Guus Hiddink insists he has brought responsibility rather than freedom to Chelsea's players.
The Blues have slowly but surely turned their season around in the two months since Hiddink replaced Jose Mourinho.
But while his players appear to be enjoying their football more than under Mourinho, Hiddink is adamant that he has not created a relaxed atmopshere.
In fact, he disagrees with John Obi Mikel's assesment during the week that the Blues are playing with a freedom Mourinho denied them.
He said: “That's not freedom, a lot of people often misunderstand freedom. When you think of freedom, it's I can do anything I like, I can go anywhere and I can do what I will. I don't like the word freedom.
“It's more (what they have now) the feeling of, in every position, to have responsibility. Everyone has to take his responsibility, to do the job that is asked. We prepare the team in training, we prepare the team in team meetings, and then the execution is theirs, with a lot of responsibility. In big games, big players have to step up.
“It's not a relaxed atmopshere. We all, inclucing me, want to perform 100 per cent. Even highly paid professionals must play with joy, and if you play with the joy, the best comes out of a player. Joy is not always laughing and smiling, it's enjoying training and doing your job.
“When it feels natural, performances are unconditional. If you see kids or young players playing, they don't worry about what's going to happen in one hour, they play in the moment, and then they play as they should play.
“They (the players at Chelsea) came out a very difficult situation in the last half year, we cannot deny that. I didn't want to know too much about the past, I just wanted to get the best out of the team.”
