Comments on: Why a Chelsea man would be a great choice for the Manchester United job

By: Ahmed Bilal

Ahmed Bilal — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 13:47:58 +0000

lol@Fateh – agreed, the bump the team gets from a new manager shouldn’t be misinterpreted as a sign of success. But he’s got a good record, no?

By: Fateh

Fateh — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 12:23:23 +0000

Remember scolari had a brilliant start with chelsea as well.Give it Hiddink some time.

By: Scott the Red

Scott the Red — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 09:03:41 +0000

JK - where I say Chelsea were regarded favourites, it is linked to The Guardian . That was just one of a few write-ups I bookmarked at the start of the season which claimed Chelsea were favourites. Chelsea are favourites

By: Picco

Picco — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 01:09:38 +0000

Not to be blowing my own trumpet (but I will!!), Hiddink was my no. 1 choice a few years back when Fergie was talking of retirement. His no nonsense approach, he makes everything look easy, both on and off the field. If not, then Martin O’Neill but I think we would need to be patient with him

By: JK

JK — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 21:26:58 +0000

Interesting article although the analysis seems a little
biased. Chelsea were not considered as favorites to win the
title after Scolari was appointed. MU was and is still the
team to beat to win the Premiership. Chelsea
is not faring much better than it did with
Scolari in the Premiership table
(although they are definitely playing with
more confidence). I think Scolari’s system did not
work well but he was also unlucky. He did not have Essien
in the midfield and he failed to inspire his players.

The statement that anybody could have won the WC in 2002
with the Brazilian team is ridiculous. The role of a coach
even when he assembles the best players in the world is
essential.

Scolari’s Portugal went to the Euro final for the 1st time
in their history (if I am not mistaken) and that’s a great
success. They lost to Greece who were a very compact and
disciplined team that had beaten France and Czech Rep.

Hiddink’s South Korea beat controversially both Italy and
Spain. The referees pretty much pushed them as much as they
could. They were a disciplined team but nothing more.

Hiddink’s Russia beating Greece in 2008 is listed as an
achievement according to the author. Greece played pretty
poorly in 2008 and lost all of their games, even though
they were unlucky not to score against Russia who won on
an error by the Greek goalkeeper.
When Scolari’s Portugal lost to
Greece in 2004 it was a failure though…

As I said I don’t believe Chelsea’s position in the
Premiership table
has improved and even Guus himself admitted that they are
out of it.

Having said that I think Guus is definitely a coach who
nurtures talent and gets the best out of his players. He
is a very good coach but has experienced failures several
times (coaching Real Madrid, Real Betis, Valencia, Fener-
bache). His
honorable comments about coaching Chelsea will have to be
backed from action and we will see that later on. I heard
too many coaches and players make such statements…
Don’t
forget that RomanA has been financing Hiddink’s salary as
the Russian coach and he has been instrumental
in getting him to coach Chelsea.

In my opinion appointing Hiddink to lead Chelsea or any
other major team like MU is somewhat of a gamble.
Besides PSV Hiddink never had success with a football club.
He may have won the Champions Cup but that was a different
time when the English teams did not play in Europe. PSV
tied all 5 of their games in the final, semi and quarter
finals in 198-1988 playing really defensive, compact soccer.
The final with Benfica was one of the most boring I have
ever watched.

By: bobmagee

bobmagee — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 19:52:43 +0000

I could see Mourinho as a temporary replacement for Fergie, for a season or so, giving time to find the best man for the job

By: lewis

lewis — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 19:26:00 +0000

Great article, but I’ve got a question for you Scott. Why don’t you write this type of article on your own blog? RoM seems to be getting shorter articles nowadays whereas a few years back you were writing longer, more in depth articles like this for it which made it the best Utd blog on the web.

By: Sheffield Red

Sheffield Red — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 17:44:30 +0000

Great article.I’ll admit I was wanting Mourinho to take over, but after reading this I’m with you on Hiddink.

By: Daniel Chung

Daniel Chung — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:16:21 +0000

Cheers for that bit on Park.
One thing that has perplexed me, despite his performances for Man Utd last season in the quarter-finals and semis in the Champions League was his absence from the final (even on the bench). It troubled a lot of Koreans since Park’s industriousness is hailed (we are realistic to know he ain’t United’s best player or most influential) but was snubbed for a spot in the final. But hats off to Hiddink who groomed him and seeing Park reunited with Hiddink would be wonderful. Let me put my own spin on this. With Hiddink’s status in Korea as untouchable and Park’s presence in United a great image booster for the club in Korea, imagine if Hiddink and Park are both at Man Utd and virtually Man Utd become the second national team of Korea. Park Ji-Sung definitely has Hiddink to thank. So too does Lee Young-Pyo (now at Borussia Dortmund).

My question is how likely will Hiddink, who has been bank rolled by Abramovich’s billions as manager of Russia and now Chelsea, will leave the hand that has fed him? That is the one obstacle I can see to a Hiddink led Man Utd.