Why Does Lampard Snub Hudson Odoi? We Take A Look At The Chelsea Star’s Numbers To Find Out

David Tully

3 years ago

Tags: callum Hudson-odoi, Chelsea, Frank Lampard

Chelsea manager Frank Lampard defended his decision to omit Callum Hudson-Odoi from the matchday squad for the draw against Tottenham at the weekend.

The return to fitness of Christian Pulisic meant the American was selected ahead of Hudson-Odoi on the bench. That was despite the 20-year-old scoring against Rennes in the Champions League in the preceding game. Lampard said it was a tough choice:

“It was difficult. I’ve been really pleased with his training lately. I’ve spoken about Callum at different times since I’ve been in the job. His training and attitude is bang on at the minute. I have tough decisions when we have a fully fit squad, that we pretty much do now, to leave players out that work hard through the week and are desperate to play for the club.”

So why does Lampard continue to snub Hudson-Odoi? After starting just one Premier League game this season, we look at the stats to find out. Press the next page as we go through the numbers:

Passing

Hudson-Odoi’s passing numbers this season are not particularly great. In 11 appearances, he has made 7 key passes, 12 progressive passes and 10 passes into the box.

In contrast, both Ziyech and Werner have higher numbers in all of those categories, although we must point out that the German has played over double the number of minutes. However, he has also made three times as many progressive passes than Hudson-Odoi and almost five times as many passes in the final third of the pitch.

Attacking Actions

With regards to dribbling, Hudson-Odoi has a high success percentage of 80%, much higher than Werner (47%), Pulisic (36%) and Ziyech (22%) but he has only attempted to dribble five times, which is less than Pulisic (11) even though the American has spent a lot of the campaign out injured.

Crossing is an area which is slightly better for the winger. He has attempted 13, compared to Ziyech’s 17, Werner’s 16 and Pulisic’s 4.

Defensive Actions

This is where is it seems Hudson-Odoi is falling short at the moment. Despite playing 212 more minutes in all competitions than Pulisic this season, he has made 5 fewer tackles than the American, and three fewer than Ziyech who has played the same amount of football.

In terms of putting pressure on opponents, the numbers are even more damning. Hudson-Odoi pressed the opponent in possession just 31 times in 11 games, compared to Pulisic who managed 66 in only six games, and Ziyech who made 97 attempts to press.

Shooting

Hudson-Odoi also shoots less often than the likes of Werner, Pulisic and Ziyech. He averages 2.11 shots per 90 minutes this season, which is the lowest frequency of the four players mentioned. Pulisic is the highest with 2.70.

However, it is a different story when it comes to converting chances. This campaign, Hudson-Odoi is currently 2.2 above his xG, which is better than Pulisic (+0.5), Ziyech (+0.9) and Werner (-0.6), demonstrating the England international is the most clinical in front of goal.

In summary, then, Hudson-Odoi still has some work to do on aspects of his game and Lampard is certainly well within his rights to keep him out of the side. At 20 years of age, though, the winger does have time to improve.