Reflections : The Magic Of Guus Hiddink

This writer has something to confess first. His pre-occupation during the last few days has been the world teams of the decade. And when he saw the list of Goal.com's nominees for the manager of the decade and the name of Guus Hiddink was nowhere to be found he did a double take. For a few minutes he couldn't believe his eyes looking at the list repeatedly. Yes it's true that Hiddink does not have as many trophies this decade as some of his competitors but in the eyes of this writer he is the number one coaching genius of the last two decades perhaps even ahead of Fabio Capello. And then to see the name of Rafa Benitez on that list. Yes Rafa did win one UCL and commendably two league titles with Valencia but anyone following EPL knows well that abusing Rafa and his ways is the number one pastime of EPL fans and pundits alike. When was the last time anyone abused the ways of the Guus? Let's look at the significant events in this decade in the coaching career of the one who actually deserved to wear the title of 'The Special One' in point form.

1. South Korea had no idea what it was like to be in a knock out round at a world cup. Well the Guus made them taste that thrice by taking them all the way to the semi finals. Fine there were many refereeing controversies but then when did football happen without them. Maybe this time they were excessive but still to take a country like that to a world cup semi final is some achievement. There were many noteworthy moments for the Koreans but the one this writer has decided to point out for now is the penalty shoot out against Spain in the quarter final. Korea facing a European super power who had none less than San Iker in goal in a do or die situation. Yet they looked so much more confident than the Spanish. One can only wonder from where they got so much confidence.

2. The Guus then decided to go back to PSV for some time. Dutch titles were not even much of a challenge for him. So let's talk about something else. Remember PSV in UCL 2004-05? Who thought anything of this team? And then they went all the way to the semi final. In the semi final they lost on away goals but they had so convincingly outplayed the mighty A C Milan in two legs that even some of Milan's players admitted they did not deserve to be in the final. We hear again and again about how Milan were both so careless and so unlucky to lose that UCL final after leading 3-0 at half time but it's unfortunately forgotten that another team probably deserved to be there more than them. When was the last time PSV played like that before 2005? When will we ever see them playing like that again?

3. Then Hiddink decided that he would take up the coaching job at Australia as a part timer. Well Australia was just so used to winning the Oceania group, which they were then part of, easily in their world cup qualifiers and it was no different this time. This writer can clearly remember the shock he felt when he opened the newspapers one morning to read that Australia had qualified at the expense of Uruguay - South American giants and twice world champions. Well they continued their performance in the main tournament as well. Firstly they got the better of a very efficient European team like Croatia. After that they gave the eventual world champions Italy a real run for their money in the second round right till the last minute.

4. All this while Russian football was sinking faster than the Titanic. When it seemed that nothing could save them Lord Guus for some reasons decided that he would accept their prayers. So in the very next major tournament i.e. Euro 2008, Russia managed to qualify albeit after a struggle. By that time casual observers of the game already knew that Andrei Arshavin was a special player. However post Euro 2008 he became a world renowned superstar. Arshavin's performance or rather his almost single handed annihilation of the mighty Dutch who had been the best attacking team of the tournament till then in the quarter final is in the eyes of this author one of the very best performances by any player in a single international match this decade. However Arshavin did have help - more so from off the pitch rather than from on it. The Lord had chosen him to bestow all his blessings. At the end of the match Arshavin's line to the press was that one brilliant coach can beat eleven brilliant players. Now just how many coaches in the world would fancy themselves doing that?

5. Now while the Russians were progressing towards what looked like a likely qualification for WC 2010 at that stage, the tycoon from Russia, Mr. Roman Abramovich decided that he too couldn't do without the Lord's blessings. After all his Chelsea side were then floundering big time and had looked like amateurs in the defeat to ManUtd at Old Trafford and this in spite of having a top class coach and world cup winner in Luis Felipe Scolari to guide them. Exit Big Phil. Enter Lord Guus. Within time so less that it challenged Mathematical concepts of the infinitesimal Hiddink make the side look something completely different. The popular belief was that Drogba and Anelka, both top class players in their own right, just couldn't play together. Guus said no problem. How about playing Drogba as a striker and Anelka joining Malouda as a supporting wide player. It just worked wonders. Every single thing was now different from the unity to the discipline to the fighting spirit. Chelsea ended up giving ManUtd and Liverpool a close fight in EPL and did even better in the UCL. Oh and Guus did complete the small matter of winning the FA cup. At the end of his tenure every single Chelsea fan worth his salt was willing to touch his feet if he were to agree to stay. The Lord acknowledged this immense show of affection and admiration from the fans with a bow but chose to concentrate on the Russian national team instead. Today Chelsea is guided by Carlo Ancelotti, a top class coach in his own right, but the Guus stamp is still unmistakable in everything they do.

