Chelsea manager, Thomas Tuchel has explained why he substituted youngster Hudson-Odoi during their listless draw against Southampton at St. Mary’s.
The Blues were held to a 1-1 draw by the home side in the early kickoff in what was clearly a setback in their bid to finish in the top four.
However, the major talking point was surely the bizarre substitution of Callum Hudson-Odoi who was substituted 30 minutes after he came on.
The Blues were trailing at half time to a brilliant Takumi Minamino goal just before the break and Tuchel made a switch just before the restart as youngster Odoi replaced another Chelsea academy graduate, Tammy Abraham.
Nine minutes into the second half, Chelsea found the equaliser when Mason Mount converted from the spot after Danny Ings fouled him in the box.
But with 14 minutes left to on the clock, Tuchel made another substitution as Hudson-Odoi left the pitch 30 minutes after coming on for Hakim Ziyech.
After the game, the German offered some insight into that decision and had this to say;
“With Hudson-Odoi, I was not happy with the energy and with the attitude and counter-pressing so we decided to take him off,” he told the media.
“It’s a hard decision I know for the players to come on and off. But, tomorrow all is forgotten and he has all possibilities to start the game against Atlético,” he added.
With this development, Odoi has now been substituted on and off in the same Premier League game twice as a Chelsea player – the first was against Watford in 2018.
Meanwhile, with the result Chelsea remain fourth on the log but are now in danger of dropping off should West Ham win their game in hand.