Chelsea Football Club Manager Guus Hiddink Gives An Exclusive Broadcast Interview To CNN International

PEDRO PINTO, CNN SPORT REPORTER: "Guus great to catch up with you, you're a busy man, two jobs, working your miracles here at Chelsea. We have to start with Tuesday's amazing match. Four - Four, my non-technical reaction was 'wow', at Stanford Bridge, how did you react to that game?"

GUUS HIDDINK, CHELSEA FC MANAGER: "Many people had this wow reaction through Europe, and I got many reactions, also outside Europe was this wow reaction, that's what we want to see. And that's okay eight goals, but as a manager on one part I'm less happy. I was less happy with the performance in some parts of the game, but at the end I can fully understand that people have enjoyed this game. That's what they say football has to be played like that, and we are just delivering, hopefully, to our benefit as well."
 
PINTO: "But it was unbelievable because in eight previous games between Chelsea and Liverpool, no team had scored more than one goal against the other, and then at Anfield four goals, you scored three, and then eight. What changed so much, because Rafa Benitez is still the same manager, and Chelsea is still more or less the same team?"
 
HIDDINK: "Well we had a very good game at Anfield and we tried to surprise them in an away game, in Europe it's always important to try to get some harm done also in the away game, which we did, and that has not happened many many years over there. So they got a little bit shaky at Anfield, as we were in the beginning of our last game. But I think both teams have this, let's say, character within the team that they cannot sit back and wait, and play just for result. If we had three - one in Anfield  -  you can say let's drop back and wait and they have to score etc. etc. But it's, if I want to it's impossible to slow this team down, and both ways, because they both like to play the attacking way of football, and at the end you have this wow reaction."
 
PINTO: "But you had to wake them up at half time? What did you say?"
 
HIDDINK: "Well it's not always good to say everything what you are saying, but let's just say we were very angry. We were angry, I was angry, my assistants were angry, but also the players and that's the most important thing, they were angry themselves because they were more or less lost in the, let's say, first part of the first half. The best thing is of course is that you can get angry and you can make some tactical adjustments, but on top of that they were angry themselves. We were angry and they knew that they cannot perform like that to get a good result."
 
PINTO: "With Jose Mourinho, and even with Avram Grant, Chelsea didn't concede many goals, many people consider Ricardo Carvalho and John Terry to be one of the best partnerships in the world, Petr Cech one of the best goal-keepers, what has happened recently and are you worried about it? All the goals conceded."
 
HIDDINK: "No if you see until the Bolton game last week, where we were having very few goals against us, and this Bolton game was one hour we were on four - nil waiting for the fifth, then the concentration went totally down, also regarding next league game against Liverpool, so we were very sloppy and they were very lucky to have every chance at goal, that was I think an incident which we have to learn from, and this clash against Liverpool is two teams can score almost at that time, at any minute, so those teams they go and look for frontal confrontation which is, yeah and then when you see this many goals of course you can criticize yourself, we are critical on our own performance in the first half, but at the end when you have got these results, with this wow worldwide reaction, then it's OK."
 
PINTO: "What are you going to do to make sure it doesn't happen against Arsenal?"
 
HIDDINK: "Well Arsenal is a playing team, they are very skillful, they can play beautiful football, and of course we must not sit back. If you wait for Arsenal to play, then you are having the same problems, so we must take a lot more initiative than we did in the first game... (corrects himself) in the last game against Liverpool."
 
PINTO: "Looking ahead to the Champions League a lot of people consider Barcelona to be the best team in Europe, best team in the world right now. Do you agree with that, and how are you going to stop them?"
 
HIDDINK: "Your second question, it's not easy to stop them because they have these big results, not just having these results, but the way, and I think that's very much their style and the philosophy and the strategy of Barcelona, many many years already, to sign the players who are very attractive, who can play a way of football which people like, especially in that area, which is kind of attacking, not kind of, attacking football. Then it's very nice to see this team play, they enjoy playing themselves and that's important. How to stop them? That's difficult, when they are in the mood they have the best team in the world, but also the best teams every now and then can be stopped."
 
PINTO: "You won the European Cup with PSV, it's been a while now, what would it mean to win the competition again with Chelsea?"
 
HIDDINK: "Yeah of course a lot. Of course lot. We came here a few months ago, and then we got up and got the points, so we are let's say we are secure what the first target, the first aim was, which was qualifying for next years Champions League at that time. But when you get these results recently, then you must put your targets on a higher level and if we can get where we want to, which is to play the final, yeah that would be the perfect scenario."
 
