For the 18-year-old English forward, Hudson-Odoi, it has been praises all season for his brilliant performance in Chelsea so far. Apart from the injury which kept him off the field for a while, he has bounced back incredibly well and hasn’t missed the chance to prove his talent.
He delivers whenever he is called upon and his second Premier League start this season wasn’t an exception. He got to play the full 90 minutes at Stamford Bridge and set up Marcos Alonso for Chelsea’s winner in the second half.
It is very obvious why the Lampard isn’t afraid to give him the chance to shine seeing as he has made three assists in the Premier League this season with 100 passes, averaging a total of 33.33 passes per match, nine crosses, and two big chances created. (Premier League Stat)
It’s not just the manager that has seen what a gem the youngster is. England legend and striker, Alan Shearer hailed Hudson-Odoi for his incredible form during his talk on Match of the Day on Saturday night as seen on Metro UK.
“He has played three times this season and he has three assists. He had such a terrible injury which he’s come back from.
“He’s 18 years of age and can spray the ball around like that, left or right, and he is full of confidence. He can go on the outside and come on the inside.
“Everything Chelsea did well, he was at the heart of it. He did his bit defensively which he had to do and he was hugging the touchline, and with that drive that he’s got, he makes it very difficult for defenders.
“For the goal, he sets it up for Alonso, puts it into his path and says ‘go on, have a go’ and that was the winning goal. Chelsea were the better team and deserved to score.
“What a week it has been for him. Two for the Under-21s as well. He’s a talent.”
Reasons to look out for Hudson-Odoi.
Hudson-Odoi is a young player with enough room for improvement and he appears to be a player who listens to instructions and follows it to the letter. Chelsea’s match against Grimsby is an example of such times. It appears Frank Lampard’s instruction was for Hudson-Odoi to run behind Grimsby’s defense in the first half but seeing as he wasn’t doing that, Lampard had needed to reinforce the instruction clearly in the dressing room which had made the youngster sit up and he continued the theme before the Brighton game. Where he follows instruction, some young players might need cajoling.
Apart from listening to instructions which is rare from young players these days, his spikiness and incision on the attack is also a plus. This has been an important part of being in Lampard’s team and even though the competition for places in the attack is tough, this youngster’s vision and ability to deliver an apt pass gives him an edge.
Let’s also not forget his willingness to run at defenders on the left. This will always pose a threat to opponents as he will push them to make errors occasionally that he can capitalize on and use in his team’s favor.
Conclusion
It is incredible how he bounced back from injury and is doing his best to develop in every game. Its also great that he is getting enough playtime and we can guess that’s because he has been delivering whenever he gets to play.
Should he decide to leave Chelsea, there would be clubs lined up to snatch him. Bayern Munich has tried and might still have their eyes on him so it’s best for Chelsea to keep the young talent happy to not lose him.
