The Hiddink Thread

[Jase 43,479]

4 minutes ago, MichaelDance said:

 

True lol but thanks to Arsenal giving us a free red card let us win the match. 

C'mon now, there's no need to say our win was down to Arsenal going down to 10 men. Yes, the sending off helped but even before that, we looked the better side and were actually creating chances. Better finishing and perhaps luck, we would have won this game more comfortably. Arsenal hardly created anything - their only chances came from Flamini and that crazy goalmouth scramble in the second half. Otherwise, nothing much elsewhere.

[Gilvorak 3,734]

On 1/16/2016 at 0:38 PM, didierforever said:

scoring goals for fun? oh people must mean hoofing balls upto costa.

"regained" form. more like regained effort after the absolutely atrocious behavior from the snakes.

Oscar, iva, pedro continue to plague our team. time after time, cesc is played as no.10 thinking he will magically learn composure. utterly shit management. much like the person he succeeded.

Hold this L. Unbeaten run continues. Another goal for Costa. Cesc masterclass. Hazard great in his little cameo.

[Barbara 15,149]

On 17/01/2016 at 10:30 AM, BlueLion said:

Furthermore...

 

 

• Only four teams have picked up more points than us in the six games since Hiddink's arrival - and all four are top five sides.
• Four points from six on the road (at United and Palace, not what you'd call "easy" games) since Hiddink's arrival.
• The only team in the top flight not to have lost in the last six - a considerable achievement considering the competition the PL can boast this season (the longest unbeaten run any side has maintained is Tottenham with 14, then Leicester with 10, and, in third, West Ham with 8 - but no other side in the division has gone more than 6 matches without a loss). 

For a club of our stature, and for the defending champions, this would constitute a below-par run, but, as I say, when you consider how poor we were under Mourinho, (where only once did we manage to avoid defeat in two consecutive games (Norwich at home, 1-0; Spurs at White Hart Lane, 0-0)), this is definitely progress. 

 

Hiddink has done exactly what needed to be done. We were struggling to do anything, let alone score goals. So he decided to go back to basics and work on a defensive system that would give us the confidence that we wouldn't concede too many goals in a match to undermine our chances of success. Okay, so we've had three high-scoring draws - Watford, West Brom, and Everton yesterday - but if you analyse those goals, I am pretty certain that they all were the result of individual collective errors. For Watford, it's a penalty and a deflected goal which individual players could have done better with. On Wednesday, Pedro gave the ball away and then Zouma backed off, giving Gardner the time to stride on and stroke the ball home, and their second goal came about from a poor clearance. Yesterday was an odd game, a one-in-a-hundred which shouldn't be over-analysed, but again, on all three goals, it's a case of "could have done better", especially for the Funes Mori goal where Ivanovic and Oscar essentially had a snooze. On a collective level we are defending far better as a unit, and also a lot further up the pitch. The biggest thing I've noticed is the distance between the defence and midfield isn't as big as it once was - we're more compact as an eleven and that has led to us getting three clean sheets in six games. 

 

We're also now a more potent attacking side. The average position of Azpilicueta is testament to that. I haven't seen him get so far forward ever for us. That's why he's scoring (West Brom for the 1-0) and assisting (Scunthorpe for RLC's 2-0 goal) all of a sudden. And it's all down to Hiddink's decision to play one player.

 

John Obi Mikel.

 

It is Matic, not Cesc, who has been the midfield liability for us this season. The proof is evident from Cesc's evident return to form in recent games. I think Hiddink made a mistake in playing Mikel and Matic yesterday - that is why we were so negative in the first half - and we improved greatly with Oscar on the pitch. Oscar didn't have a particularly outstanding game, but he kept things ticking over with some simple short passing and was relatively industrious and getting back to give Mikel a hand. Yesterday was actually Mikel's worst game ever under Hiddink, but he was still relatively competent and did what he was on the pitch for. He defended. And he did it well. Matic has been such a liability that not only does he kill our attacks, but he essentially sets them up for the opposition by dawdling on the ball. Mikel is never going to be a special player, but he is the simple, effective focal point of the side. There's a reason we've never lost under Hiddink with Mikel in the side. He sits and screens the defence, and that gives licence for Cesc for get forward and have an impact on the play. And then all of a sudden Costa is scoring goals again. It's like a chain reaction. Mikel gives the defence confidence - that allows Ivanovic and Azpilicueta to push forward - which allows Fabregas to play further forward, and generally in more space - and that brings Costa into the fold. What is it, five goals in four for Diego since Hiddink returned? There's no surprise that we're a better team when Cesc and Diego are firing, and it is down to the simplicity that Mikel offers, in my opinion. He gives us defensive solidarity which enables us to have more attacking potency. 

 

You need to think of our midfield as a giant sandwich. 

 

Mikel is the bread. Boring by itself, but he holds everything together.

Players like Oscar, Willian and Ramires are the butter. They're not particularly special - Willian is having an outstanding season. Don't get me wrong. But is that down to others around him lacking in form and confidence, or because he has suddenly developed into a game changer? I ain't certain. But they keep things ticking over. They're the composite part that the team wouldn't be able to function without. You can have a sandwich without butter but it doesn't wash down well.

Then you have the likes of Pedro, Costa and Hazard. The attacking threat. They're the filling - a nice juicy slice of beef. Again, you can have the bread and butter, but without the filling, it's pretty pointless. There's no substance. 

