Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel urges Callum Hudson-Odoi to ‘push himself to the absolute limit’ as he challenges the youngster to fulfill his potential after falling down the pecking order
- Callum Hudson-Odoi has been left out in the cold recently by Thomas Tuchel
- He did enjoy regular game time when Tuchel took over but not in recent weeks
- Youngster has a high ceiling though and has been urged him live up to potential
- Hudson-Odoi has been linked with a big move to Bayern Munich down the years
Thomas Tuchel has challenged his Chelsea youngster Callum Hudson-Odoi to live up to his potential following a period of limited game-time at Stamford Bridge.
The 20-year-old was favoured by Tuchel at the beginning of his tenure, starting five out of his first six matches in charge mostly as a right wing back, but he hasn’t featured from the off since.
Hudson-Odoi, who has been heavily linked with a move to Bayern Munich in recent years, certainly has a high ceiling and has been tipped for a big future but Tuchel wants his youngster to start delivering regularly now.
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has challenged Callum Hudson-Odoi to live up to his potential
At his press conference ahead of a crunch match against London rivals Arsenal in the Blues’ race for a top four finish, Tuchel said: ‘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 [James], who are a bit stronger in defence. 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.’
Hudson-Odoi started Tuchel’s first five out of six games but has since been left out in the cold
The Chelsea boss added that as soon as the young Englishman does finally live up to his potential, he will ‘leave his footprint’ on football.
‘This is the thing he needs to learn and live up to,’ Tuchel added. ‘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.
‘Please don’t forget we only have three changes here in England which is a big advantage for the guys like Callum, like Tammy [Abraham], like others we’ve spoken about in the last few weeks. We cannot give them 20 minutes here and there which could make a huge, huge difference for their feeling and development.
Chelsea are thriving currently under Tuchel ahead of their crunch London derby with Arsenal
‘But it’s not like this, but if you have only three then you more or less only have two because the last one is a bit of a risk for injuries and finishing the game with 10 people.’
While Hudson-Odoi has watched on from the bench in recent weeks, Chelsea have been in imperious form both domestically and in Europe.
The Blues are gearing up for the FA Cup final against Leicester this weekend before they take on Manchester City in the Champions League final two weeks later.
Tuchel’s men are also in pole position to secure a top four finish following a brilliant run of form, and victory over Arsenal on Wednesday at Stamford Bridge would go a huge way to making sure of that.