Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi has revealed the tactical advice from Thomas Tuchel which helped him flourish in a different role on Wednesday.
New Chelsea boss Tuchel employed the England attacker in a wing-back role in his first game in charge.
Despite a 0-0 draw with Wolves proving an anti-climax to the German coach’s arrival, Hudson-Odoi put in a sold shift.
Indeed, his display earned the 20-year-old the Man of the Match award at Stamford Bridge.
Speaking to Chelsea’s official website, Hudson-Odoi revealed how he had to quickly adapt to his new role in Tuchel’s first training session on Tuesday evening.
“It was something new for me,” the Englishman said. “It was my first time trying it yesterday [in training] and I felt alright playing in it, it wasn’t a problem for me.
“It was good trying to play that position and no matter where the manager asks me to play I will try to do my best.”
Hudson-Odoi went on to reveal the tactical advice Tuchel gave him in order to maximise his effect at wing-back.
“He wants me to be as direct and to keep getting at full-backs and defenders as much as possible,” the winger said.
“He knows all the attacking players can be free and score goals and he wants us to be direct and keep pushing and try to get goals and get assists. He told me to work up and down that line, be direct and stay as high and wide as possible.
“I try to break the line and keep doing different movements to get the ball. He wants us to keep going in behind and find good passes, find different ways of breaking teams instead of trying to beat them every time with the ball.
“I felt really fit throughout the whole game, I felt really sharp, trying to be direct as much as possible and trying to get at my defender as much as possible, and I feel as a collective we did really well.”
Chelsea return to action on Sunday when they play Burnley, a match in which Hudson-Odoi is hoping to see more clinical finishing.
Hudson-Odoi wants more end product
“We were working hard, trying to break their back five as quick as possible. At times it was very difficult. When we were getting behind them they were recovering so well it was hard to make that extra pass to break it,” he said.
“I think we have to be more clinical with our crossing and more clinical with our passing. End product just to finish it off.
“We can hopefully improve on it on Sunday.”
Source: TeamTalk
