In July 1995, he signed for Chelsea on a free transfer. At the time Chelsea were a mid-table team, whose most notable recent achievement was reaching the 1994 FA Cup final. Initially played as sweeper by manager Glenn Hoddle with limited success, Gullit was moved to his more familiar role in midfield, where he scored six goals. The signing of Gullit, alongside the likes of Mark Hughes and Dan Petrescu, propelled Chelsea to the semi-final of the FA Cup but their league form was disappointing. Gullit's earliest difficulty in England was adapting to the abilities of some of his Chelsea teammates, “I would take a difficult ball, control it, make space and play a good ball in front of the right back, except that he didn’t want that pass. Eventually Glenn said to me, ‘Ruud, it would be better if you do these things in midfield’.” However, his adjustment was rapid and he ended the season by being named runner-up to Eric Cantona as Footballer of the Year.