 |
| Guus Hiddink challenged his new Chelsea players in his first press conference |
GUUS HIDDINK laid down the gauntlet to Chelsea’s underperforming stars and told them if they do not have the desire to win they will be no use to him.
The Dutchman started his second spell as interim coach at Chelsea on Monday after the sacking of Jose Mourinho last week.
The 69-year-old has a contract to the end of the season, and his first game in charge will be against Watford on Boxing Day.
Chelsea will go into that game lying just a point above the relegation zone, with Mourinho after his last game in charge having accused his players of “betraying” him.
Hiddink said: “First of all there must be a great desire to play. If you don't have that desire, please knock on my door and we'll talk. We'll talk briefly.
“Yesterday I spoke fully with the squad and, of course, we talked a bit about the past. Why I'm here. The reasons why we are down.
“But I told them I want everyone to look in the mirror, not just for two seconds, but longer.
"And see what anyone can contribute from now on to raise us up.
“I don’t want them to look back too much. We cannot ignore what has happened in the recent past, but I asked them to be hyper critical of themselves and give their best for the team. They have to look forward.”
Hiddink said: “First of all there must be a great desire to play. If you don't have that desire, please knock on my door and we'll talk. We'll talk briefly.
“Yesterday I spoke fully with the squad and, of course, we talked a bit about the past. Why I'm here. The reasons why we are down.
“But I told them I want everyone to look in the mirror, not just for two seconds, but longer.
"And see what anyone can contribute from now on to raise us up.
“I don’t want them to look back too much. We cannot ignore what has happened in the recent past, but I asked them to be hyper critical of themselves and give their best for the team. They have to look forward.”
Hiddink was axed as Dutch coach in June after a disastrous start to their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, a decision he is still angry about.
“Holland had a very good result World Cup in Brazil and that brings expectations and a hangover," he said.
"Unfortunately, and I regret it very much, I couldn't finish that job. The president decided halfway though qualification, when we were third in the group, to end my job.
"I was very disappointed because we were in the driving seat to go into the last three or four games.”
Post a Comment Blogger Facebook Disqus