Callum Hudson-Odoi will be the first person to tell you that he needs to be better in front of goal right now, and we would all agree with him.
It’s the one thing missing in his game which is a real surprise, because he used to bang the goals in throughout the youth levels as he was coming up through the ranks at the club. Finishing was definitely not a problem, and that’s why I know that finishing soon will not become a problem at senior level either.
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It’s easy to forget that Hudson-Odoi only turned 21 last month, and that is purely because he has been regularly in and around this Chelsea first team setup for many years now and that is a testament to his talent and quality.
However, whilst he has been around the squad, he has largely been unable to become a regular mainstay starting player, and his 8 matches in a row recently under Thomas Tuchel was his longest spell of starts so far, and this for me is why his finishing isn’t up to scratch.
All players need confidence and they need repetition. Hudson-Odoi scores goals for fun in training, as he did at youth level. But there is a difference to doing it in training to then doing it in the split second moment on the pitch in a massive Premier League game, and a 21-year old should be given leeway in that respect if he isn’t doing this too well. But for me, he needs to get a longer run of games playing in his preferred left attacking position and then he can build the confidence and momentum to become better in front of goal. It’s a mentality thing in the moment. You can be the worlds best finisher, but if you lacked confidence in front of goal to do it in the big moments, then you could too miss a string of easy chances. And for me this is where Hudson-Odoi is at.
If he added goals to his game he would be being spoken about as being one of the best young attackers in the game, and he will add goals if he gets a a regular starting role I have no doubts about it.
He brings so much to the team and he makes things happen. In our 3-1 win over Aston Villa on Boxing Day he created two goals, and had a hand in the third goal, meaning he literally made things happen when Chelsea really needed it and others were not providing. And he has done this a lot, whenever he starts on the left for Chelsea we do not seem to lose. He brings so much from that side and he will only improve even more over time.
