Calum Hudson-Odoi needs to understand how to use his potential at Chelsea, asserts Thomas Tuchel
Thomas Tuchel has urged Calum Hudson Odoi to live up to his potential and fight for his place in the Chelsea starting lineup after having fallen down the pecking order. The young starlet has ten goal contributions across all competitions for the Blues but has been in and out of Tuchel's team.
Calum Hudson Odoi is one of the brightest stars to have graduated from the Chelsea academy alongside the likes of Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount and a few others. Brimming with potential, viewers and fans alike have just seen glimpses of his prowess and what he can bring to the field when given regular game time. Having started five out of Tuchel's first six games predominantly as a wing-back, the 20-year-old has found himself on the bench for his side's last eight games.
With Chelsea playing a potential back five, it has been difficult to incorporate Hudson Odoi into an already full proof game plan. Although Hudson Odoi has lost his place in the starting lineup and slipped down the pecking order, reports reveal that he isn’t likely to push for an exit. Instead, Tuchel has called out the young star publicly to fight for his place in the squad and explained his reasons behind dropping Hudson Odoi for the time being amidst reported rumours of him looking for greener pastures elsewhere.
“No matter if he’s in talks all around Europe or not, that is not of interest to me. Everything that counts is what he does here and how he lives up to his talent that he clearly he has. We were very happy with Callum since we arrived here and in the last weeks there were a few tough decisions against him because we played many times against a back five. Against a back five, we relied a bit more on really learned defensive guys like Azpi [Cesar Azpilicueta] and Reece , who are a bit stronger in defence," Tuchel said, reported Goal.
"On the inside position where he played against Man City, this is maybe his best position, we agree on that and the big change and the big impact he had now when we brought him on was that it was not only one action that he had, but it was two or three accelerations. Callum needs to understand how to use his potential, he needs to understand how to push himself to the absolute limit and not to be happy with 80, 85, 90, 95 per cent, simply be not happy about it any single day.
"This is the thing he needs to learn and live up to. Once he does this, he will make his way and leave his footprint. It's about his position. It's about assisting, it's about scoring, it is about that, we don't need to talk around it. It's about putting things to an end. Big talent, big responsibility. This is what he's trying, sometimes, sometimes better, sometimes OK, sometimes very, very good and when we have a chance we let him play," he added.