Callum Hudson-Odoi was the player who really took his chance in Thomas Tuchel’s first match in charge of Chelsea having replaced Frank Lampard in the top job.
The winger was pushed a bit further back, playing as a right wing-back for Tuchel but with clear instructions to get forward as much as possible. He did just that, constantly bombarding forward at will and also forcing Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santa in a half time change to combat Hudson-Odoi’s effectiveness in the opening 45 minutes.
The Chelsea winger has impressed off the bench in recent weeks but had struggled to make an impact for Lampard when he was included from the start of games – see the defeat away at Leicester.
Hudson-Odoi was especially fluent with Hakim Ziyech. We were used to seeing them dovetailing on either flank of the front three but now they had teamed up down the Chelsea right and the early signs were very promising.
It was Hudson-Odoi’s cross that just eluded Olivier Giroud by a couple of inches in Chelsea’s best chance of the first half and the wide man gave young Wolves defender Rayan Ait-Nouri a torrid time, so much so that the left back was hauled off at the break
Nelson Semedo moved from right back to left back to try and nullify Hudson-Odoi and it worked for half an hour of the second 45 before the Chelsea man found another gear, sending in some very inviting crosses for Giroud and then his replacement Tammy Abraham.
Hudson-Odoi also had his own shot on goal deflected not a million miles wide either as he was, by some distance, the Blues most-effective player.
He had to be cajoled along by Tuchel in the early going, who was yelling from the opposite side of the pitch “GO CALLUM, GO” and “ACCELERATE, ACCELERATE” in a bid to get Hudson-Odoi running at his man.
He also showed some brilliant defensive nous, chasing back in the dying embers to snuff out an attack on Leander Dendoncker with a fantastic challenge just outside his own box.
Post-match Hudson-Odoi said: ” It was something new for me
“It was my first time trying it yesterday [in training] and I felt alright playing in it, it wasn’t a problem for me. It was good trying to play that position and no matter where the manager asks me to play I will try to do my best.
“He wants me to be as direct and to keep getting at full-backs and defenders as much as possible.”
With Hudson-Odoi impressing, that raises a question over Reece James. The right back was an integral player for Frank Lampard after he was brought into the first team, his crossing from the right side was a huge weapon for the former manager and the Blues clearly missed him when Cesar Azpilicueta replaced him.
James suffered a knee issue and a hamstring one as well which forced him to miss gametime in Lampard’s final throws as manager and was sorely missed by Lampard and his teammates.
Tuchel has found what he thinks to be a solution in Hudson-Odoi but it wasn’t really a problem in the first place as there is no reason to suggest that James couldn’t have done a similar job.
The right back might be one of the players who could lose out big time from Tuchel taking the job earlier this week and could face a battle on his hands to regain his place if Hudson-Odoi continues to impress.
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