Jamie Carragher has labelled Maurizio Sarri’s comments about Callum Hudson-Odoi as “stupid” after criticising the youngster’s international debut for England.
The 18-year-old impressed in the 5-1 victory over Montenegro, but has found it difficult to earn game time with the Blues due to experienced players Eden Hazard, Willian and Pedro all competing for two starting roles.
Hudson-Odoi has been the subject of multiple bids from Bayern, with Liverpool also showing an interest with his contract up in 2020, though the Blues are now confident of persuading the player to extend his deal.
But Sarri conceded he was not impressed with the 20 minutes he did watch of Hudson-Odoi in an England shirt, leaving Carragher outraged.
“I have no problem with him saying that privately to the player, and maybe publicly is not the end of the world,” Carragher said on Sky Sports.
“My main problem with what Sarri said about Hudson-Odoi, and it’s really wound me up. I put myself in the lad’s position.
“When he said, ‘I only watched 20 minutes of the game, and in the 20 minutes I did watch, he didn’t even played that well.’
“This is a lad who’s making his international debut. Why are you not watching the full game? No 1.
“You could argue he’s watching a lot of his Chelsea team-mates, flicking through different channels. You don’t need to watch them, these are 27, 28 and 29 (years old).
“This is a young kid, can he handle the spotlight of playing for England? This is a lad I’m trying to keep at my club. To dismiss this lad’s international debut, which is possibly the biggest thing that’s ever happened to him as a footballer. To dismiss it and say, ‘in the 20 minutes I did watch, he didn’t even play well.’
“I can imagine the people above Sarri shaking their heads and saying, ‘why are you saying such a stupid thing in the press conference?’ We’re trying to get this lad to sign a new contract.
“If he hasn’t watched it, be clever, use your brain, say you have watched it. I thought it was absolutely a stupid thing to say.”
