Chelsea's rise from the ashes has to be credited to Guus Hiddink, who changed the working environment for the Blues after José Mourinho's ruling. At least that's what holding midfielder John Obi Mikel revealed in an interview with the Daily Mail.
The Nigerian international, who scored the all important away goal for the Blues against PSG last week, revealed that the Dutch manager trusts everyone will perform as they know best, rather than poking his nose in their personal issues, which seemed like a direct blow below Jose Mourinho's belt.
"When you come into the training ground, the players are more relaxed, he doesn’t get into people’s business, he gets on with his own thing and players feel very comfortable and know exactly what to do so when he gets on the training pitch, he doesn’t need to speak," Obi Mikel stated.
The African midfielder played 82 minutes for the Blues in Sunday's 5-1 win against Manchester City.
The holding midfielder went on further and suggested that Hiddink should continue as The Blues' boss for next season, rather than bringing in a new coach.
"I want him to stay," he said. "It is the choice of the owner, the club and the board. They will have to decide. But if you speak to the players, 98 or 99 per cent of them want him to stay so I mean, we are very happy, we are performing well and let’s hope this continues," Obi Mikel added.
Hiddink has coached 13 games for Chelsea since last December, winning six, drawing six, and losing the first leg of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 match against Paris Saint Germain. The Nigerian footballer believes that, with these numbers, Hiddink should be brought back beyond the end of this season.
"It depends on the board and it depends on Guus if he wants to continue. He has said that he is here until the end of the season but you never know, he might change his mind. If the club want to appoint him fair enough. His record speaks for itself," the player concluded.
