Spending creates its own problems. For Frank Lampard, one came last week. Callum Hudson-Odoi had scored a well-taken goal in Rennes, his second strike in as many Champions League games. Lampard had picked his team to face Tottenham. Hudson-Odoi was not in it. Nor, indeed, was he on the bench.
“It was difficult to tell him as his attitude has been bang on,” said the Chelsea manager. “And that's reflected in scoring against Rennes and coming on and doing well against Newcastle.”
But Hudson-Odoi, a player of such promise that Bayern Munich have tried to sign him in three separate transfer windows and that Hansi Flick has called him “one of the greatest talents in that position”, was in effect Chelsea’s seventh-choice forward.
All of which called for diplomacy. “I did speak to him personally, because I wanted him to understand where he's at at the minute, which is that he's getting better for me,” Lampard said. “If I am taking someone out of the squad who deserves to be in it, I have to be straight and honest with them.
"The main thing is I want him to stay positive, and that's part of my job as well, to have that communication. He took it very well and it is not an easy conversation to have.”
Hudson-Odoi’s is a rare situation; his is the plight of a player with huge potential at a club who are Europe’s biggest spenders this summer and coveted by the continent’s preeminent team.
Bayern had tried to buy him in January 2019 when Maurizio Sarri did not seem convinced of his quality, and again the following summer. They renewed their interest with a loan bid this year as they looked for a replacement for Philippe Coutinho and Ivan Perisic.
Hudson-Odoi may have been on the bench in Bavaria. Instead, he was in the stands on Sunday. Timo Werner, Tammy Abraham and Hakim Ziyech were Lampard’s front three, Christian Pulisic, Olivier Giroud and Kai Havertz the trio in reserve.
______________________________________________________________________
Rennes 1 Chelsea 2: player ratings
-
RENNES RATINGS: Alfred Gomis - 7, Made an incredible save to deny Mason Mount and was unlucky to see Olivier Giroud score after stopping Timo Werner’s effort. Reuters -
Hamari Traore - 7, Fought well to keep Werner at bay for large parts of the game and posed a real threat at times. AP Photo -
Damien Da Silva - 6, Was denied by a good save from Edouard Mendy and made some important interventions. Tried to punch Giroud’s header out but couldn’t manage it. EPA -
Gerzino Nyamsi - 5, Was very composed whenever he had the ball at his feet, but looked stretched defensively at times and was outjumped by Giroud for the final goal. AP Photo -
Adrien Truffert - 7, Looked very good in most of his play but couldn’t provide much end product once he got forward. EPA -
Benjamin Bourigeaud - 7, Had a slow start but grew into the game, showing some real quality with his touch and setting up Sehrou Guirassy’s goal with a great corner delivery. AFP -
Steven N’Zonzi - 6, Showed plenty of composure throughout and kept the ball ticking along when Rennes had possession. AFP -
Edouardo Camavinga - 6, The teenager was neat on the ball but didn’t show too much star quality. AP Photo -
Jeremy Doku - 6, Got at Chilwell and caused him problems at times, but lost the ball to start the move that led to Callum Hudson-Odoi’s goal. AP Photo -
Sehrou Guirassy - 8, Held the ball up well, drew a fair few fouls and scored a header to cap off an impressive performance. AFP -
James Lea Siliki - 5, Missed a decent chance and didn’t look like causing much danger during his time on the pitch, with Cesar Azpilicueta getting the better of him. AFP -
SUBS: Romain Del Castillo (Lea Saliki 63’) - 5, Didn’t do any better than the man he replaced, as he also struggled to have too much of an impact. Reuters -
Clement Grenier (Camavinga 79’) – N/R, Getting himself booked was the Frenchman’s biggest involvement after coming on. AFP -
M’Baye Niang (Guirassy 86’) – N/R, Didn’t get many touches of the ball after coming on for a man who had made such a nuisance of himself throughout the match. AFP -
