SHOW ME THAT OLD MAGIC
Hiddink hopes his struggling champs can upset Wenger
Two things could be relied upon when Arsenal v Chelsea was a duel between Jose Mourinho and Arsene wenger. One: i t would be dripping in animosity. Two: Arsenal would not win. Aside f r om l ast year’s FA Community Shield, wenger and his team never did eradicate that mental block. Luckily for them, Chelsea’s players have done it for them. Perhaps things are falling for Arsenal after all. Mourinho has gone, and without him this London derby has a different backdrop. Football might break out. who knows?
Guus Hiddink hinted that it might, as he spoke warmly of 20 years of wenger in north London, of the ‘ beautiful teams’ and the ‘stability’ he created at his club.
‘You could enjoy the way they played, their good players,’ said the Dutchman, 69, who swerved the issue when reminded that his predecessor as Chelsea manager had dubbed wenger a ‘specialist in failure’.
Since Arsenal l ast won the Premier League title i n 2004, Mourinho has won it three times with Chelsea, twice before being sacked then returning to win it again — and being sacked again.
Arsenal are cheered by the idea that this time it can be different. If it is, they could have Chelsea to thank, having been assisted by their dreadful title defence, which has reduced the number of direct challengers by one.
The removal of a nemesis is another factor. wenger is certainly more at ease when Mourinho is not in town. And there is the world-class goalkeeper they signed from Stamford Bridge — another prickly matter which prompted a diplomatic shimmy from Hiddink.
It was Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich who personally sanctioned Petr Cech’s transfer to the Emirates Stadium when Mourinho made it clear he was dead against the idea of selling to an arch-rival.
Not only did Chelsea lose a fine goalkeeper but also one of their dressing-room leaders at a time when Didier Drogba was leaving for the second time and soon after Frank Lampard’s exit.
John Terry is still there, and Branislav Ivanovic, who has signed a new one-year deal, has grown in stature, but this is a new era at the Bridge, and a new generation of players. As Hiddink reflected on his last trip to Arsenal, a 4-1 win during his short spell as Chelsea boss in 2009, he seized upon the character running through the middle of the side as they responded to the pain of a controversial defeat in the Champions League semi-final.
Four days after a stoppage-time equaliser by Andres Iniesta sent Barcelona through to the final on away goals on a night featuring the mishaps of referee Tom Henning ovrebo, Chelsea inflicted what remains Arsenal’s heaviest defeat at the Emirates Stadium.
‘I remember it, of course,’ said Hiddink. ‘The only concern I had after that Champions League elimination was about how this team could resurrect itself for the game a few days later.
‘Surprisingly, the team showed enormous mental power and were extremely resilient. I respected that attitude enormously after the disappointment against Barcelona.’
Few teams in the modern era have boasted the mental strength of that team. This Chelsea generation do not seem to.
‘It’s a little bit different,’ said Hiddink. ‘I’m not talking about skill or individual quality, but the spine I had was different.
‘I don’t want to go back too much into the past, because we must not over-value it, or be too romantic about the past. But it was a strong spine — JT, Alex, Frankie, Michael Ballack and Drogba.’
Andre Villas-Boas was the last Chelsea manager to lose against Arsenal, and it is 482 minutes since wenger’s team scored against them in the Premier League.
So, if Hiddink was prepared to lean on history, he would be on solid ground. He wants to accentuate the present, however, which is less impressive, with the team languishing in 14th place in the table. But there are some positives other than the seven games unbeaten post-Mourinho.
Eden Hazard is available for the first time in three weeks and Diego Costa will play despite a bruised shin which prevented him from training fully this week.
Costa was the villain when the teams met at Stamford Bridge in September, goading Arsenal defender Gabriel Paulista into a red card before finding himself banned retrospectively for striking Laurent Koscielny in the face with an arm.
Hiddink will not be trying to change his centre forward.
‘I prefer to have players who, sometimes, you have to control or tell them “a little bit less” than have to push them a bit,’ he said.
‘He has his character. Sometimes you misjudge from the images. off the pitch he shows a lot of joy to everyone. I see the players when they are in the canteen, dealing with the people who prepare the pitches, and they are not snobby or arrogant. That’s good to see.
‘They are different characters off the pitch. on the pitch, they have that desperate will to win, almost at any cost.’
Even i n Mourinho’s absence, Costa will provide an element of confrontation.