Chelsea built on their 2-1 win over Cardiff City with a commanding 3-0 win over Brighton. Oliver Giroud, Eden Hazard and Ruben Loftus-Cheek scored for the hosts but the focus was on young Callum Hudson-Odoi, the prodigy who was handed his first start in the Premier League this season.
The Englishman’s talent is no secret and he has been linked with German giants Bayern Munich for quite some time now. With the transfer ban in place, the London-based club can’t afford to lose him and might hence need to start him more often.
We take a look at how he performed in his full debut in the Premier League.
Key stats
Minutes: 90
Goals: 0
Assists: 1
Shots (on target): 2 (1)
Passes (Success rate): 65 (92%)
Key-passes: 4
Dribbles (completed): 2 (1)
Tackles: 3
Dispossessed: 2
30-SECOND REPORT
Hudson-Odoi enjoyed a lively full debut in the Premier League. The right flank was reeking of energy and his presence accounted for majority of it.
The 18-year-old bagged an assist after he left Anthony Knockaert in his wake to set up Giroud with a low cross. But in theory, he could have bagged a couple more of those, especially when his pin-point cross found Cesar Azpilicueta’s head in the box. Unfortunately, the header failed to make justice to the cross.
Callum Hudson-Odoi celebrates with Oliver Giroud
The Englishman had a great game and did not display any noticeable flaws. He was confident with his passing and was crucial in build-up.
GOT RIGHT
Passing: Hudson-Odoi was extremely lucid with his passing. There were no signs of half-minded passes, lazy under-hit passes or signs of selfishness from the youngster. This attribute is crucial for a player to be integrated in Maurizio Sarri’s system and it’s definitely fair to say that the 18-year-old did justice to the manager’s decision to start him.
At the same time, he Englishman wasn’t exactly conservative or passive with his passing. He was not afraid to show ambition and took matters into his own hands whenever required. The four key-passes he delivered reflects the confidence in him to be creative and assert himself on the opposition.
Movement: The 18-year-old showed great maturity through his movements. His link-up with Jorginho could turn out to be a huge advantage for Chelsea, should the youngster choose to stay at the club.
Hudson-Odoi was reading the Italian’s passes impressively and getting into the right positions. He also kept an eye on Azpilicueta’s overlaps and did well to drift inside and provide options in the half-space whenever the right-back stretched the field. The fact that all these movements were in almost perfect synchronisation is impressive.
Here's a look at that @Calteck10 assist earlier... 👌#CHEBHA pic.twitter.com/bEhRZL6J25
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) April 3, 2019
VERDICT
Hudson-Odoi justified all the hype surrounding him and also raised questions as to why he has had to wait so long for his first Premier League start.
It was a solid all-round performance by the winger and he barely hardly put a foot wrong. However, there is a minor cause of worry for Chelsea. Hudson-Odoi is a player who likes to be as involved as possible, drop deep, carry the ball and take players on. This description could also fit another similar, but an established world class player on the other wing – Hazard.
As we have learnt from the case of Lionel Messi and Paulo Dybala at Argentina or Messi and Philippe Coutinho at Barcelona, two kings can’t rule a kingdom. The prospect usually fades away.
Of course, this is just a cautious speculation and there is a chance that one of them or both don’t stay at the club past the coming summer. But it’s definitely something for Sarri to think about.
However, this does not take anything away from the spectacular debut that the Englishman enjoyed against Brighton.
Rating: 8/10
Stats from whoscored.com
