It was always going to be interesting to see how Thomas Tuchel decided to approach the job at Chelsea, but it appears that he’s going to ring the changes straight away.
There were rumours that he might be looking to start with a back three, but it looks like he’s making some positional changes and big calls too:
Will be confirmed in an hour but hearing some interesting #CFC team news for Thomas Tuchel’s first game in charge: back three, all three Germans involved and expect Callum Hudson-Odoi to play as a right wing back. Mason Mount has been left out of the XI. https://t.co/3w527sKpF2
— Simon Johnson (@SJohnsonSport) January 27, 2021
It’s easy to make a lot of that decision to leave out Mason Mount because Lampard would include him as much as he could, but it does send a clear message that he’s putting his own stamp on the team straight away.
The biggest surprise has to come from Callum Hudson-Odoi as a wing back – it might not be natural to him, but he certainly has the pace and energy to be successful there if it works out.
It also shows that the formation will be three centre backs with some attacking wing backs rather than sinking back into a line of five, so this will be fun to see how it looks on the pitch.