Friday, February 27, 2009

All hail King Hiddink!






By Soccernet.com


Chelsea's top stars have come out in support of Guus Hiddink as they look to keep their season alive.

The Dutch coach was brought in until the end of the season after Luiz Felipe Scolari lost his way at Stamford Bridge.

There was talk of unrest in the dressing room and the players being split into different camps but they were all singing from the same hymn sheet about the new man and his impact.

"There is a difference in the players,'' said Chelsea full-back Ashley Cole. "When a manager goes it is always hard and the players liked him (Scolari), but now it is a fresh start for a lot of players and I think there is a different kind of belief.''

Midfielder Frank Lampard hopes Chelsea can build on recent performances to re-ignite their title bid.

"It is just a start for us. In league terms we are not where we should be,'' he said. "Villa was a good result for us and again we had a good result (againstJuventus).

"It was not the best performance over 90 minutes, but there were times when weplayed well.''

Striker Didier Drogba believes he is getting back to his best form thanks to the faith shown in him by Hiddink after being marginalised under Scolari.

"You haven't lost your Drogba, he was just not playing,'' said the forward, having started the last two games in his preferred central striking role. "Being judged when you are playing is much easier, and to the contrary, when you are not playing you can be criticised.

"At the moment I feel good when I am on the pitch and I make the most of those priceless moments. I am not at my best because I think I need more games, but I am giving what I can at the moment.

"The truth is that the coach relies on me, which is a massive psychological boost for a striker. Physically, I am not ready yet, but I need to play to get back in good form. There is no sense of revenge at all, that's my game and that's it.

"I have always been like that, I try to give my maximum and sometimes it is with success.''

Drogba added: "You can see from the last two games that Hiddink is working a lot on the shape of the team, the organisation.

"You have to respect that because we know we will have chances to score goals.''

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