MOSCOW, April 3 (RIA Novosti) - One of Guus Hiddink's predecessors as Russia's coach has claimed that the Dutch trainer's work at Chelsea means he has no time to look for new blood to revitalize the national side.

Former national side trainer and current Dynamo Kiev coach Yury Syomin made his comments after Russia's unconvincing 1-0 win away to minnows Liechtenstein on Wednesday in a World Cup qualifier. The result followed on from an unspectacular 2-0 victory over Azerbaijan in Moscow on Saturday.

"You wouldn't exactly call the team's performances excellent," Syomin told the Sport Dyen Za Dnyem paper. "I'd go further and say I didn't like them. There wasn't enough sharpness to the attack. The defense wasn't under much pressure, but mistakes still occurred."

"In my opinion, Russia needs new blood," Syomin said, adding that Hiddink needed to attend Russian Premier League matches to seek out new young talent. "But now, after his move to Chelsea, he simply doesn't have time for this."

Hiddink took over temporarily at Stamford Bridge in February on a contract due to expire at the end of May. The Russian season kicked off in mid-March and the trainer has so far missed two rounds of games.

Russia are four points behind Group 4 leaders Germany with a game in hand. The team's next qualifier is against Finland in June, a couple of weeks after the English Premier League season finishes.

"I wouldn't rush to read too much into the results of the games against the two weakest teams in our group," Soviet soccer legend Viktor Ponedelnik told Sport Express.

"The Soviet Union also had some unsuccessful games, but Lev Yashin and [national team captain] Igor Netto always said there was no point in becoming desperate, that things would work out," said the man whose goal against Yugoslavia in the final of 1960 European Championships brought the U.S.S.R. its only silverware.

Hiddink has repeated more than once that he intends to return to the Russian side fulltime when his contract at Stamford Bridge ends. A number of top Russian internationals have said they fear for the future of the national team if Hiddink were to leave.

"If Guus was to quit, our side could just simply collapse without him. I don't see any realistic replacement for him," Arsenal forward Andrei Arshavin told Sport Express shortly after the Dutchman replaced Brazilian trainer Luiz Felipe Scolari at Chelsea.

Hiddink became the manager of the Russian national team in 2006 and immediately set about rebuilding a demoralized side that had not managed to get out of the group stages at a major tournament since the break up of the Soviet Union. The Dutch coach brought in a host of new, young players, and Russia were transformed into an attacking, adventurous side, subsequently making the semifinals of Euro 2008.

His contract with Russia runs through the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.