The Hiddink Thread

[LDN Blue 7,903]

Genuinely still can't believe we played 78 minutes of that game with a midfield of Matic-Mikel . Absolutely woeful and I hope we never have to see that again once Conte is in, what a dull and static midfield it was. Meant we only had 4 attacking players on the pitch. Why he took Pedro off instead of one of those holding players at half-time, I'll never know.

Appreciate what Guus has done to get us to 9th until now, but lord was that horrible to endure.

[Captain Ahmed 528]

Guus Hiddink praised the reaction of his team after we fought back from 2-0 down to earn a draw against Tottenham and preserve our unbeaten home record against the North London side.

Quote

It was a fiery encounter and the visitors ended the game having had nine players booked.

‘It was a very emotional and hectic game,’ said Hiddink. ‘If you see the game back I think the first half was tight, a good game from Spurs’ side.

‘We gave them one or two easy presents and they went 2-0 up, which was difficult to handle. At half-time we talked, made some changes and the team reacted very well. To be honest, there were some incidents which were not good.’

Hiddink explained what happened after the final whistle as the two teams headed back inside

‘There was a bit of verbal animosity and I tried to come in between and go into the locker room. Everyone started dancing around and pushing around. I tried to get Fabregas in because there were some words in Spanish and I understand Spanish. More people became involved and we shuffled around. If you’ve done some judo and wrestling you can easily fall. You must not have these type of incidents but it happens and at the end we must all calm down.

‘For them there was a lot at stake, for us there was prestige at stake. There is rivalry between the two London clubs which makes it hot as well. Before I judge the incidents I must look very calmly at a video. It was an emotional game between two big clubs. I had to come in between a lot of people tonight. It happens a lot in the Latin world, a lot of emotion. Steve [Holland] got very emotional as well and I had to part my colleague and Mauricio [Pochettino].

The introduction of Hazard at half-time proved pivotal, with the Belgian a real threat

‘Eden has had a difficult season, we can’t neglect that fact, he’s had a lot of injuries. There’s been a lot of frustration and it’s good to see him back. He played 90 minutes at Bournemouth, a less intense game. My plan was to play him there for an hour and then he could be of use in this game. This game was more intense so it was wiser to bring him on later and have him at full speed in the second half. He did very well and we saw, as we have before, what he’s capable of.’

The results means Leicester City are Premier League champions

‘Just after the game I got a call from [Claudio] Ranieri and he thanked us for what we did in the second half. I congratulated him for being champions and they deserve it. You can be top by surprise for half a season but they didn’t implode, there was no tension when they started smelling the title and that’s why they deserve it. I didn’t see any tears because it wasn’t a FaceTime conversation but his voice was trembling a bit. He said thanks five times.’

www.chelseafc.com

 

[Jase 43,479]

4 hours ago, LDN Blue said:

Genuinely still can't believe we played 78 minutes of that game with a midfield of Matic-Mikel . Absolutely woeful and I hope we never have to see that again once Conte is in, what a dull and static midfield it was. Meant we only had 4 attacking players on the pitch. Why he took Pedro off instead of one of those holding players at half-time, I'll never know.

Appreciate what Guus has done to get us to 9th until now, but lord was that horrible to endure.

Mikel and Matic as a duo have been awful but I would argue that sometimes you need that setup in order to gain control of the match from midfield. And given Fabregas' defensive deficiencies, I'm not sure him with Mikel or Matic would have fared any better in the pivot, especially given how intense Spurs press opposing teams.

[Beepu 1,714]

9 minutes ago, Jason said:

Mikel and Matic as a duo have been awful but I would argue that sometimes you need that setup in order to gain control of the match from midfield. And given Fabregas' defensive deficiencies, I'm not sure him with Mikel or Matic would have fared any better in the pivot, especially given how intense Spurs press opposing teams.

It's not pretty, my eyeballs want to bleed when I see those 2 play together, but it's necessary. We were already abit overrun in the midfield, so playing one of them with Cesc would've made it even worse. But yeah, I don't want to see a pivot with Mikel and Matic ever again.

[Jase 43,479]

Just now, Beepu said:

It's not pretty, my eyeballs want to bleed when I see those 2 play together, but it's necessary. We were already abit overrun in the midfield, so playing one of them with Cesc would've made it even worse. But yeah, I don't want to see a pivot with Mikel and Matic ever again.

That's for sure. If we continue with Mikel and Matic in the pivot next season onwards, then heads will definitely roll. But at the moment, we don't have that many options and options that are good. Hiddink can only work with what he has at his disposal.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

1 hour ago, Jason said:

Mikel and Matic as a duo have been awful but I would argue that sometimes you need that setup in order to gain control of the match from midfield. And given Fabregas' defensive deficiencies, I'm not sure him with Mikel or Matic would have fared any better in the pivot, especially given how intense Spurs press opposing teams.

