Hiddink on Terry & Costa’s fitness, Hazard, Benitez and attracting signings

Guus Hiddink was asked about a number of issues at Friday’s news conference ahead of the FA Cup game at Everton. Here’s a round-up of what the Chelsea interim boss had to say.

On Eden Hazard
“He is not absent of injury. You can have an injury where you cannot play or you have an injury where you can play but you are not fully fit, and that has also an influence on the freshness. And of course the worries are a bit there, that’s true.

“He will be okay, he will be available. He’s desperate to participate in the team performance.”

On Hazard swapping shirts with Angel Di Maria
“In some countries, it’s a habit to do so, so I don’t want to overvalue that. That’s my own explanation, but I will of course be seeing him this afternoon.”

On how Hazard can get back to his best
“Every now and then I see that he is capable of doing beautiful things and very efficient things. Some players they have some difficult times, although they are trying, and that’s what he’s doing in training as well.

“We have always the idea ‘he’s not in big, big form, let’s try to punish’ – but most of the players ask for a little bit of help and we try to help them. It’s a different approach to everyone.

“I’m happy with some players that they have increased their efficiency in their play in recent weeks. Of course, I have my concerns about him as well, whether he should play when he’s not top, top fit. So that’s where I’m trying to help him and get him as soon as possible on the level he can be expected to be.”

On how data demonstrates Hazard’s work-rate
“Yesterday afternoon, I was sitting downstairs with the physiologists, analysing, because there’s always a lot of emotion involved when someone is not doing what he is able to do.

“I try to exclude a lot of emotion and see whether his work-rate is okay. When I see the figures, because we can measure that without any emotion, you know exactly how many accelerations he made faster than 21kmh, or whatever his speed is.

“The intensity he is doing in training and in the game is not what you think. Sometimes [people say] ‘oh he’s not doing enough’ – that’s not true. So we have to find another way to get him on to this level. Working harder is possible or maybe one or two days off might help.”

On whether missing out on the Champions League could affect Chelsea’s ability to attract players
“That’s just speculation and I don’t like too much to speculate. On the other hand Chelsea is a very attractive club to play for. All clubs have experience of one year of lesser performances but that doesn’t mean the attraction of the club is not still big for players.”

On John Terry
“He worked rather well in the past days and he will be included in the list for travel. Of course, he has not practised a lot in the recent weeks but it was a little bit intensified in the last two days. Today I will see if he has a big reaction on yesterday’s training. But anyhow, I’d like him to travel.”

On Diego Costa
“He went off and had a little bit more problems in his hip. So I will see how he will be. I cannot say yes or no [to play against Everton] at this moment.”

On the FA Cup’s importance
“Obviously it’s a very important cup to go for but I don’t want to undervalue the classification in the Premier League, because we managed to come out from December from the [relegation] zone to now 10th position.

“Although it might be very difficult to get on the qualifying positions [for Europe], we don’t neglect that. Of course we are now facing a beautiful contest in Everton, we go for that for the moment – but I don’t underestimate or undervalue the position in the league.

“There are some teams like West Ham, who are very strong and also knocking on that door. We cannot say the season is over even if we have a big failure tomorrow. We have to focus, still, on going as far as possible in this league.”

On fighting back after the Champions League defeat to PSG
“We had a difficult loss and we have just two days to recover, physically. But psychologically, it’s always a blow when you are kicked out, by a good team to be honest. And now the players have to respond – physically, we can do that but also mentally it’s very important that they are very resilient.”

On new Newcastle boss Rafael Benitez
“Rafa has big experience, not just in the Premier League but he has done very well in Italy. He has had his time in Madrid. I know by experience what club Real is – it’s a beautiful club, but the seat, every day when you sit there, you feel the heat. He has experienced that as well. He will be of influence [at Newcastle] of course.”

On proposals to trial video replays
“In the ’80s, when I was at PSV, we already did some experiments in games – for instance with the offside rule by video control. When a goal is coming out of an offside which the linesman doesn’t award, then you can go and give the right to the video ref [to decide].

“It will help the referees as well – when you saw the game last week [Harry Kane’s saved effort for Tottenham against Arsenal], it was impossible for the referee to say yes or no when it was two inches touching the line. That was a big help for the referee.

“When it’s decisive in a game, with offside yes or not, it’s a big help. Remember the goal Frank Lampard scored in the World Cup – everyone saw it and it was confirmed that it was more than half a yard, except the linesman and the referee.

“We have to learn from, in this regard, more modern sports like rugby or American Football.”

On whether such technology may have ruled out John Terry’s offside equaliser against Everton in January
“That was obvious. That’s an example of one that won’t be allowed in future.”