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Guus Hiddink has claimed Chelsea’s players needed toughening up after going soft under Jose Mourinho.

Hiddink has used judo, rugby and even wrestling during his managerial career to make players stronger physically and mentally.

Blues star Eden Hazard has also used judo in the past to toughen up, and Hiddink revealed the players “needed a bit more rugby” when he took over in December while they were stuck in relegation trouble.

Former PE teacher Hiddink, a judo white belt himself, was laughing about his own skills at the martial art after seeing fellow Dutchman Louis van Gaal fall theatrically to the floor on the Old Trafford touchline during Sunday's win over Arsenal.

Boss Hiddink said: “I saw it. You could see he (Van Gaal) had been educated also by his physical teacher, he is practising judo also by the way he fell down. It wasn’t very fluent the way he went down.

(Image: Getty)

“I also did some judo. If you had met me in the early days… I’m able to fall in a smooth way, but I wouldn’t do. I don’t think so. Maybe I would use more words!

“I like when the players go on the edge. Not fighting, but resistance. The best players in the league are also strong players, you feel that. There are a lot of benefits to gather when you are well equipped with your balance and your physical fitness.

“For instance, Willian is not a big guy but is fighting into duels defensively as well. He’s smart to do so and willing to do so. That’s the modern footballer.

“Sometimes we do handball or something like that. Players at first ask ‘What are we going to do?’, but then after 10 or 15 minutes...

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“Then I make a combination of handball and rugby, for warming up. Because in rugby - I love to see rugby also - you are entitled, when one has the ball, to grab and make a wrestling move. Not punching them.

"It’s also part mental. If they are going into a fight, within the rules, transferred to football, you can gain a lot from other sports including rugby.”

No wonder Chelsea’s players have been staging a revival since Hiddink took over.

In pictures — Chelsea beat Southampton with last-gasp winner:

They have lost just once in 14 games under their 69-year-old interim boss, and have another chance to move up the table when they visit struggling Norwich on Tuesday night.

But one player who is not making very good progress is Brazilian loan signing Alexandre Pato.

The 26-year-old international, according to Hiddink, is still behind some of the Blues' kids in the pecking order.

(Image: David Dyson)

Hiddink, who says skipper and centre-half John Terry is not fit to play at Carrow Road, added: “At the moment to be fair to everyone and the youngsters, yeah, they’re a bit ahead (of Pato).

"I like fair competition — in all, fairness amongst themselves.

“I gave my fairness in who I bring to what I am trying to tell now. Of course there will be options for him as well. I cannot say (if he will play) one or five or six games coming in.”

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“I think it is the sharpness compared to the others, the last bit of sharpness. Because if you play in the Premier League, you must be very sharp. If not, you will get punished.”