Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta ‘can’t live with Callum Hudson-Odoi in training’
CHELSEA captain Cesar Azpilicueta "couldn't live with" Callum Hudson-Odoi on the training ground, according to Rob Green.
The former Blues keeper recently revealed that Stamford Bridge stars openly questioned Maurizio Sarri's decision not to play the 18-year-old last season.
And part of that was down to Hudson-Odoi's ability in training, where he consistently got the better of players like skipper Azpilicueta.
Green, 39, told BBC Radio 5 Live: "We had Willian, Pedro and obviously Eden (Hazard) in the same positions but the manager had such a strong belief about playing the players he trusted. He would not play other players.
"It was the same team, the same formation every week, maybe one or two changes and Callum just wouldn’t get a look-in.
"We’d go into training and he’d tear it up day in, day out and the things he would try in training with no pressure… and he’d do it in games. You’d just see him trying stuff because he just wanted to.
"It’s not that players like this don’t care. It’s just that they can play with the freedom and understanding that they can try these things and are good enough to pull them off.
"He would try it in training against some of the best players in the world, some of the best defenders.
"Azpilicueta playing up against him in training… couldn’t live with him! He’d chop inside him and Azpi would turn around and go, “Oh God, he’s gone past me”, and then he’d just bend one in the far top corner or fire one in at the near post."
We’d go into training and he’d tear it up day in, day out and the things he would try in training with no pressure
Rob Green on Callum Hudson-Odoi
Hudson-Odoi signed a £180,000-a-week deal at Chelsea last month and has returned to the squad from an Achilles injury.
Difficulties in securing first-team opportunities under former boss Sarri prompted Bayern Munich to make several failed bids for the youngster.
But Green claimed that speculation over Hudson-Odoi's future was "water off a duck's back."
He added: "We would hear the Bayern Munich chat, the chat about other clubs and Callum would just be there smiling.
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"He knew it was all going on but it was water off a duck’s back for him.
"Pressure didn’t exist for him. It still doesn’t.
"You look at someone like that, the way he carried himself, the confidence that he had in and around the dressing room was incredible to watch."
