Hiddink on Abramovich

Guus Hiddink’s column in De Telegraaf:

Since people always assciate me with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich I thought it would be good to explain a bit about our relationship. I met him five times. Four times in London and once secretly at the PSV training complex.

In Eindhoven, we had a long talk - in English - about the development of Russian football. And then I am talking about the infrastructure, stadiums, training fields, a structured youth development program, etc. That talk was the start of my relationship and contract with the Russian football association. What struck me about Abramovich, was his supportive way of thinking. He is not the type of man to demand things, but he is interested in how you would things. The more clarity you can give him, the more he appreciates that. And despite his enormous wealth, he will never abuse his position or status.

He is a very relaxed man, highly committed in sports in general and football in particular. But he is not so much interested in the technicalities of the execution. He is mainly interested in how to transform resources into action. With Chelsea, that is a short term thing, with the Russian team he has a more long term approach. The objectives we have with Russian football cannot be met from day one. Russia was always a reactive nation, in terms of football philosophy. You can’t change that in two years and that’s why we chose the WC in 2010 as our first real test-case.

And although he is not involved in the operational side of things, I did get a very nice text message after the match against England. We lost 3-0 in London, but his text said: “Don’t worry, we have enjoyed the way we played.”

I think that was the main problem between him and Mourinho. With Chelsea, Abramovich invested a lot of money in players and not so much in infrastructure. And you need to be able to show the world that with those players you can play for the results and you can play attractive football. And I think he missed the latter with Chelsea.

But, let’s be frank here, he never discussed it with me. And all those stories about me being a candidate for the Chelsea job… We never ever discussed it. I know, never say never in football, but that step would not make sense. With the Russian team, 2o10 is the end of phase 1. There are plans beyond 2010 and with Abramovich long term commitment and vision, it seems very unlikely that he himself would break that process open. But I do feel that the way we work at the national level in Russia appeals to Abramovich and may become a model for what he wants with Chelsea.