Then you have Fabregas, our source of inspiration. He is very much so the lick of mustard which makes everything worthwhile. You need the mustard to bring the flavour out of the beef. Otherwise the beef by itself is a little bland.

 

But without the bread, all you've got is a slice of beef that is covered in butter and mustard. No fucking point in that, is there? Not without the bread.

 

Mikel does such a simple role and that is the reason why Mourinho, Grant, Scolari, Hiddink, Ancelotti, Villas-Boas, di Matteo, Benitez, Mourinho again, and now Hiddink again, value his quality and the things he brings to the team. I ain't saying it is all on him, but he's certainly the fulcrum of what we've got going for us. Hiddink is doing what he needs to do, and now the onus is on the players, who're starting to build up a small amount of momentum, to start converting these draws into wins. Let's go on a real run, now. A bit of investment by the board would certainly help, as well. We have most of the tools for a top four push, which I firmly believe is still a possibility. But if top four is a possibility, then so is relegation. Hiddink is doing what he needs to do to stabilise the side. He's doing a top job. 

 

one of the best posts I've read here. Nothing to add

[MichaelDance 552]

19 minutes ago, Jason said:

C'mon now, there's no need to say our win was down to Arsenal going down to 10 men. Yes, the sending off helped but even before that, we looked the better side and were actually creating chances. Better finishing and perhaps luck, we would have won this game more comfortably. Arsenal hardly created anything - their only chances came from Flamini and that crazy goalmouth scramble in the second half. Otherwise, nothing much elsewhere.

True but we can't beat Everton, when Swansea can  We look the better side in most our games but we seem to always let goals in, now with their 10 men we managed to stay mostly on their side and just play it at our pace. Courtois had to make one save.

[petre.ispirescu 4,928]

Tony Pulis with money aka Jose Mourinho should go into retirement if we somehow go on a legendary run and miraculously snatch a Champions League place. 

[Styles 9,790]

2 minutes ago, petre.ispirescu said:

Tony Pulis with money aka Jose Mourinho should go into retirement if we somehow go on a legendary run and miraculously snatch a Champions League place. 

That is extremely harsh.

Who knows what kind of football Tony Pulis would have produced with a huge budget.

[*Z4YN 69]

2 minutes ago, petre.ispirescu said:

Tony Pulis with money aka Jose Mourinho should go into retirement if we somehow go on a legendary run and miraculously snatch a Champions League place. 

[Jase 43,479]

1 minute ago, Styles said:

That is extremely harsh.

Who knows what kind of football Tony Pulis would have produced with a huge budget.

Pulis spent quite a lot at Stoke some years ago and he didn't change his style of play one bit.

[Styles 9,790]

1 minute ago, Jason said:

Pulis spent quite a lot at Stoke some years ago and he didn't change his style of play one bit.

Quite a lot of money for Stoke which is not even remotely close to what Mourinho has been able to spend.

[Jase 43,479]

2 minutes ago, Styles said:

Quite a lot of money for Stoke which is not even remotely close to what Mourinho has been able to spend.

Yes but even then, Pulis could still have gotten some good players with that money and changed his style but he didn't. You only have to look at Stoke now under Mark Hughes - their transfer budget isn't big but yet, they spent on some good players and their style of play has evolved.

[Styles 9,790]

7 minutes ago, Jason said:

Yes but even then, Pulis could still have gotten some good players with that money and changed his style but he didn't. You only have to look at Stoke now under Mark Hughes - their transfer budget isn't big but yet, they spent on some good players and their style of play has evolved.

Stoke weren't an established Premier League team then and as a club didn't have the same money (TV revenue helps attract players like Shaqiri).

Pulis did all the hard work and provided the foundation.

Give him the same budget Mourinho had and I'm sure he'd have been more adventurous.

[Jase 43,479]

4 minutes ago, Styles said:

Stoke weren't an established Premier League team then and as a club didn't have the same money (TV revenue helps attract players like Shaqiri).

But there were still decent players around that he could have signed but didn't, especially after finding their feet in their first two Premier League seasons.

6 minutes ago, Styles said:

Give him the same budget Mourinho had and I'm sure he'd have been more adventurous.

Don't think it's as simple as that. Mourinho has had big budgets to work with throughout his career but he has hardly been adventurous, has he? And you only have to look at David Moyes for instance. Worked well with a small budget at Everton but became clueless when he had lots of money to spend at United. His style of play at OT was dull to watch as well.

[xPetrCechx 13,570]

Same Guus is too old...

[kiwi1691 255]

2 hours ago, petre.ispirescu said:

Tony Pulis with money aka Jose Mourinho should go into retirement if we somehow go on a legendary run and miraculously snatch a Champions League place. 

You really are an imbecille

[OhForAGreavsie 6,057]

9 hours ago, petre.ispirescu said:

Tony Pulis with money aka Jose Mourinho should go into retirement if we somehow go on a legendary run and miraculously snatch a Champions League place. 

I've probably been to Stamford Bridge about 1,000 times and put tens of thousands of pounds into the club. This surely gives me the right to call myself a Chelsea fan. That's not to say that I deny anyone else's right to regard themselves as a Blue whether they've watched many more games than me, or none at all. It does mean however that anyone using the word we about the club is associating themselves me and hundreds of thousands of others. Believe me, there's nothing we about me and you in the manner of the support given to the club.

I'm sure you are tempted to say amen to that. Well, maybe that's something we do have in common then.