Guus Hiddink: Chelsea players need to show “great desire”

Christmas in Cobham is all well and good but the Hiddinks had plans. They weren’t so bad in front of the opposition goal the following season, scoring more than any other team in the league, but they still managed to go down and are still the only team to have won England’s top division one year and been relegated the next. “What I know of Chelsea is that the fans back up the team, but the team has to show it first”. What line-up would you like to see start? However, 22 year old Belgium failed to hold down a regular starting pace, having been fourth choice behind Fernando Torres, Samuel Eto’o and Drogba himself.

New Chelsea boss Guus Hiddink has warned fans that appointing him as manager does not mean the squad have a quick fix to their recent problems. It wasn’t long ago he was being talked about as a potential Ballon d’Or contender in the years to come, but his confidence has evidently been shaken by this season’s concerning displays.

Chelsea is 15th after 17 games and faces seventh-placed Watford Saturday.

It is a fixture that already has Hiddink’s juices flowing.

Hiddink said that the players must have a “great desire to play” and if they didn’t they should “knock on my door” and they would “talk briefly”.

‘”They are here at a big club”. They told me yesterday we’d had a nice breakfast but we couldn’t agree who would pay! They must have the heart full of the desire of an amateur.

“If they don’t have that desire, then I will say: ‘Thank you very much”. So I shouldn’t be here, but I am. Why I’m here. The reasons why we are down. I will see what will happen. But they are into the last 16 of the Uefa Champions League.

The sense of deja vu is obvious.

Hiddink, who led the club to the FA Cup in his opening spell at the helm back in 2009, reflected on the club’s poor form prior to his arrival and stressed it would not be easy to turn the situation around. If Drogba makes the switch from Montreal Impact to coach the Premier League Champions, it could carve a sensational return for Lukaku.

Hiddink has been brought in for a second time as interim manager.

“But that was a different group of players”.

“He is a key player as captain of the national team in Belgium – but also here when he gets back into shape”.

“It’s going to be hard because those players will want to play for the new manager, prove their position”. And this league is different.

Chelsea could welcome back Eden Hazard after the Belgian worldwide returned to training following a minor hip injury that he sustained against Leicester City earlier this month. They’re also out of the League Cup.

“I am really happy with that [attitude], it is a very strong mentality”.