Did Callum Hudson-Odoi finally take his Chelsea chance?

The answer is yes, Callum Hudson-Odoi took his Chelsea chance. But we can’t leave it at that because the entire saga of Hudson-Odoi is a tricky one to navigate.

First of all, it is good to see Hudson-Odoi in a more natural position. Mind, a wingback for Chelsea just means the player that creates width, but it still holds a lot of defensive responsibility that the Englishman seems less comfortable with. He isn’t afraid to press, but containing and waiting for the opposition to make a mistake is something else. Recent games have seen him returned to an attacking role, on the left specifically, and he’s done quite well for himself.

Secondly, this whole song and dance seems never ending. Hudson-Odoi plays well, or good at least, and then disappears for a bit. Sometimes he plays his way out of it, sometimes he just drops as others find their way in. Hudson-Odoi has very rarely been given a consistent run of games by Maurizio Sarri, Frank Lampard, or Thomas Tuchel (in attack at least) due to a variety of factors. That injury from a few seasons ago did a lot, but so did the natural up and down of form that youth face.

That last part is interesting, because that up and down is held against Hudson-Odoi more than others. Mason Mount and Reece James have both had it, but Lampard persisted with them through it. Tuchel seemingly gives the senior players a longer leash than Hudson-Odoi for their down periods.

But a perfect storm has worked out a bit perfectly for Hudson-Odoi, finally. Cesar Azpilicueta is now seen as a viable wingback option and Trevoh Chalobah allows Tuchel to push Azpilicueta out to the wingback spot. Timo Werner, Romelu Lukaku, and Christian Pulisic are all injured while Hakim Ziyech is in some dreadful form. That cuts down the competition for spots in the 3-4-3 and allows Hudson-Odoi for a near guaranteed spot. But none of that would matter if he wasn’t playing well which he very much is after getting a run of games under his belt.

Perhaps the next question is what happens when that run is broken. Eventually, rotation will have to happen. Or, perhaps a worse thought, someone returns to the starting lineup, does okay, and Tuchel seemingly prefers them over Hudson-Odoi. It is still somewhat unclear exactly what else Tuchel is looking for in the Englishman but in the 10 or so months Tuchel’s been in charge, his standards for Hudson-Odoi have seemingly been higher than the standards others are held to.

Today, against Norwich, most of that can be set aside for now. Hudson-Odoi was given another chance in a role that suits him and again did quite well. What the future holds may change the calculus of all this as it has before, but for now Hudson-Odoi is the man with a plan. While others are unavailable, he needs to continue to be that to stay in the lineup when those players do become available again. And maybe, he will finally be where many think he should be already: the starting lineup.