Hiddink reveals anger

14 April 2009 23:02
Chelsea coach Guus Hiddink admits he had to get angry with his side after they overcame Liverpool in a classic European encounter. Hiddink's men took a 3-1 lead into the second leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final at Stamford Bridge, but Liverpool found themselves level after less than half-an-hour as Fabio Aurelio struck a free-kick and Xabi Alonso fired home a penalty. Into the second-half Chelsea powered their way ahead as Jose Reina deflected a Didier Drogba effort into his own net, before Alex and Frank Lampard scored. But Liverpool were not finished as they again went ahead on the evening as Lucas and Dirk Kuyt scored, another goal would have took Rafa Benitez's men through but Lampard grabbed his second to seal their passage. And Hiddink admits Chelsea were on the ropes at the break. Anger "We were angry, because we didn't start as we planned," he told Sky Sports News. "We know playing against Liverpool, who we know is good tactically with skilful players, you cannot play and give them a lot of space and we did, we dropped back too much. "We talked to them, my colleagues talked to them and sometimes you lose your temper that is true, but the players themselves were happy knowing that it was not good enough." Hiddink admits that his players were losing their own personal battles. "I think the focus is also on duels, we lost too many duels in the first-half," he said. "So tactically and mentally we said to the players 'hey guys this is not how we are going into the second half' and this team reacts, and we know we can score and happily we did quite early in the second-half. "This is one of those games, where everyone has made a lot of errors and that makes it so attractive. It was a wave of being in the game and out of the game." Barca task Chelsea now face Barcelona in the semi-finals, after they finalised their win over Bayern Munich. Hiddink admits he has not had time to think about Barca, but he knows how hard the task will be for The Blues. "Every game is different, Barcelona of course is a very advanced team," he said. "They know how to handle the pace of a game and I have to be honest I have not had my mind on that game. "But I have liked them for many years, their philosophy of football, they sign players who are attractive, which is nice for the public to enjoy and they are always a team with this philosophy and it will be difficult to play them as they are a top team but it will be one of those beautiful games you get at the end of the season."

Source: SKY_Sports