Watford 1 Chelsea 3:SOME COPE with watching briefs better than others. Guus Hiddink takes charge of Chelsea for the first time this morning having sat deadpan through his first sighting of the side he must revive. There was barely a flicker of a reaction as the Premier League team fell behind and courted humiliation. The poker face remained as the goals flew in to spread relief through the visiting delegation. The Dutchman sat impassive and studious, an oasis of calm among a fraught front row.
At his side, Roman Abramovich kicked every ball, the owner flitting from spontaneous applause to gasps of frustration as he bounced through the occasion. The new manager, part-time and non-contract, departed declining to offer his thoughts. “Talk to the winning manager,” he offered.
The Dutchman’s input had supposedly been minimal. The 62-year-old had, after all, only visited the Cobham training ground for the first time on Thursday to assess the side that had stalled under Luiz Felipe Scolari, and Ray Wilkins – that winning manager – had overseen training on Friday with Paul Clement.
Yet, already, Hiddink’s influence had seeped through. There had been one-on-one talks, chats with players apparently unsettled, to cajole the best from them. There had also been some early tactical advice which had seeped through into Wilkins’ selection and gameplan. Gone were the galloping full-backs so encouraged by the Brazilian who had been told to attack first, defend later. Solidity is back en vogue.
“Hiddink has been in and around the training ground the past few days and has come up to the lads and had a word with everyone,” said Michael Mancienne, whose first Chelsea appearance was positive. “Instead of our wing-backs pushing too high up like we have been doing the past few games, he wants one of them to cover back when the play is around the other side. He had a lot of tactical input before the game.”
Mancienne has experienced life with Fabio Capello’s England squad and should represent the future of this team, though his contract expires next Christmas with no talks having taken place as yet over an extension. It seems mystifying this was his first opportunity to impress. “I thought I’d have a few chances to play in the games that weren’t so important, but at least Ray had the confidence in me to put me in,” he added.
There was even evidence Chelsea have possessed that elusive Plan B after all. Watford had been pummelled for long periods, surrendered possession but defending wonderfully ruggedly to maintain parity, before Lloyd Doyley released Tamas Priskin. The Hungarian may have been offside but lifted his shot over Petr Cech to eke out an incomprehensible lead. Wilkins’ response, with no mobile telephone link , was to hook John Mikel Obi from the fray, switch from 4-1-4-1 to 4-4-2 and thrust Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka up front.
The partnership had been tried by Avram Grant and Scolari, but rarely with any conviction. Here, albeit against a side two points adrift of safety in the Championship’s relegation zone, they flourished. The visitors’ 14th corner yielded Anelka’s equaliser, an exquisite overhead kick, before a neat header and clip across a stranded Scott Loach completed the hat-trick. Only Loach’s heroics, along with those of Jay DeMerit and Adrian Mariappa, prevented Drogba securing his own reward.
Watford had hope for six minutes before it was battered out of them by the forwards’ sheer class, Cech’s late save from Jobi McAnuff ensuring there was to be no shock.
The hosts were not surprised at the turnaround. Their manager, Brendan Rodgers, was Chelsea’s reserve-team coach until moving to Vicarage Road in November. “I was there when they lost a couple of managers, and they are top players who galvanise each other,” he said. “It’s very important now for a manager at a club like that to be calm. That old, traditional, throwing-stuff style doesn’t work any more. The foreign guys are used to calm reflection after a game. There are 20-odd millionaires there, and you have to be honest. Your communication has to be open.” Guardian Service
