Chelsea are still currently 17 points outside the top four in the Premier League. Despite the surge that interim manager Guus Hiddink has provided since he took over and began his second stint as Blues boss, his side has pretty much no chance of getting back into Champions League next year.
Their best chance is to win the tournament outright, but considering their draw is Paris Saint Germain, it’s likely not going to happen.
PSG is one of the top three, top four teams in the world right now. I don’t like Chelsea’s chances.
Hiddink believes that the defending Premier League champions will still be able to attract top flight players in the summer transfer window, even if they miss out on the European Cup.
“If you look at the other [Premier League] teams getting even more possibilities economically to make their squads strong [with the forthcoming TV deal], then you must form now — and I’m sure they are doing it — [plans] to be very competitive next year,” Hiddink said.
“The club must also offer the ambition [to players] even when you don’t play in the Champions League next year. It’s difficult but if the club with its big status can offer ambition into the future, then the club will stay attractive.”
“It’s not a success but it’s not a failure,” Hiddink said.
“Success is when we go on and get to the finals of both cups. That would be a huge success and it’s not easy. When I started here failure would have been if from December until now we had several defeats, which is not true. I hope we can go into Springtime and achieve what this club wants to achieve.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
He also consistently appears on numerous talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram