Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink has called Louis Van Gaal’s touchline dive in front of Mike Dean a classic Judo Move. The Manchester United manager learnt Judo as a school teacher in Holland and Hiddink jokingly said that his fellow Dutchman hasn’t lost his touch
“You could see that he has practice in judo by the way he fell down perfectly,” said Hiddink. “He went down very fluently.”Hiddink also revealed that that he himself is trained in the famed martial arts saying, “I also had some judo so I’m able to do so as well — but I wouldn’t do that!”
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The 69-year-old introduced Judo and Boxing to his players when he was the coach at PSV Eindhoven. He believes it is a good way to become comfortable with the physical side of the game.”I don’t say you must be a wrestler on the pitch, but you have physical contact. If you do those exercises you get very well the feeling of balance, how you can fight in duels. That is very important”, said the manager.
Learning Judo has several benefits to it with a person being able to gain better balance and the Blues head coach thinks that youngsters will benefit with that kind of training stating, ‘I am strongly in favour, especially of knowing how to fall when you are unbalanced. You are not afraid to fall (in judo). You manage, like a cat manages when it is falling. If you have that experience as youngster, it will benefit you a lot”
Guus Hiddink thinks strength is very important in the modern game
The Premier League is a very physical one and modern footballer is required to have good strength to fend off challenges and keeping hold of the ball. Hiddink has realized this and has introduced physical exercises into his training methods.
“I like when they go on the edge,” he said. ‘Not fighting, but resistance. In other clubs I made a combination of handball and rugby because in rugby you are entitled to grab and make a wrestling move.”
He also believes that the players who are more physically strong have an edge over others saying, “The best players are also strong players. You don’t always have to be a big guy. Willian is not a big guy but he fights duels defensively as well. He’s smart and willing to do so. That’s the modern footballer”.
Chelsea are currently unbeaten in the Premier League after Hiddink took charge and will be looking to extend that run against Norwich in midweek.
