost) but none of these players made it big. Compared to Arsenal, Chelsea has an ageing team and there is no talent on the brink of breaking through.

Hiddink will analyze the group and it’s going to be interesting to see if certain players will step up to the plate. Hiddink is clear about this and he isn’t blind for the dynamics within the team.

Hiddink: ” I try to influence them mentally, that’s right. I have worked with players who start to perform in April/May, when the spotlights are on them. That’s been the case for years. At Chelsea, we need players who can perform all year.”

He can’t handle the knife himself. “Obviously, the new coach will have final say, I guess. I can advice the board, though. When players perform well and are serious about their craft it doesn’t matter whether they are 21 or 31 years old. But Chelsea needs to look at long term. There needs to be a plan, even in the case of the 31 year olds…”

The players under pressure are quite big names. Michael Ballack is 32 years old and makes 150.000 euros per week! His contract needs to be renewed, but Chelsea wants to cut back in salaries. Nicolas Anelka, signed for 20 million euros, makes 80.000 euros per week. He has scored some important goals in the Hiddink era, but was practically invisible before Hiddink.

Didier Drogba is 31 years old but he is the man in form today. He didn’t do much under Scolari. Drogba wanted out but thanks to Hiddink he shines again. His deal ends next year but he has already stated that he’d like to stay on.

Portuguese midfielder Deco (31 years old) will surely leave. The expectations were high when the small playmaker came from Barca to Chelsea but he hasn’t delivered and will also be benched against his former club. New signing Malouda will also have to wait and see what his club wants with him.

Chelsea also pays Shevchenko’s paycheck, who will return to London from his loan deal with AC Milan. That deal didn’t work out and Milan doesn’t need him anymore.

Ex-PSV defender Alex seems to be without a worry. He’s grown into a regular starter and his confidence increased under Hiddink. His free kick is even a weapon in the big games, now.

Chelsea icon Lampard and skipper Terry regret Hiddink’s decision to return to Russia in six weeks. They say that every day with Hiddink is a superday and want to say farewell with a huge party: winning the Champions League and the FA Cup.

Lampard: “Hiddink made Chelsea special again. He has that undefinable quality, like Mourinho and is one of the best on the planet. He’s got that aura… The minute he walked in we knew we were able to do something special this season.”

Lampard and Terry claim it’s Hiddink’s work that the vibe at Chelsea changed. Four months ago, the dressing room was a amunition-room, which could explode any day. Players and coaches were at each other’s throats, the atmosphere was sick and the confidence gone.

Terry: “Everyone wants to work as a team again. We are in two finals now and the competition isn’t over either. I feel we can do this.”

But, Hiddink will need to inspire his team to do something outrageous against football machine Barcelona. Last week Hiddink and his team were criticized by the Spanish media for the negative gameplay against the up and coming Spanish champs. In England however, the media hailed Hiddink for stopping the Spanish team from scoring. Lampard: “We’ve all seen what happened in Madrid, last weekend. When you plan to play along, they slit your throat. We would have liked to attack, but sometimes you feel you can’t. In the first leg you don’t want to be naive.”

Tags: Anelka, Barcelona, Chelsea, Drogba, Group C, Hiddink, Kalou, Lampard, Terry, Vaart

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Comments

By Alex | May 6th, 2009 at 7:39 am

He does that like no other. Mental tricks. I have to say it seems to work every time so.
Btw Bosingwa was very out-spoken about Messi. He apparently studied Messi’s movements, so that’s the key to stopping him .

I was thinking. Arsenal need grown players. Real need to dump their dutch players. 1+1=2 the old switcheroo, one or two dutchies at arsenal, an extra decent defender and things will be running again.

Posted from Netherlands

By Michel-Olivier | May 6th, 2009 at 7:53 am

marco quit ajax

Posted from United States

By finnster01 | May 6th, 2009 at 9:52 am

Thank goodness. Maybe Ajax can get a real coach now. I am annoyed, because not only didn’t he perform, he destroyed the back room staff at Ajax in the process and pissed off JC as well.

