Callum Hudson Odoi reacts to 100 appearances for Chelsea

Callum Hudson-Odoi has been thinking on his recent centurion status at Chelsea, as well as his shift in attitude from scoring and assisting goals to defending them.

In Chelsea’s recent Premier League victory against Aston Villa, the Wandsworth winger reached 100 appearances for the Blues, a milestone he has been approaching for some time. It was a great day all around at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea won 3-0, a number the club aim to replicate when they play the same opponents in the Carabao Cup third round.

‘I got told a couple of times by my brother that I was pretty close,’ he said. ‘I didn’t know it was that game specifically so when I found out, it was a bit of a surprise but a happy feeling for me as well,”

“I was buzzing about it but the fact we won on the day was more important. It was a good result but obviously making 100 appearances for this club is pretty special too,”

For a youngster who grew up dreaming of one day playing at Cobham, achieving three digits is a very significant achievement, especially at such a young age. Hudson-Odoi made his FA Cup debut in January 2018, a month after turning 17, and has already played in 100 games, just shy of his 21st birthday.

‘It was a dream of mine to get the opportunity to play my first game for Chelsea, coming on against Newcastle, and 100 appearances later has just gone so quick,’ explained Hudson-Odoi.

‘It’s a crazy feeling when you’re in the Academy and thinking about playing just one game for Chelsea, to see the atmosphere and how it is to play on the pitch.

‘So to play 100 games for the club that you’ve wanted to play for from the beginning is an amazing feeling,”

Odoi made his 100 appearance against Villa in a 3-0 league win 11 days ago, a scoreline that belied a much closer match. It took awhile to break down the Clarets’ tough rearguard effort, and Hudson-Odoi pondered on what the visitors did well to frustrate Chelsea.

‘They played the same formation as us so at times it was a bit difficult,’ he added. ‘It was a game where it was more about being patient and waiting for the goals to come.

‘They were defending very deep and at times it was difficult for us to make certain runs or get the ball into certain areas to penetrate them and be dangerous so it was a tough game.

‘At the same time, we got the job done, got the 3-0 win and a clean sheet as well which was amazing. We did what we needed to do, it was a good game and I enjoyed it.’

The Londoner started at wing-back against Villa, as he has for the most of his appearances under Thomas Tuchel, and the new position has pushed him to think differently when he sprints onto the field. He is no longer so focused on creating a danger in the final third, and his broader responsibilities ensure that clean sheets are valued just as highly as goals and assists.

‘When I’m playing in that channel, it’s about helping in attack as well by providing different options of scoring or assisting,’ he said. ‘I try to find different positions to help the team by staying wide, coming short or making runs to create more space.

‘The way I look at it now is I’m in the situation where I have to help out much more in defence rather than attack. It’s up and down and it gets tiring at times but you’re always pushing for the clean sheet because if they don’t score, they don’t win.

‘It’s much more of a defensive mindset for me trying to keep clean sheets but it’s started really well.’

‘The standard that we set for ourselves is we want to win every game,’ added Hudson-Odoi. ‘Our mindset is on winning, getting through to the next round and going as far in the competition as possible.

‘We’ve started the season well so we don’t want to slack off. We want to keep the momentum so hopefully we get the win and go through to the next round.’