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Pete Hall
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Last Updated: 07/04/19 7:22pm
Maurizio Sarri finally gave Callum Hudson-Odoi his first Premier League start on Wednesday, with Olivier Giroud also included. Has the Italian found his winning formula ahead of their Monday Night Football clash with West Ham? Pete Hall takes a look…
Chants of “you don’t know what you’re doing” rained down from the Chelsea away end as Maurizio Sarri made his final substitution against Cardiff last weekend, with the replacement not the man Chelsea fans wanted to see.
Chelsea went on to win the match, but fans still demanded to see Callum Hudson-Odoi be handed a starting berth against Brighton in midweek and, having been deprived of the youngster Bayern Munich have courted so vigorously for so long, they got their wish.
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The England international impressed, providing the assist for Chelsea’s opener, but Hudson-Odoi was not the only player previously on the periphery of the first team to excel, with Chelsea looking as fluid as they have for some time – has Sarri finally found his winning formula?
Time for change
After such a stunning start to the season, Chelsea’s campaign has somewhat unravelled, as they sit fifth, having lost seven of the 20 league games since their first defeat to Tottenham on November 24.
They have climbed back into the top-four race having won four of their last six games, but fans remain disgruntled with the new regime, with Sarri’s preference for passing football irking many.
2:58 “Their lack of intensity is unbelievable,” Sky Sports’ Jamie Carragher said of Sarri’s style of play after Chelsea’s humiliating 6-0 defeat to Manchester City. “They’ve got so many players over 30. Chelsea’s players need to be aggressive.”
In Chelsea’s most convincing victory since that capitulation at City against Brighton, Sarri went for youth, while rewarding a frustrated striker with his first league start of 2019, potentially stumbling across a system that could resurrect Chelsea’s season.
Loftus-Cheek and Hudson-Odoi impossible to ignore
“He’s understanding the game better,” Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta said of Loftus-Cheek’s goalscoring performance on Wednesday. “He is a complete player.”
Loftus-Cheek has had to wait patiently for his chance having started just one Premier League game before Wednesday, but his wonderful curling strike took his tally to five league goals this season – two more than central midfield rival Ross Barkley from 12 starts, with Mateo Kovacic yet to score a league goal. From two starts, Loftus-Cheek is remarkably Chelsea’s third-top goalscorer.
Clinical RLC
Only Sergio Aguero has a better minutes per goal ratio (a goal every 104.86 minutes), than Loftus-Cheek (112.8 minutes) of Premier League players with more than ten appearances this season.
Further forward, much has been made of Hudson-Odoi continually being overlooked, with Carragher especially critical of Sarri’s admission that he did not watch all of Hudson-Odoi’s first start in an England shirt.
Sarri, though, after Hudson-Odoi’s impressive display against Brighton, was much more positive of the 18-year-old’s future prospects.
“Callum started for the first time in the Premier League but he has played 20 matches or so for us,” Sarri said. “He can become one of the best players in Europe.”
0:42 Nine goal contributions from nine starts in all competitions has dispelled any doubts over whether Hudson-Odoi can produce the goods and, with Willian, who at 30 is nearing the end of his contract, struggling on just three Premier League goals all season from 23 starts, and Pedro, who is 32 and also nearing the end of his contract, registering just one assist all season in the league, Hudson-Odoi represents the most productive option.
Patient Giroud has stepped up
Having played every game of France’s World Cup triumph in the summer, Olivier Giroud started this season as Chelsea’s frontline striker, but as the season has worn on, the 32-year-old has fallen down the pecking order, having to make do being Chelsea’s Europa League hitman.
2 – Chelsea have had two English players (Hudson-Odoi & Loftus-Cheek) assist a goal in the same Premier League match for the first time since January 2012 against Bolton (Terry and A. Cole). Lions.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 3, 2019
However, he hasn’t let his head drop, firing nine goals in the competition to lead the scoring charts and, on that first Premier League start of the year, Giroud opened the scoring with a fine finish against Brighton, taking his tally to six goals and two assists in his last five starts for Chelsea in all competitions – form that has seen Sarri seemingly change his opinion of another previously fringe option.
When asked if he wants to keep him, the Chelsea coach replied: “Yes, of course. I know the club have an option for another season.”
2:31 New line-up here to stay?
Eden Hazard is indispensable, having scored or assisted almost half of Chelsea’s league goals this season, so it is a straight shootout between Gonzalo Higuain and Giroud for the central striker role, and given Giroud’s excellent recent form, and the fact Higuain has netted just three times in 10 appearances, two of those against bottom side Huddersfield, Giroud will feel confident of taking to the pitch on Monday.
Such a ploy has proven successful – in the seven Premier League starts Giroud has made, Chelsea are unbeaten, winning five and drawing twice.
That then leaves one wide forward spot for Pedro, Willian and Hudson-Odoi. Sarri has persevered with Willian and Pedro, but given Hudson-Odoi’s impressive full league debut, Willian’s one league goal since late October, and Pedro with two league goals since mid-December, then Hudson-Odoi can be similarly confident.
2:01 Sarri, while admitting it is difficult to accommodate all his options, seemed to solve his own conundrum by the end of his sentence after the Brighton match.
“Callum is on the left, the best of Hazard is on the left, the best of Willian is on the left, but I have only one left,” Sarri said. “But one has to adapt himself on the other side, as Callum did in this match for 80 minutes.”
As for Loftus-Cheek, he seems to have overcome his back problems that have plagued his season, and is producing the goods, earning praise from team-mates and his manager alike – at long last, the 23-year-old may now become a permanent first-team fixture.
