Chelsea’s form has substantially improved after the appointment of Guus Hiddink on an interim basis.

The club are on an unbeaten run of more than five matches in their latest success came at the Emirates stadium following a 1-0 win over arch rivals Arsenal. This was yet another season in which the blues have managed a double over Arsenal. However, a major portion of the success comes about because of the Dutchman. Hiddink has been a breath of fresh air since he has been able to keep the club out of the headlines while silently managing to get results.

Even though the club has to make up 14 points in order to return to the top four, the Dutchman remains confident about qualifying for the Champions League next season. This will be the priority for the club between now and the end of the campaign, although there will be a tendency to focus on the league title. Yuri Zhirkov played for the club for a few years before departing to Russian football with Anzhi in 2011. He was part of the team that won the FA Cup under Hiddink. Now, Zhirkov has watched the progress that the club has made under the Dutchman.

He has showered praise on the 62-year-old says that he has the ability to transform any team.”I know Hiddink and I have no doubt that once he took over, the atmosphere at Chelsea became so much better and more relaxed than it had been before.The reason for the recent poor run is psychological. A year ago, Chelsea won the championship and this has had a bearing on the next season.When you win the title, it is also difficult to defend it and to play at the highest level. I think with Guus, Chelsea will ride out the crisis and next season will be back at the top of the table,” said Zhirkov.