Liverpool hold 'no secrets' for Hiddink

Chelsea FC manager Guus Hiddink says there will be "no secrets" when his side meet quarter-final opponents Liverpool FC for the fifth time in as many seasons in the UEFA Champions League. Taking on Liverpool in Europe has become something of a right of passage for Chelsea managers in recent years and after José Mourinho and Avram Grant, Hiddink takes his turn pitting his wits against Rafael Benítez.

'Very tight'
"There are no secrets in modern football," Hiddink told uefa.com. "The players are known by the managers, the players know each other very well, the managers know how they play, so it's very open and very tight. [Benítez] has proven he is a very smart manager. I'm looking forward to this battle, but in the end we can plan what we want – the players, they have to execute it and it always depends on those little details in the execution." The little details went Chelsea's way last term when John Arne Riise's last-minute own goal at Anfield tipped the balance of the semi-final Chelsea's way. After losing twice in the last four to Liverpool by the narrowest of margins, in 2005 and 2007, fortune had finally favoured the London team and they made the most of it to reach their first final.

Fresh impetus
Like last season before Mourinho's departure, Chelsea started this campaign slowly before picking up a head of steam, and Hiddink's arrival in place of Luiz Felipe Scolari has provided fresh impetus at a key moment. Since the Dutchman's appointment in January on an interim basis – as he continues his work as Russia coach – Chelsea have advanced to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League, the semi-finals of the FA Cup and climbed to within four points of Premier League leaders Manchester United FC. "I said from the first day, we have to deliver results," Hiddink said. "They reacted very well. I was asked to keep Chelsea in the Champions League [qualifying] position, which means they must be there next year. That was asked, nothing more. But now we are here, we are aiming for other targets as well."

Drogba belief
Under Hiddink Chelsea are playing with renewed belief, epitomised by the resurgence of striker Didier Drogba, whose late goal at Juventus ensured their place in the last eight. "I worked from the first day with him, and he was very committed to work hard. It paid off for him with very good goals, decisive goals." Hiddink has made his name getting the most out of his players, a trait he admired in the late, great Austrian trainer Ernst Happel, whom he cites as a major career influence. "I didn't work with him on a daily basis, but I met him a few times. He was one of my favourite coaches, because he could get the optimum [out] of a player, whether he worked in Holland, Belgium or Germany."

'Football lover'
The same applies to the globe-trotting Hiddink. Drogba, out of form and favour under Scolari, is a case in point, although the Dutchman plays down his reputation as a master motivator. "I try to find players who have motivation from the inside, [regardless of] whether they are big professionals with high status, with good salaries. That's the key for me. Whatever the player might be in his professionalism, he must be in his heart a lover of football."

'Spirit'
Dividing his energies between Russia and Chelsea seems to have had no ill-effects on the 62-year-old who, after coaching and playing in teams on four continents, is enjoying his first spell in the birthplace of the game. "Whether you work with Koreans or Australians, it's the same," he said. "The only difference is, you use their culture to achieve those demands. The attraction [of English football] is founded on the spirit. They like to go at pace, they like to go on fighting, they like to go on as soon as possible, finding the opposite box."

'Huge achievement'
Hiddink has timed his English sojourn well. Premier League sides are enjoying a period of dominance in the UEFA Champions League and after last year's all-English final, they look perfectly placed to repeat the feat. Hiddink won the competition with PSV Eindhoven in 1988 and would join Happel and Ottmar Hitzfeld as the only coaches to have done it with two different clubs should he triumph with Chelsea. "For a club like PSV, it's a huge, huge achievement to have won this championship," he said. "As a young manager, as I was, it was something you only can dream of. After many years in this profession, at the end of my career, it would be nice if we can go into the final as well."

To watch parts of this interview in the latest edition of the uefa.com Magazine, click here.