Callum Hudson-Odoi’s full England debut brought joy to Gareth Southgate – and hopefully a measure of embarrassment to Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri.
Southgate has shown more faith in 18-year-old Hudson-Odoi in 10 days than Sarri has shown all season at Stamford Bridge, an instant elevation from England’s Under-21 squad followed by a debut as a substitute against the Czech Republic at Wembley on Friday then a first start in Montenegro.
The teenager’s career is being played out back to front because of Sarri’s reluctance to incorporate the gifted attacker into his tactical framework at Chelsea.
And on the evidence of his performance on the pitch in the 5-1 win in Montenegro and his strong, mature, measured response after the game when questioned about the disgraceful racist abuse suffered by England’s players, he is an all-round class act and will be for years to come. Read more