4 reasons why Chelsea must use Callum Hudson-Odoi in their starting XI

Despite a recent turn in form that’s seen some better results, Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri has come under fire a lot this season, and one of the major reasons for that criticism has been his use of young prospect Callum Hudson-Odoi.

A u17 World Cup winner with England in 2017, Hudson-Odoi has yet to start a Premier League game for the Blues this season despite showing flashes of his terrific potential when he has appeared in the cup competitions – all of this while his rivals for a place in the first team haven’t exactly been setting the Premier League on fire.

January’s transfer window saw Hudson-Odoi attempt to engineer a move to Bayern Munich, but Chelsea refused to budge even when the German giants bid up to £35m for the youngster. Since then though, Sarri has still refused to truly unleash the young star – and quite why is anyone’s guess.

Here are 4 reasons why Hudson-Odoi should be starting games for Chelsea.

#1 They can’t afford to lose him, especially in a post-Hazard world

If Eden Hazard leaves Chelsea, they will need Hudson-Odoi more than ever

In a world where the players largely hold all the power, Chelsea simply can’t afford to let Hudson-Odoi continue to warm the bench week after week, particularly with Bayern Munich still waiting in the wings to snap the youngster up in the next transfer window. This issue is multi-faceted when you consider everything else happening at Chelsea at the same time, too.

Most importantly, Hudson-Odoi’s contract expires in the summer of 2020 – meaning that unless the Blues want to risk him walking away for nothing, they’ll probably be forced to sell him before then. That is of course, unless they can persuade him to stay by actually playing him in the starting line-up.

And of course, by the time next season rolls around they may well need Hudson-Odoi a lot more than they do right now. Eden Hazard appears to be primed for a move to Real Madrid – and without him this season, Chelsea wouldn’t be where they are right now. And both Pedro and Willian are the wrong side of 30 and appear to be past their primes.

Sure, Christian Pulisic is coming in this summer, but Chelsea simply cannot afford to let a talent like Hudson-Odoi leave Stamford Bridge. He’s already displayed the talent needed to star for the Blues, but he’s also shown the ambition and desire for first team football away from Chelsea if need be. That means that essentially, Chelsea might need him more than he needs them. And the only way for them to change that is to actually play him.

#2 His form has been incredible when he has played

Hudson-Odoi's form in the Europa League has been fantastic

Hudson-Odoi might’ve only made 5 Premier League appearances as a substitute – racking up a total of just 103 minutes – but Sarri has at least made use of him in the Europa League and in the domestic cup competitions. And when he has played, the England youngster has been absolutely fantastic.

In 324 minutes of Europa League action, Hudson-Odoi has scored 3 goals and made 1 assist, meaning he’s essentially been involved in a goal every 81 minutes. He’s also been named as Man of the Match by WhoScored.com in Chelsea’s games against PAOK and Malmo, and has gained an average rating of 7.63 for his performances in the competition.

His other stats in Europa League action are impressive too – 26 successful dribbles, a pass success rate of 89.4%, 13 key passes and just 4 unsuccessful touches across his 7 games. Quite why he hasn’t been rewarded for these performances is something only Sarri can explain. After all, what more can a player do to impress?

Sarri has recently stated that he feels it would be “dangerous” to put too much pressure on the 18-year old right now, but all the evidence we’ve seen suggests that Hudson-Odoi can cope with the expectations that Chelsea fans have put on him. Simply put, the Italian boss needs to use him and actually find out if that’s the case.

#3 Willian and Pedro need to be pushed

Willian's spot in Chelsea's starting XI seems to be assured - but does he need to be pushed more?

It’s become a bit of a myth that Willian and Pedro have struggled for form throughout 2018/19 – they have 11 goals and 6 assists between them in Premier League action – but it’d be hard to deny that both men have had some underwhelming displays at times too, something that’s been hugely frustrating for Chelsea fans to watch.

Part of the problem is that under Sarri, there seems to be no consequences for poor performances. It’s an issue that goes squad-deep, as the likes of David Luiz, Jorginho and Marcos Alonso also seem to be rooted into the starting XI for Premier League games despite also underwhelming on more than one occasion. But surely at some stage, for the good of the Blues’ squad, that must change.

If Sarri begins to play Hudson-Odoi ahead of either Pedro or Willian in Premier League action, then not only would that be a good thing for the youngster, but it’d also be good for the two veterans too. It’d probably light a fire underneath them and show them that their starting spots aren’t a guarantee, and that to retain them they need to perform well more consistently.

In this scenario, everyone at Chelsea would likely win out, and the only victims would be the opposition defenders faced by the attacking trio. There’s simply no need for Chelsea to continue to start with Willian and/or Pedro when they’re not performing brilliantly – it’s time for the Blues to unleash Hudson-Odoi in the league instead.

#4 It’d send the correct message to other young talent

Chelsea can't afford to lose Hudson-Odoi as they lost Kevin de Bruyne

Although it’s hard to see judging by their usual starting line-up in the Premier League, Chelsea play home to some of the most talented youngsters in the country. Not only do they have Hudson-Odoi, but Ethan Ampadu, Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham, Reece James and Trevoh Chalobah have all been produced by the Blues’ academy.

And yet, to what end does this matter? It could easily be the case that some of those young talents might see Hudson-Odoi struggling for game time and come to the conclusion that if he can’t make it at Chelsea, nobody can. And thus they may push for an exit from Stamford Bridge – joining the likes of Kevin de Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and Mohamed Salah on the list of great players absolutely wasted by Chelsea.

By using Hudson-Odoi more often, particularly in Premier League action, it’d send a message to Chelsea’s other young talent that prospects can break through into the Blues’ first team and develop into genuine first-team regulars – just as John Terry did almost two decades ago.

Sure, there’s no guarantee that any of these youngsters will fully pan out and become greats like Terry did, but Hudson-Odoi has already shown the kind of flashes of brilliance that suggest he can definitely make it. It’s surely a no-brainer at this stage that Sarri should use him correctly – and not risk losing him as the club lost Salah and De Bruyne.