Argo
An Untouchable
- Messages
- 11,096
- Reaction score
- 10,706
Now don't mistake me here, I'm not saying that Hiddink as good as deserves a medal if we win anything this season, but I can't help but think some of his work back as interim helped give Antonio a better chance to be more successful straight away, and the rest as they say is history.
Now the results were not anything to shout home about, tactically he looked a shadow of the genius we were treated too in 2009 and yes he should probably have played Tammy sooner than he did, but the job he was required to do ran a lot deeper than that.
Now before I go into this I appreciate everything Jose has done for the club and always will, but the job he did in 15/16 was wretched. The players were mentally drained, he totally lost the plot and the atmosphere and spirit at the club was at an all time low. What is happening at Chelsea and United this season ends any doubt about who holds most of the blame for last season, it was Jose not the players being "rats".
I'm surprised Hiddink agreed to come back under those circumstances and he has my full admiration and respect for doing so, he could have dined on his 2009 success and let someone else deal with the ruble, but he came back to help us.
I read a few times that his training methods roughed up the players a bit as he felt they needed it and you can see (even in some games under Guus too) there seems to be a bigger mental and physical toughness these days, and it also can't be stressed enough the all time low environment he inherited, he had a job on to get even a semi good feel factor back.
The work Guus did with Hazard I can't praise him enough for, Jose played him to the ground to the point of mental and physical exhaustion. He was injury prone for the first time and his career and Hiddink decided to bench him for a couple of months, and it worked, after that he came back in the side and as soon as he got back up to speed he was back to the Hazard we use to know and has been ever since.
The squad was broken beyond repair when Jose left, Conte has come in and produced absolute miracles by getting the performances and the tactical aspect of our play back to what it should be so soon, however I can't help but feel it would have taken a lot longer had we given Jose the season before dismissing him.
Now the results were not anything to shout home about, tactically he looked a shadow of the genius we were treated too in 2009 and yes he should probably have played Tammy sooner than he did, but the job he was required to do ran a lot deeper than that.
Now before I go into this I appreciate everything Jose has done for the club and always will, but the job he did in 15/16 was wretched. The players were mentally drained, he totally lost the plot and the atmosphere and spirit at the club was at an all time low. What is happening at Chelsea and United this season ends any doubt about who holds most of the blame for last season, it was Jose not the players being "rats".
I'm surprised Hiddink agreed to come back under those circumstances and he has my full admiration and respect for doing so, he could have dined on his 2009 success and let someone else deal with the ruble, but he came back to help us.
I read a few times that his training methods roughed up the players a bit as he felt they needed it and you can see (even in some games under Guus too) there seems to be a bigger mental and physical toughness these days, and it also can't be stressed enough the all time low environment he inherited, he had a job on to get even a semi good feel factor back.
The work Guus did with Hazard I can't praise him enough for, Jose played him to the ground to the point of mental and physical exhaustion. He was injury prone for the first time and his career and Hiddink decided to bench him for a couple of months, and it worked, after that he came back in the side and as soon as he got back up to speed he was back to the Hazard we use to know and has been ever since.
The squad was broken beyond repair when Jose left, Conte has come in and produced absolute miracles by getting the performances and the tactical aspect of our play back to what it should be so soon, however I can't help but feel it would have taken a lot longer had we given Jose the season before dismissing him.
Last edited by a moderator:
