Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has aimed an extraordinary dig at Callum Hudson-Odoi after the team’s 1-1 draw with Southampton yesterday.
Tuchel introduced Hudson-Odoi from the bench at the St Mary’s Stadium, but then took the controversial decision to sub him off later in the second half.
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This was met with criticism by many Chelsea fans, but the German tactician has defended the move by laying into Hudson-Odoi for his lack of effort and poor body language during his time on the pitch.
“We brought in Callum Hudson-Odoi but I was not happy with his attitude, energy and counterpressing. I took him off. We demand 100 per cent,” Tuchel is quoted by the Times.
“I feel he is not in the right shape to help us. I was not happy with his body language.
“Everybody needs to understand that sometimes I take the decisions to win games. It’s not a problem that he makes mistakes or has a bad game or does a miss, but we cannot lack energy, 10 per cent or 5 per cent, it is not possible.”
He added: “By tomorrow it is over and maybe [Hudson-Odoi] starts against Atletico. But he needs to be reliable. This is the next step for him.
“He was in trouble when he comes from the bench against Sheffield [United], he was again today. It is on him to improve.”
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Hudson-Odoi has shown glimpses of huge talent during his time at Stamford Bridge, but it seems he’s never quite done enough to win over any of the managers he’s played under.
Maurizio Sarri and Frank Lampard were also strangely reluctant to give Hudson-Odoi regular opportunities, and Tuchel’s comments on the England international perhaps shed some light on why this might be.
The former Paris Saint-Germain boss has perhaps been more honest than his predecessors, and it will be interesting to see how this goes down.
Many Blues fans will surely hope Hudson-Odoi can turn things around and prove his manager wrong as he could end up being a big success as long as he sorts out any attitude problems that might be holding him back.