Good riddance. What an ass. Couldn’t even have the balls to wait until the end of the season before he threw the toys out of his pram.

By Michel-Olivier | May 6th, 2009 at 11:41 am

first klinsmann second van basten

Posted from United States

By Van Basten | May 6th, 2009 at 1:53 pm

Van Basten is a real coach. Maybe Ajax was never a real club. After all none of the Eredivisie clubs are doing well in the international competition. Hopefully Van Basten will be able to coach abroad (Milan).
Some coaches are just lucky and Guardiola is one of them, b/c his team has the best talented players in the world. So please no criticism of Van Basten. He resigned so let’s move on.
I looooooooooove Van Basten.

Posted from United States

By finnster01 | May 6th, 2009 at 1:59 pm

Somebody please kill this little annoying Irish Leprechaun Tommy Smythe on ESPN. He is singlehandedly managing to destroy the entire game for me.

By finnster01 | May 6th, 2009 at 2:04 pm

Van Basten couldn’t coach a loveseat.

By Jan | May 6th, 2009 at 2:45 pm

Gee, I’m surprised with his press conference: I’m quiting. I’m not good enough. My departure is the best for Ajax. Maybe I’ll quit coaching all together”. More later…

By Bart | May 6th, 2009 at 2:49 pm

Lmao finnster that Smyth guy has quite the annoying voice aha

Posted from Canada

By Bart | May 6th, 2009 at 2:59 pm

Oh and what is with Malouda’s hair? :S lmfao

Posted from Canada

By sonneveld | May 6th, 2009 at 3:37 pm

ubelievable

By Michel-Olivier | May 6th, 2009 at 3:54 pm

guus pseudo catenaccio lose to pep jago bonito

Posted from United States

By finnster01 | May 6th, 2009 at 4:05 pm

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah!!!!!!!!!

Couldn’t have happened to a nicer bunch. Hope Drogba gets expelled from football for life after his referee tantrum in the end. That stuff is just plain stupid, getting a card when you are not on the field and you know it will be in the ref’s report. Who was it that lost his marbles and slapped the guy last time around in the CL final and killed his team? Oh I forget, Drogba. The only looser cannon in soccer is Joey Barton at Newcastle.

About time the Chelsea cheaters got a referee who didn’t take any of their crap and nonsense. He was awful, and from Norway I might add, but at least he was not afraid of John Terry. Only thing missing was Terry crying again. I miss that.

What comes around, goes around, you cheating bunch of blue hooligans. Hiddink never gets to a big final anyway.

Hope Barca kicks Man U’s arse as well, but then they have to play a lot better and stop trying to score the perfect click-clack-one-two-three-goal-straight-through-middle. Vidic and Ferdinand will not allow that to happen. And Messi needs to step up his game. He was invisible for 2 x 90 minutes except that little piece of magic in extra time.

Go on Barca!!!!! Love it!!!!

By Van Basten | May 6th, 2009 at 4:13 pm

I want Computers to referee games from now on!!! Drogba missed so many one on one chances that could have sealed the game, and I knew it long before that those opportunities would come back to haunt them. Hiddink NEVER makes it past the Semis. Semi-Final Syndrome!
Finally, fans and pundits should stop lauding Barcelona’s team this season as the best in the history of football. If this was not luck, I wonder what it is. As I have noticed, Good Never Prevails. There is Never Justice. Instances that come to mind Italy in the World Cup, Man United in last year’s semi-final. There is always this twist in life when those who deserve fall short.
Cynicism is the only way.
Chelsea 4 Life!
Van Basten 4 Life!