At 2-0 down it just didn't make sense to me, throwing Hazard was positive but why continue to play to rigid and static? A goal from us would've swung the momentum regardless of whether we had 2 holding players or not, it seems counteractive.

Individually they're capable enough to cover that area, Mikel and Matic. 

I guess in hindsight it worked out, but boy was it ugly. 

[Fernando 6,376]

What a great let down hiddink has been. 

He has done nothing new and we are just doing the same thing that Mourinho was doing. 

When you see this it makes it hard to get excited about the next season. 

Why cant this club gamble on someone like Bielsa? 

[OhForAGreavsie 5,776]

2 minutes ago, Fernando said:

What a great let down hiddink has been. 

He has done nothing new and we are just doing the same thing that Mourinho was doing. 

When you see this it makes it hard to get excited about the next season. 

Why cant this club gamble on someone like Bielsa? 

Couldn't disagree with you more. Guus has done a great Job for us. Thank you once more Mr. H.

Given the squad, he did what could be done. Other options are just figments of people's imaginations.

[lucio 5,404]

2 minutes ago, OhForAGreavsie said:

Couldn't disagree with you more. Guus has done a great Job for us. Thank you once more Mr. H.

Given the squad, he did what could be done. Other options are just figments of people's imaginations.

what has he done? get knocked out of 2 cups. got some draws in the league and keep the same system that hasnt worked for over a year. sure he lifted the mood, but who wouldnt after jose

[Fernando 6,376]

7 minutes ago, OhForAGreavsie said:

Couldn't disagree with you more. Guus has done a great Job for us. Thank you once more Mr. H.

Given the squad, he did what could be done. Other options are just figments of people's imaginations.

Nothing new. This position I'm sure we could have gotten with Mourinho. 

Just like Mourinho can't play youth in meaningless games. 

And just like Mourinho just played the youth once in a blue moon and then nothing sustainable. 

Waste of a manager. 

I prefer revolutionary managers like Bielsa, pochetino and such in times like this. 

[OhForAGreavsie 5,776]

Just now, lucio said:

what has he done? get knocked out of 2 cups. got some draws in the league and keep the same system that hasnt worked for over a year. sure he lifted the mood, but who wouldnt after jose

What has he done? The best he can with what he had. Once again, thank you GH.

[Fernando 6,376]

What has he done? The best he can with what he had. Once again, thank you GH.

 

Nothing that Mourinho could have done. Win nothing and finish in 10th. 

[lucio 5,404]

3 minutes ago, OhForAGreavsie said:

What has he done? The best he can with what he had. Once again, thank you GH.

musn't have been capable of much then. he's done fuckall,

[Laylabelle 9,301]

Despite the good he has done..we've still won one sodding home game.He's done well with what he's got but did expect more somehow..oh well nearly over now and 9th/10th place finish wont be so bad I guess....can forget this season and move on hopefully in the right direction!..though by looks may not get that 10th place finish

[Fernando 6,376]

I really dislike Hiddink now for this season. 

How can you keep putting in players like Mikel back to back and neglect some of our younger players like RLC. 

What kind of future do we have with Mikel? If RLC or other young players can't get ahead of him then we have a crappy academy or the one picking Mikel is delusional. 

[Laylabelle 9,301]

He did go unbeaten with us for so long but that overshadowed the fact we weren't really winning many games either. Chance to take risks which he hasn't really which is a shame.

Least nearly over and we're away from the bottom

[Tomo 21,681]

2 hours ago, lucio said:

what has he done? get knocked out of 2 cups. got some draws in the league and keep the same system that hasnt worked for over a year. sure he lifted the mood, but who wouldnt after jose

I could be wrong but aren't we in or around the top 4 based on the form table since he took over? We were actually 2nd until the players heads ended up in the beach.

Has he been perfect? No, to be honest he looks a pale shadow of the tactical genius that we were treated to in 2009, has he made mistakes? Yes, the cup exits weren't pleasant to say the least.

But ultimately he was brought in to stabilise a season that was going down quicker than the titanic, and he did that.

[Tomo 21,681]

2 hours ago, Fernando said:

Nothing new. This position I'm sure we could have gotten with Mourinho. 

Just like Mourinho can't play youth in meaningless games. 

And just like Mourinho just played the youth once in a blue moon and then nothing sustainable. 

Waste of a manager. 

I prefer revolutionary managers like Bielsa, pochetino and such in times like this. 

The period where Hiddink took over would have been the worse time to take such a gamble, we are taking sort of one with Conte anyway.

The situations we found ourselves in this season required a safe pair of hands to guide us through the season, the reveloution can start in the summer.