Yann Gboho (Doku 86’) – N/R, Good experience for the teenager to get on but he didn’t do much. AFP -
Fiatout Maouassa (Truffert 86) – N/R, Bringing the defender on at the end wasn’t enough to maintain the draw. AFP -
CHELSEA RATINGS: Edouard Mendy - 7, Made some good saves and looked solid between the sticks on his return to his former club but had no chance of saving Guirassy’s header. Reuters -
Cesar Azpilicueta - 8, He may be behind Reece James in the pecking order, but Azpilicueta was superb defensively. Reuters -
Kurt Zouma - 7, Was largely dominant, but could have done a lot better to deal with Guirassy and prevent his goal. AP Photo -
Thiago Silva - 7, Showed a lot of authority in his general play and covered his teammates well at times. However, he also could have done more to stop Guirassy. AFP -
Ben Chilwell - 6, Was impressive for large parts of the game, but there were a few moments of madness and he had to be bailed out by Silva after one shocking pass. AFP -
Jorginho - 6, Put in a steady performance throughout his time on the pitch, moving the ball well and helping out defensively. EPA -
Mateo Kovacic - 5, Struggled in the first half but did show improvements in the second before being taken off. AFP -
Callum Hudson-Odoi - 8, Had a very bright start to the game and scored the goal that got Chelsea into the lead. Reuters -
Mason Mount - 8, The midfielder provided Hudson-Odoi with a superb assist and was impressive in his general performance. AP Photo -
Timo Werner - 5, Really struggled in front of goal, wasting various good chances. Was lucky that Olivier Giroud headed the ball in after one of his poor efforts. EPA -
Tammy Abraham - 7, Didn’t get too many opportunities in front of goal but held the ball up brilliantly, bringing his teammates into the game. EPA -
SUBS: N’Golo Kante (Mount 68’) – 6, Came into the midfield and put in a fairly convincing display. AFP -
Olivier Giroud (Abraham 69’) - 7, Gave the Rennes defence plenty of problems before getting up to score the winning goal. AFP -
Hakim Ziyech (Hudson-Odoi 75’) – N/R, Didn’t provide any moments of magic but got some good touches on the ball. EPA -
Kai Havertz (Kovacic 76’) – N/R, Made his return to the team and very little has changed, as the German showed great composure on the ball. EPA -
Reece James (Werner 92’) – N/R, Helped see out the game but that didn’t take much considering how late he came on. Reuters
______________________________________________________________________
Ziyech’s stellar start to life at Stamford Bridge has made him the first choice on the right. Pulisic is probably happiest on the left, while Werner can also play there. Injury interrupted Hudson-Odoi’s season last year, before Chelsea spent £220 million ($293.7m).
Highly rated as he is, he has only started 12 league games in his career. Lampard is not thinking that omitting him could drive him toward the exit. “I am not worried about the noise around it or what the permutations might mean down the line,” he said.
One permutation will change on Wednesday. Chelsea visit Sevilla, with both clubs having booked a place in the last 16 of the Champions League but competing to top the group. Lampard will rotate. This time the awkward conversation will not be with Hudson-Odoi.
“He will get his opportunities,” he said. “He will get minutes [in Seville]. It is up to him then to show when he plays that he deserves to start. I want to see more of the same from him and to keep the progression going.”
Lampard was a prospect who gravitated to the ranks of the automatic choices. The challenge for Hudson-Odoi is to do likewise.
“I can relate to that as we all have steps on the ladder,” the Chelsea manager said. “He is still a young man so unfortunately for him, I have to see the bigger picture.” And the bigger picture is that, in an age of supersized squads, Hudson-Odoi was not the only one to miss out on Sunday’s glamour game.
“Tottenham had [Gareth] Bale on the bench and Dele Alli wasn't there,” Lampard noted. Like him, Jose Mourinho had made difficult decisions.
