Guus Hiddink tells Chelsea players to win it for themselves

Simon Johnson
29 May 2009

Guus Hiddink has told his Chelsea players to forget about trying to win the FA Cup as a parting gift for him and just concentrate on achieving a glorious victory for themselves.

The final against Everton at Wembley tomorrow will be Hiddink's last game in charge before he resumes full control of the Russian national team, having only taken over on a temporary basis in February.

Many of the Chelsea players have spoken of their sadness that he is leaving Stamford Bridge and want to repay the Dutchman for his time at the club.

But Hiddink said: "I have been hearing the players say how much they want to win the FA Cup so I will leave Chelsea with a medal, but I want them to win it for themselves.

"We have some players who are at the start of their careers and some who have already a beautiful career, but if every now and then a trophy materialises, it is the cherry on the pie.

"Make no mistake, the FA Cup is a big title, not only recognised in England but also worldwide.

"A big club like Chelsea needs to win some titles almost every year and everyone knows how the situation has been this season.

"It was a very good start to the season, the middle was a little sloppy, and then a rather good end - and it will be perfect to have won a cup."

Chelsea have not won a trophy since Jose Mourinho left the club at the start of last season.

They finished runners-up in both the Premier and Champions League under Avram Grant before Luiz Felipe Scolari took over.

The Brazilian was sacked in February and replaced by Hiddink, whose impact on the players has been immense.

The Dutchman might be urging them to win the Cup for themselves but Frank Lampard is in no doubt that victory at Wembley would be the perfect send-off for the manager. He said: “It's important to win and hopefully we can get him a medal.”

Lampard also believes that Hiddink has laid the perfect foundations for a renewed assault by Chelsea on the Premier League title that has been won by Manchester United for the past three seasons.

Prospective boss Carlo Ancelotti is believed to want to have a complete overhaul of a squad which some feel is too old, yet the England midfielder believes they are not too far away from being able to challenge Sir Alex Ferguson's team after regaining their confidence under Hiddink.

Lampard added: “Our performances over the last five years have set the standard. We are back to where we were a couple of years ago.

“If we keep working with the players that we have got, being the club we are, we can get back to finals and be challenging in the League and winning them.

“We need to get back to the mentality where we go into matches week in and week out being strong as a group.

“We have had that mentality since Hiddink has come in. It is very important for our confidence to take something from this season. It is harder when you have had that feeling of winning before.

It hurts even more when you don't win. At the time those moments are insufferable. You have to use them as a positive.”

Lampard, who has been voted Chelsea's player of the year for the third time, is ready for the challenge posed by Everton tomorrow.
He said: “I feel on top of my game and feel better than at any time in my career at Chelsea.”