A BAD TUCH? YES, MAYBE
THOMAS TUCHEL has admitted his public dressing down of Callum Hudson-Odoi after the match at Southampton on Saturday may have been a mistake.
The England winger suffered the indignity of being hauled off 31 minutes after he came on as a half-time substitute – and was then further singled out by Tuchel when his display was analysed in front of the rest of the squad.
“Was it the right decision? I don’t know,” said Tuchel ahead of tonight’s Champions League game with Atletico Madrid. “But it was
my decision in this moment. We decided to speak to him in front of the whole group because I had my reasons to do it. “We spoke as a whole group to not make it bigger than it is, because for us it was not a big thing.
“So, I did it and we had the only reaction that we wanted.
“He went back to normal mood, to a good mood, to a smile, to training and the next day he was very, very good in training and today. And that’s it. That is absolutely the way it is here at Cobham between us.”
The 20-year-old Hudson-Odoi, who has been a regular in the team during Tuchel’s short spell in charge, was said to be in good spirits and enjoying training yesterday and Sunday.
But the acid test will come tonight in Romania, where he is expected to start on the bench for the last-16, first leg against Atletico.
Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta said the key thing about the whole incident was the way the player reacted, and he is confident Hudson-Odoi will bounce back.
“It is not nice to come on and be subbed after 30 minutes,” explained the 31-year-old defender.
“That is very obvious and the manager made it clear.
“What was important was to see his reaction afterwards – a positive reaction.
“I am sure he will get better, he will get stronger. He is a young lad.”