PINTO: "How did you do it though Guus? You come in here, the team is struggling, and they're really finding it very difficult to win games and score goals, and you come in here in your first twelve games, you've won nine of them, only lost one, how did you do it?"
 
HIDDINK: "I don't know, I work on a daily base with them and play the games at the weekend, or mid weeks."
 
PINTO: "But what was your attitude when you met the team for the first time and what did you tell them?"
 
HIDDINK: "They had a difficult time. They had a difficult time. So the management made the decision to call me for the rest of the season, and then I started to almost from the first day saying hey guys there are two roads, one road is that we say to each other please, I want to get used to your way of playing and you have to get used to my way of working, please give us two three weeks to work and then you can say now it's starting. I think we are now in an environment of sports which we must not give each other this time and excuse, but for me it's an excuse to say hey don't judge us now. I said from the first day you have all the experience of big games, big leagues, world cups, European cups, so we don't give each other the excuse to go away. So we started from the first day, and I was happy that we had a full week until the Aston Villa game, a full week to practice as I like to practice with a team, and the players responded, the players responded, which I liked very much because this is a team that can play good football, but it's also a team which is responding on challenge and that's what I did in the first week."
 
PINTO: "Do you think it was hard for you to sell yourself, not that you don't have a fantastic curriculum, but in the last two years they had so many managers, they had Mourinho who is a very strong character, Scolari who is a very strong character, they had won a lot of titles as well, did you feel more pressure on yourself because of that?"
 
HIDDINK: "No I don't feel pressure, of course I feel the tension, I feel the pressure but it's giving me more energy than it takes the energy away. That's our business, and I challenge them because as you say they have won titles etc. etc. But I was curious also to there desire to play and to win, and then you are analyzing the games and the training pitches, you are analyzing the games played, and if I see one play with no desire then I'm the man to try to challenge it, to come in as soon as possible, and if not go the other way. But the whole team was reacting and they showed desire."
 
PINTO: "What had you done to certain players to raise their level of performance? Didier Drogba was struggling before you got here, Florent Malouda, even Salomon Kalou was improved just to name a few. How do you get the best out of players?"
 
HIDDINK: "Didier had a difficult time in the beginning half of this season, but he reacted on training, and I tried to judge players what their capacity, what their ability is, and I think in every human being, also players, is you can go a little bit further than sometimes you think yourself. So I'm looking for their boundaries of performance. You have to create some, let's say atmosphere where they can perform and we worked hard with Drogba, we did with every player, but of course he was off the bench after I came so he was eager to play also, it's not because of me, first of all the players themselves they must be motivated from the inside, if they inside motivated, then it's much easier for a manager to get them in their specific ability what they can show."
 
PINTO: "The players have definitely been impressed with you, at least from what they have been saying in recent weeks, how many of them ask you Guus are you going to stay?"
 
HIDDINK: "Well it's obvious and it's clear that I've come, although I like it very much I work every day with a lot of joy and work with the guys, I love it very much, but I know with all my heart I have my commitment to the Russian players as well, and we started in Russia for let's say two years building up to the Euro, the past Euro in Austria and Switzerland, with a team, a renewed team, around the team the organization has improved etc. etc. and also we started this qualification towards South Africa which is very difficult, but at this moment being there already with these guys in a mutual commitment, that I challenge them as well, it would not be fair to say to them, hey guys I love to be in Chelsea, which is true, but I love to be in Russia as well, so I cannot say to these guys September, October, maybe November for play-off you never know, I let you down, I don't like that and I wont do so."
 
PINTO: "But you've had two jobs at the same time before, and it worked?"
 
HIDDINK: "But that was different, that was with PSV and Australia. Australia asked me to help out for many years to qualify, at last I said I will do it but I have my fulltime job in PSV, the only thing I can do it is the squad is coming to Eindhoven we practice there in the preparation towards the qualification against Uruguay first. It was different, and now because I could maintain my attention on the main job in Eindhoven that was good. Now it's a little bit different because we looked at the schedule from February to end of May, there was just this one  (inaudible) of two games, Lichtenstein and Azerbaijan, and in June it's Finland, so we could do it more easily than before."
 
PINTO: "But you couldn't be tempted to stay? Not even if you won the Champions League?"
 
HIDDINK: "Yeah I can be tempted but what I said before, I also have this commitment to the players, we started, and it will be difficult to qualify, but if they have the success I want to help them, and if we don't have the success I want to be with them, and if we make this thing to the end."
 
