Guus
Hiddink wants his Chelsea players to "look in the mirror" and decide if they
have the desire to sort out their season.
Hiddink showed up for his first press conference since returning to Stamford
Bridge and made it clear his appointment means the players have not
performed well enough.
And there was a clear challenge to a squad that delivered the Premier League
title last season but lost nine times in 16 games before Jose Mourinho's
sacking: find your motivation - and quickly.
He said: "I shouldn't be here, halfway into the season, because it means
things aren't going well. But I am glad to be back.
"Yesterday I talked fully to the squad. I told them, things happen in
football and I want them to look in the mirror, not just two seconds but
longer, and see how they can contribute on the way up.
"I told them as professionals to look in the mirror and be ultra-critical.
There must be desire to play. If you don't have it, knock on my door and
we'll talk... briefly.
"We have to show to ourselves, to the club and to the fans that the team has
a big desire to wash away the last half year and go up to the next coming
games. If we do that, the results will follow."
Hiddink admitted it is "not easy to fix" the problems at the club and
stopped short of setting a target for the season.
Asked about the possibility of bridging an 11-point gap to the top four he
said: "Mathematically it's possible, but this league is very tough."
And on the prospect of making signings next month he said: "The future has
to be determined by whoever is in charge. Let's go into the next few games
and we'll see. I know it is always open but I'd like to end that a bit now,
get into the games and then we'll see what happens."
Didier Drogba sat alongside Hiddink for the weekend victory over Sunderland,
and the Dutchman later said he would like Drogba to join his staff.
Asked about Drogba at the press conference he said: "I worked with Didier a
while ago and he is a legend in this club.
"At this moment he is playing in Montreal but all clubs have figures who can
be ambassadors, coaches, manager or whatever, and they need the opportunity
to do so. They give the brand Chelsea a big image worldwide."
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