Chelsea’s interim manager Guus Hiddink on Wednesday (23 December) commented on his return to the club and his first game back in charge against Watford (26th December).
Guus Hiddink on being able to fix the problems at Chelsea quickly:
“If you look back a bit to last season where there was this huge success in winning the title, then of course you go into the next seasons, you have your targets, your aims, and the aims are the same, getting the championship again, although in the Premier League it’s not easy, as you know better than I do, but that’s the main target, the other targets of course it to go into the Champions League and the FA Cup, but it’s not easy to fix.
Sometimes after a championship (win), you might relax a little bit as a team and then, but then you get a wake-up call from somewhere in September. But the situation is that they (the players) were down to last week, to one point off the relegation zone, which was frightening for everyone inside the club. But it’s not easy to say ‘I’m here and the problem is solved’.
Guus Hiddink on talking to the players and asking them to be professional
“Well, yesterday I talked fully to the squad and of course we talked a little bit about the past… why? Why? Why I’m here, the reason that we are down, on the one hand, but on the other, I told them well, things happen in football and I want everyone to look… here or at home, in the mirror and not just two seconds, but longer, to see what anyone can from now on, can contribute to the way up. That was what I was emphasising on.”
Guus Hiddink on being back at Chelsea:
“As a matter of fact, I shouldn’t be here, halfway (through) the season, because it means that things are not going well as foreseen at the beginning of the season. But anyhow I’m glad to be back.”