Chelsea playing Christian Pulisic and Callum Hudson-Odoi together is the future. In the short term, however, it will require compromises.
When Chelsea announced their signing of Christian Pulisic, it came at about the same time Callum Hudson-Odoi saw his future in Blue slipping away. It was not a hard connection to make that Pulisic was seemingly coming in to replace Hudson-Odoi (and Eden Hazard) or at the very least would be blocking the English winger off.
But then the board ordered Hudson-Odoi be played and Frank Lampard won him over while weaning Pulisic into the side. Suddenly there was room for both wingers with one caveat: both are seemingly better for Chelsea on the left.
Mind, both Hudson-Odoi and Pulisic can play on either wing and could even line up in the 10 spot if need be. But thus far in Blue, the two players have done their best in Hazard’s old office. There is also the matter of Willian’s good form from either side to account for. So while Hudson-Odoi and Pulisic are the future of Chelsea’s wings, in the short term that will require compromises to work.
While both players are two footed, they are also both predominantly right footed. While playing on the left, that means more often than not they will be cutting in central to cause chaos. That also gels well with Frank Lampard’s tactics where the wingers are “inside wingers”. When either player plays on the right, even with Lampard’s tactics having the wingers tuck in, they are more likely to go wide and cross than cut in and shoot.
Both players can go wide and can put in a good cross but their main skill is in their dribbling. Dribbling into the box causes more danger than dribbling away from it which is why both players have looked better on the left.
To play both Pulisic and Hudson-Odoi, one of the two would need to be in the less glamorous position of right wing. Mind, Pulisic did make his career there at Dortmund but with Willian in good form and Hudson-Odoi not long off injury, Lampard’s hands are somewhat tied.
An added wriggle is how much Chelsea’s wingers (and 10 in a 4-2-3-1) rotate with one another. The match against Manchester United was a poor showing from both Hudson-Odoi and Pulisic, but that was more tactical based and less about the two wingers themselves. Still, if both wingers are allowed to rotate and both want to end up on the left, Chelsea runs the risk of becoming lopsided without an outlet. Mason Mount’s preference of rotating out to the left will only further exacerbate this.
In the short term, Lampard’s solution is seemingly to play Willian on the right in place of one of the two young wingers. For now, that is working but recent games have seen a dip in form for Willian. Much like the start of the season for the entire squad, at some point Lampard will need to accept the initial hiccups of something so that the payoff can come sooner.
Hudson-Odoi and Pulisic together is the future. The winter slog is coming soon and both will have plenty of opportunities to play as they already have this season. But ideally Lampard allows the two to figure each other out to advance the side’s progress.