Posted from United States

By Bart | May 6th, 2009 at 4:21 pm

I will say Chelsea played waaaay better, and they got a clear penalty denied when Pique handled the ball. However great shot from Iniesta and I feel sorry for Hiddink :p

Posted from Canada

By Marc | May 6th, 2009 at 4:35 pm

why feel sorry for hiddink..? the asshole is a traitor who knowcked us out of the euro, coaches every other team but the ducth team (except 1998) and and he makes more in one week then most coaches do…

Posted from Switzerland

By finnster01 | May 6th, 2009 at 4:43 pm

Hiddink doesn’t even want to coach Chelsea until November when they will give him endless amount of money after Russia fails to qualify for WC2010.

That man has it all made. Ask any Australian, Russian and South Korean how much they really appreciate his commitment to their countries and his answer will always be “it’s all about a fistful of dollars”.

He may be a decent coach, but he is the biggest mercenary in the game, and if I was the chairman of a FA or a top club anywhere, I would not trust the bloke at all.

By Bart | May 6th, 2009 at 4:57 pm

@Marc, that’s a little petty from you isn’t it. The guy isn’t required to do anything except for make the best living for himself as possible. Which he is clearly doing very well. I feel sorry for him because Barca knocked his team out so very unlikely. Stuff like that doesn’t happen often.

@Finnster, If you were in his position I am sure you would do the same. Money get’s you a lot of stuff nowadays.

Posted from Canada

By finnster01 | May 6th, 2009 at 5:01 pm

Just to complete my Drogba rant, he was falling over like a large piece of lumber all game, touched by some very small spaniards, hobbled off and on the field, in “obvious” pain and with tremendous injuries.

He didn’t need much medical attention and wasn’t very injured when he ran straight at the referee after the game in his flip-flops waving his fingers and mouthing off.

This guy is an embarrassment to soccer, and needs some severe punishment. He just does not seem to care about any of his team mates and have never understood that he is playing a team sport. By the way, he did the same thing with his national team. This guy needs treatment by some topshelf pshychologists or he will end up in jaon next door to Joey Barton.

By finnster01 | May 6th, 2009 at 5:02 pm

That last bit should read “in jail next to Joey Barton”

By ferenc | May 6th, 2009 at 6:32 pm

Finn: i’m completely agree with you on hiddink. i’ll never forget him what he did against oranje last summer. he’s a traitort and won against as because he knows the interior secrets of dutch football. unfair. south corea 2002? don’t me laugh saying that he did a great job. the fifa did instead.

Posted from Hungary

By Jan | May 6th, 2009 at 7:07 pm

Personally, I feel football has won. Albeit with some luck .

Barca always wanted to play football. Chelsea played very defensively in Spain and with 1-0 on the board after ten minutes this time around, they couldn’t get a clear lead afterwards. Even with Abidal sent off, Chelsea only created one real chance (the Drogba one). The goal Essien scored – it was a thing of beauty – was not a real chance in my book. Just an opportunistic attempt that paid dividends.

Amazing how this whole game basically saw one real chance and some lame attempts. Iniesta’s goal was a decent shooting opportunity but other than that both teams didn’t create a lot. In particular Barca was shockingly inable to create opportunities. I never saw Dani Alves play such a horrible game. All his crosses were wasted. Xavi’s corner kicks were below par and Alves’ free kicks were not in the same league as – say – Sneijder, Van Persie or C Ronaldo.

Barca needs to learn from this fast, otherwise Man United is having tapas for dinner!

By Caleb | May 7th, 2009 at 10:05 am

I’m glad to see Chelsea get knocked out and I agree with Finnster’s rants on the Chelsea cheaters and Drogba the disgrace (hey, that could almost be a band name or something!). Drogba was diving all over, and Malouda was also falling down like a little girl at every opportunity.

Overall I thought that Chelsea actually did well to shut down Barca, which isn’t an easy task – but it’s also not beautiful football and that’s why I’m glad Barca won in the end. Even so, I think Chelsea actually created more chances than Barca, even though Barca had much more possession. But I’m surprised how difficult it was for Barca. I guess we’ve kind of been overrating them (although they are still able to produce some wonderful football against the right opponents). I’m still going to be cheering for them to beat Manure in the finals though.

Posted from Canada

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