Hudson-Odoi thought his positional shift was a ‘joke’

Thomas Tuchel

has opted to use three central defenders since being appointed as

Frank Lampard

’s replacement and there has been fierce competition for places up front that

Callum Hudson-Odoi

has been called to play in the more defensive positions.

The 21-year-old featured in that role in the German tactician’s first match as

manager, a goalless draw against Wolves in January, and he was hailed for his display.

However, in an interview with

talkSPORT

, the Chelsea winger admitted that he was not sure about the shift in his position at first.

“

When the manager first came in and he told me to play wing-back, I was just a bit in shock. I thought it was a joke.”

the 21-year-old explained.

“Obviously, when I played there, it was different. It suited my game a little at that time and I think that he’s come in and he’s given the freedom and the instruction to the team of how he wants everyone to play and what he wants from the team to try to win games.”

Notwithstanding his initial reservations, the player admitted that it has been enjoying football under Tuchel’s reign.

“

He knows what he wants to win and so do we. So we are playing as hard as we can and to the best level we can to obviously win every game,”

he added.

“When he has come in, he has given us that extra motivation, extra courage and push to know that regardless, he is going to push us to our hardest level because he wants the best out of us.

“It’s definitely a good thing to know that he is coming in with the motivation and determination to try to win games and win trophies.

“We are going to keep pushing until we reach our main goal.”

After becoming the

winners in the 2020-21 season, Chelsea are having an impressive season this time around as well. They are leading the

table and may progress in Europe and the Carabao Cup.

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