Tuchel tells Hudson-odoi one good game against Norwich is not enough
Winger could start against Canaries due to injuries manager challenges 20-year-old over consistency
Thomas Tuchel has thrown down the gauntlet to Callum Hudsonodoi, warning the winger that one good game against Norwich City will not prove anything.
Injuries to Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner, who Tuchel confirmed would miss at least the next two games, could offer an opportunity to Hudson-odoi, who made an impact as a substitute against Malmo in the Champions League in Wednesday.
His last start was against Southampton on Oct 2, but he was substituted after 65 minutes.
Chelsea supporters have been eager for the 20-year-old to be given a prolonged chance in his favoured position on the left of a front three, rather than as a makeshift right wing-back.
But Tuchel has made it clear that one good performance against Norwich today will not be enough to convince him that Hudson-odoi is ready to start regularly.
Asked if, with Lukaku and Werner out, this could be a potential turning point for Hudson-odoi, Tuchel said: “The only person who can decide this and answer this question is Callum. It’s as easy as that. Is there a turning point? OK, he needs to prove it. He needs to play the next 250 games on the highest level and then that would be the turning point. But is it a turning point if he has a brilliant match tomorrow [against Norwich]? No.
“It’s only a turning point if he makes it a turning point and a turning point is only if he does not only do one good match, one good half, 60 good minutes, but if he does it consistently. It’s as easy as that with every player.
“Once you do this you will have more minutes. Once you have more minutes you will maybe look back and say ‘that’s a turning point’. You need to fight for it. You need to deserve it. It must be a perfect fit in a perfect moment. Sometimes you need a bit of luck. But in the end the only person who can answer that question is Callum. And we will support him in that situation.”
Tuchel is not the first manager to throw down the gauntlet to Hudson-odoi.
Both Tuchel and Frank Lampard before him have suggested that Hudson-odoi needs to do more in training and then grasp his chance better when it comes. There has clearly been a feeling that the winger will be happy with one piece of skill or one impressive moment, rather than keeping his foot on the gas and pushing for more.
Everybody who knows Hudsonodoi speaks of how he is easy to get along with, but there have been questions over some of the advice he has received, given he handed in a transfer request during his breakthrough year and also broke coronavirus lockdown restrictions.
Tuchel this season questioned the decision to turn down a call-up to England Under-21s and it did not go down well around Chelsea that the
‘He needs to play the next 250 games on the highest level and then that would be the turning point’
club and Tuchel were accused of letting the player down after rejecting a loan offer from Borussia Dortmund. At some stage Hudson-odoi will need to justify the hype, although it must be pointed out that, having only just left his teens, he has already achieved a lot. However, having given him a huge contract worth over £100,000 a week just over two years ago, Chelsea would have hoped for more from the academy graduate by now. He still has time on his side, but with the quality of Tuchel’s squad it is difficult to imagine him playing more than a bit-part role this season if he does not impress over the next few games.
It is not so much now or never, but more like now or hardly ever in terms of what he can expect in the way of starts if he fails to produce. Tuchel also clarified comments he made to German media regarding the possibility of signing Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland earlier this week, claiming he had been joking and had “fallen into a trap”.