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Guus Hiddink shows his value to Roman Abramovich
By Jason Burt
Chelsea's Champions League semi-final with Barcelona was nowhere near
as incendiary as their first visit under Jose Mourinho, back in 2005,
which ended the career of referee Anders Frisk and led to the Portuguese
man-of-war being branded the "enemy of football".
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Guus Hiddink shows his value to Roman Abramovich
Photo: AFP
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That was for Mourinho's behaviour, rather than that of his
team, with his dark, unfounded allegations of collusion. And while no
one would level such an anti-football accusation against Guus Hiddink,
Chelsea left the Nou Camp with a burning sense of resentment in their
wake.
"We tried to attack and create chances and give a good image to the
world but football is always difficult when one of the teams doesn't want
to play," said Barca's coach Pep Guardiola, sounding like an Arsene
Wenger disciple. "We are a clear team, as clear as water."
His players, similarly, bristled with indignation. "One team wanted
to play and the other one didn't," said Xavi Hernandez. Defender
Gerard Pique said the same. As did Andres Iniesta, who should have earned
a penalty, as Barca also directed their ire at referee Wolfgang Stark,
whom they labelled "deplorable" and biased towards Chelsea.
Strong stuff.
Not that Hiddink will care. Chelsea's interim manager had a game-plan
and executed it brilliantly, even if he was indebted to some inspired
goalkeeping from Petr Cech and some woeful finishing from Barca. Surely
they will not be as profligate in next week's return leg? Maybe they will
not get the chances.
For all Hiddink's pre-match claim that Chelsea would attack, would be
bold and would seize the initiative it has since transpired that that
was never his plan. John Terry gave that away in his post-match interviews.
"The manager was spot on," he said of the tactics. No one should
be surprised. After all, the Dutch coach has, in the past, sacrificed
flair for pragmatism because, above all, he wants to win.
Roman Abramovich wants to win, too, even if he could not make it to the
Nou Camp on Tuesday. Maybe he had been briefed more accurately than the
media by Hiddink - aware of the owner's demand for style but equally aware
that he would really quite like the European Cup in his trophy cabinet
- on what to expect. His 'insurance policy', as those around Abramovich
refer to Hiddink, reinforced a reputation which has continued to grow
since he arrived in February.
Abramovich would love to keep him and, certainly, when Hiddink joined
Chelsea there was a mood that once through the door it would be hard for
him to go, although since then it has fully transpired that Milan's Carlo
Ancelotti tops the owner's list. Milan are notoriously difficult to deal
with but enough of those around the Italian, and close to Chelsea, remain
convinced, despite public declarations to the contrary, that a deal has
been agreed and he will, finally, leave the San Siro on a three-year contract.
That remains for the future, albeit the near one. The goalless draw leaves
this semi-final delicately balanced. Home advantage lies with Chelsea,
but what if Barca score? Chelsea will welcome back Ashley Cole, and can
rest players against Fulham on Saturday, whereas the Spanish champions
face Real Madrid, of all clubs, this weekend and have a crisis in central
defence.
For Terry, Chelsea's most impressive performer along with Cech, it was
a "perfect" rearguard action. "That's definitely up there
with all the best games I've been involved in," the defender said.
"They are such a good side that this counts as an achievement. It
was virtually impossible on that big pitch, with the kind of players they
have got - we held our nerve and it was really important that we did that.
"It's a bit of a tough scoreline, 0-0. In the whole game they did
not let us play the ball around at the back or have any time in midfield,
and credit to them, they stopped us from playing, totally. Nine times
out of 10 we played the long ball."
That didn't go unnoticed by Barca or their supporters - or the local media,
who slated Chelsea's approach - and for all the admiration that can rightly
be directed at Terry and Co there remains the feeling that, given Abramovich's
outlay, given the resources he has made available, that maybe, by now,
a more expansive, attractive approach would have been achieved.
But then Chelsea has hardly been a haven of continuity in recent years
and Hiddink has often alluded to a failure in Chelsea's buying policy
- they have not attracted the flair that oozes through Barca, or Arsenal.
"You have to use your brain when you play Barcelona," said Juliano
Belletti, who should know having played for the Catalans and, of course,
scored the winning goal in the 2007 Champions League final. "What
we set out to do was not to lose." That mission was accomplished.
Telegraph.co.uk,
30 Apr 2009
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