Louis van
Gaal admitted he is unsure how to solve the growing crisis at Manchester
United, but if the Dutchman loses his job following another defeat
against Chelsea at Old Trafford, he may have wished he'd taken a leaf
out of Guus Hiddink's book with this bizarre public exercise routine.
The
69-year-old Hiddink - dressed in an official club shellsuit - took his
players out on a morning walk ahead of his side's clash with his
compatriot later on Monday, and his decision to include a spontaneous
public stretching session will be deemed ingenious if his side prevails
at the home of the Red Devils.
The
defending champions travelled up to Manchester on Sunday and spent the
night in a nearby hotel but with several hours still before the late
kick-off, the interim manager thought a good stretch in the open air
would blow away the cobwebs from the journey.
Chelsea interim manager Guus Hiddink
was in an active mood as he led his side through morning stretches
outside their Manchester base
Chelsea pair Nemanja Matic and Cesar
Azpilicueta carry out some stretches alongside their team-mates on
Monday morning in Manchester
In-form Brazilian Willian is all
smiles as he reacts to one exercise alongside a relaxed Hiddink during
the morning exercise routine
Some
clubs, most recently Everton ahead of their trip to face Newcastle at
St James' Park, have reverted back travelling up on the day of the game
to give players less time to switch off - but Hiddink would seem to have
found an alternative way to keep his troops on their guard.
Boredom
often seeps into players stuck playing video games in hotel rooms or
milling around lavish corridors in the build-up to important Premier
League battles.
The roads around their Manchester hotel were deserted early on Monday morning as Hiddink looked to ensure his players were ready
Even
with Hiddink looking surprisingly nimble and in high spirits dressed in
the club's blue training gear, the former Holland head coach will have
had plenty to ponder as he looked to shake off the excess food and drink
consumed over the Christmas weekend.
Thanks
to Diego Costa’s 88th-minute booking for a reckless lunge on Craig
Cathcart, the interim manager is left to choose from three not-quite-fit
and far-from-ideal options to play up front.
‘That’s
a setback of course,’ said Hiddink. ‘I could complain a lot but that’s
not my nature. We have to go on and find a solution as soon as
possible.’
John Terry works on his arm stretches
alongside former Barcelona forward Pedro ahead of the vital Premier
League match in Manchester
Former England captain Terry appeared to enjoy Hiddink's spontaneous choice to go for a public stretching session in Manchester
Former Holland head coach Hiddink
showed he is in fine fettle as he completed the same exercises as his
players earlier on Monday
Terry will be expected to put in a
good performance at the heart of Chelsea's defence now that he has
shaken off his overnight sleep
Falcao,
having made a lukewarm start to a season on loan at Chelsea after one
at Old Trafford, has been out for two months with a calf injury.
‘He’s
training with us but there’s a difference of being fit and game-fit,’
said Hiddink. ‘You need longer in training. If you play games like
these, you must be very fit. He is going into more intense training
sessions and then we can see what he is capable of.’
Hazard
was given time off to recuperate from the hip injury he suffered in the
defeat at Leicester two weeks ago in Jose Mourinho’s last game as
manager.
‘He
came back and trained three days with us,’ said Hiddink. ‘For me he is
not top fit yet but very fresh in his mind, and that’s important, so he
has also to get training and games.’
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