6. In the entire story of the decade so far for our Lord, there hasn't been anything called failure. Yet even the Lord is human and he did fail just once. The ironical thing about this failure was that it happened when it was least expected. If we study the above given five points carefully every time Guus and his team were up against it. Unfortunately this time with Russia things seemed much easier. And they failed when it was least expected - against Slovenia who many thought were the minnows of the playoffs. Why did this happen? To be honest this writer has yet to make complete sense of it. Some important players such as Pavlyuchenko were not getting playing time for their clubs. Arshavin's mind seemed somewhere else for reasons that are yet to be disclosed. Yet even that is not enough to understand how the Guus can fail when given such a relatively simple task. For this writer the Guus was the closest thing to infallible in the world of football but even he failed. However that has not shaken the faith of this writer in the Lord one bit. And what happened after that. Well many of the countries who had qualified were so eager to give their coaches the short shrift if only Lord Guus were to take them under his care. The Lord however refused saying that he would not take charge of a national team that he had not helped to qualify for the final tournament.

Now let us discuss something that is not directly connected to the article but if fate wishes so it could very well become linked in the future. Juventus were considered one of the most promising teams during the summer. That they have been an unmitigated disaster so far is not even worth illustrating. If anyone can save them now it's the one and only Guus. The way Juventus have still persisted with Ferrara at times makes one wonder if he is related to the management in some way which makes them softer on him. In today's world no one gets so much time especially someone with no coaching pedigree. Just ask all the ex-coaches of Real Madrid for more than adequate proof. This writer has read many comments citing Ferrra's inexperience as the cause of his continued failures. Such comments frankly make no sense to him. Ferrara has assisted one of the very best in Marcello Lippi. Leonardo on the other hand did not even have a coaching degree. And yet he seems to have proved virtually the entire world wrong. And do we even need to mention a certain Mr. Josep Guardiola. Milan in sharp contrast to Juventus have made the world of football punditry as well as self styled analysts like this writer feel like complete idiots because they have performed several times better than the maximum that was expected of them with only about half the season done. If anyone watched them play on Sunday night against Juventus it could be said that they are still the second best passing side in the world after Barcelona. Perhaps Arsenal will have something to say about that but this statement is not completely devoid of merit. At this point in time looking at how ManUtd seem to be on a decline and their midfield is a total mess, wouldn't it make sense for the bookies to make Milan the favorites against them not least so because Milan already have a past psychological advantage over them? Right now don't the chances of Milan overcoming ManUtd seem higher than the chances of Inter overcoming Chelsea? Many consider Jose Mourinho among the greatest of coaches. For a variety of reasons this writer has always had his doubts. However this writer hereby promises Mourinho and all his fans that if his Inter qualify for the UCL 2009-10 quarter final at the expense of Chelsea, he will unquestionably accept Mourinho among the very best of coaches.

Okay the last paragraph did detract from the main topic but the connection with Guus was established and after that this writer just couldn't control his emotions. Actually Guus had half a mind to retire from active coaching leaving this writer feeling that the coaching world would become so bereft of the expertise of such a master. However somewhere there are indications that a person with such unprecedented achievements would not end his career on a failure. Maybe both the world and he himself still deserves at least one more miracle from him. Let's end this by saying that there was, there is and there will be only one Guus. He is the Jesus Christ of the football world. If Christ worked miracles in the world like no else could the Guus does the same in the football world and what's more he almost matches Christ for consistency.

Note : This writer very humbly requests all the readers of this article to note that this is not an article about refereeing controversies. Refereeing controversies have been part of Hiddink's career with decisions at times favoring him a lot and at times going against him big time as well. Each of the refereeing incidents directly or indirectly mentioned here have already been discussed to death umpteen times. This writer does not even want to say a word about any of them again if possible because it is one of the best ways to spoil one's mood, day and more. To discuss refereeing controversies in response to an article in his honor would be a huge act of disrespect towards his majesty King Guus Hiddink.