______________________________________________________________________
Chelsea 0 Spurs 0: player ratings
-
CHELSEA RATINGS: Edouard Mendy – 7. Saved a long-range drive from Aurier early on. Got into a muddle when sweeping a clearance with Kante, but was otherwise untroubled. Reuters -
Reece James – 8. Typically brilliant cross for Abraham at the start of the second half, but the forward headed wide. Booked for a foul on Reguilon. Good strength to block Kane at a corner. EPA -
Kurt Zouma – 6. Booked for kicking Ndombele in the shins. Played one spectacular pass to launch an attack late on, but risked it all with a late mistake. AFP -
Thiago Silva – 7. Spurs’ vaunted forward line should have been a stern test of the 36-year-old Brazilian’s ageing limbs. But he cruised through the game with his usual elegance and poise. Reuters -
Ben Chilwell – 6. Rolled his ankle in the process of fouling Aurier, but battled on, having been industrious if not inspirational throughout. AFP -
Mateo Kovacic – 7. Generally screened his defence well, particularly when Ndombele was breaking in a dangerous position just after the hour. EPA -
N’Golo Kante – 6. Had his work cut out marshalling his fellow Frenchman Ndombele, so he would have been glad to see him go off just after the hour. Reuters -
Mason Mount – 6. Created two of Chelsea’s best openings for himself, first with a dribble then a shot that drifted over in the first half, then had a similar effort saved by Lloris in the second. Booked for a cynical trip on Lo Celso. Reuters -
Hakim Ziyech – 6. Booked for clipping Reguilon’s heels as the full-back broke through. Blazed a good chance over on the half volley, and was generally frustrated by a lack of openings. EPA -
Tammy Abraham – 7. Looked a threat with what little of the ball he saw in the first half, and had the better of Dier a number of times. Might have done better with some fine deliveries by James, though. Reuters -
Timo Werner – 6. Had a goal chalked off when he was offside. Looked bright enough, but was still replaced by Pulisic with 17 minutes to go. EPA -
SUB" Christian Pulisic (Werner, 74') – 6. He was unable to create much in his first appearance in over a month after suffering injury on Champions League duty -
SUB: Olivier Giroud – NA. Had a chance to win it when Rodon’s injury-time back pass fell well short of Lloris, but his shot was limp. AFP -
SUB: Kai Havertz – NA. Made his mark on Rodon – who suffered a bloodied lip from the German’s elbow – if not the game, in his brief appearance at the end. Reuters -
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR RATINGS: Hugo Lloris – 7. Coped with the aerial threat well, and made a fine save to deny Mount from distance with 10 minutes to go. EPA -
Serge Aurier – 7. Made a dynamic start and saw a powerful shot well saved by Mendy, and generally coped admirably with most things that came down his flank. Reuters -
Joe Rodon – 6. Made a nervy start, and was spared by an offside flag when Werner had the ball in the net. Later sliced a clearance into the hands of Lloris. Showed up far better as the game went on, though - until his injury-time lapse. AFP -
Eric Dier – 5. Abraham got the better of him once in the first half, and he lost him at one point in the second, too, but got lucky both times. Often negligent in possession, too. EPA -
Sergio Reguilon – 7. His duel with James was a fine one. He made plenty of raids down the Spurs left flank, but James and Ziyech tested him the other way, too. EPA -
Moussa Sissoko – 7. Unnecessary free kick for a foul on Werner put Spurs under pressure, but otherwise helped Aurier deal with the threat of the German. EPA -
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – 7. Stuck close to Ziyech, which was part of the reason Spurs were able to blunt the Moroccan forward. Reuters -
Tanguy Ndombele – 7. Made a number of openings for himself with deft footwork, only for his final ball to go awry. Bruised by a kick from Silva. Taken off for Lo Celso just after the hour, as has become customary. EPA -
Steven Bergwijn – 6. Scooped a ninth-minute shot over after a sharp counter attack. Had his frustration compounded with a cheap booking for a foul on Kovacic. Reuters -
Son Heung-min – 6. His influence was severely limited by Chelsea’s backline, but he did work Mendy once, and was his usual diligent self working back toward his goal. EPA -
Harry Kane – 6. His chances were limited to a free kick, which he hit over in the first half, and not much else, although he did go looking for work deeper on the pitch, too. AFP -
SUBS: Giovani Lo Celso (Ndombele, 64') – 5. Passed up a great chance with a nothing chip with Spurs’ final opening in injury time. Reuters -
SUB: Ben Davies (Bergwijn, 89') – NA. Brought on right at the end to help the away side keep hold of a point. AFP -
SUB: Lucas Moura (Son, 90+2') – NA. Managed to get on just long enough to pass the time of day with his bestie, Thiago Silva, on the opposition. Reuters