PINTO: "Last question about this, your relationship with Roman Abramovich made it possible for you to come here, how did that happen and if you did want to stay couldn't he help you?"
 
HIDDINK: "No this is a special relation, it's one of the main reasons to do this what I have been asked, is because of that relation between Roman Abramovich and the Russian football, the Russian Federation, the Russian Academy of youth development where he is supporting a lot in the Russian Federation and helping out, and the club Chelsea where we are now is his with all the people around it. That was the only reason that I could do it, and I would do it as I say, because just of this relation, if not I cannot go to another situation, another club being the manager of the Russian national team as well."
 
PINTO: "You've worked all over the world, you've seen a lot in world football, what's the job that you've enjoyed most?"
 
HIDDINK: "I'm ageing in my profession a bit as well, but I enjoy every day coming to the training ground, I see the young lads going out, sometime with problems, sometimes with quarrels, disputes etc. which is the whole world of emotion of football, but in general I like to work every day with the boys, so I cannot, I have not one, even when there was difficult times, I had some good times in Spain but also one or two clubs where it was more difficult, even I enjoyed being there and working there, so I have no preference what so ever."
 
PINTO: "There are three English teams in the final four of the Champions League, in your opinion is the Premier league the best in the world, and why?"
 
HIDDINK: "Yeah it's the best in the world, it's now shown again by having in the semi-finals three English teams. I think the concept is very good in this country, players like to come here and play in the strongest league which makes the league strong, and I think it's well organized. Players have good contracts, it's well organized, and it's lovely to play in an English environment, whether you go to the stadiums home or away, it's very alive, very alive, there are more countries, but this country is also special."
 
PINTO: "Do you think money has a lot to do with that?"
 
HIDDINK: "When the clubs can organize themselves in signing the best players, then yeah automatically it will be the best league."
 
PINTO: "It's curious because Fabio Capello, the England manager, has complained a little bit that there aren't enough English players in the premier league. How have you seen the work he has done with England, he's revived them?"
 
HIDDINK: "He has revived the English team. But on your first remark I fully agree. The team is now alive and I talk of course with the boys, John Terry, Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole, they enjoy now being in the national team, playing for them with a lot of pride. But your first remark is also true, when I'm the manager of a national team I love to have also grown up, home grown players, playing in their big clubs, in Russia or where ever I was working as a national team manager, it's good to have young, in this case English brought up players playing in the first squad so you can have strong national team as well. I think in the future will see, hopefully more and more home grown players coming up to the big clubs."
 
PINTO: "But do you think Capello, how do you think he has been able to revive the team?"
 
HIDDINK: "He knows of course football, he's one of the most successful coaches in the world with his titles etc., but also his approach, he knows to get the players, I think he's very strict to say what their job is, but basically also because he enjoys and has the players enjoy the game as well within a certain discipline which is needed."
 
PINTO: "Do you think it's difficult to motivate players many times in the top clubs in the premier league, because of the big salaries, the big egos, the big lifestyle?"
 
HIDDINK: "No it's not difficult, I think there is a natural selection, if a player is well paid by a club and doesn't bring his performance or is not motivated, then he will slip away. If a manager has to motivate players, let's say from the outside, externally, and they don't have this internal motivation, this desire, then it's wrong. You must, when you sign players it's not just by seeing players, ah this is a very good player, one or two games you can see, ah this is a good player, but as a manager you have to know also more about his personality, about his character, about his desire, and that's basic I think for signing players, playing with all their heart for the team. Then when they have the big contracts you cannot blame the players to have good contracts, that's no problem, the normal desire must be there, and if it's not there don't sign."
 
PINTO: "Realistically what's your expectations for the rest of the season? You want to win something don't you?"
 
HIDDINK: "Yeah of course, if we play tomorrow on this pitch five a side, I cannot participate with my old body, but I want to win that game as well. So we want to win the next game which is the Arsenal game. Then of course if we are on path in the Champions League, and meeting the best team in the world, of course we want to win this round as well, and if we can manage to go to the FA cup we want to win that as well."
 
PINTO: "If you could pick just one title though would it be the Champions league?"
 
HIDDINK: "I'm too greedy when I say I like both. Of course, FA cup is very important as well in England, in England or worldwide FA cup is important, but if you win the Champions league, yeah."
 
PINTO: "It would be tough to leave if you win the Champions league though?"
 
HIDDINK: "Of course, but winning or not winning is not making that decision different, that's what we agreed, and of course if you have this, all the team with my coaching staff etc. and all the other staff helping me out, and the players are responding, if you can get a title it would be perfect, but then we have to say goodbye."