Frank Lampard eager to protect Callum Hudson-Odoi
Frank Lampard wants to shield Callum Hudson-Odoi from social media criticism to help the England forward rediscover top form at Chelsea.Teen star Hudson-Odoi struggled in Chelseas 2-0 home loss to Southampton on Boxing Day, in his first start since October.The 19-year-old was trolled on social media in the wake of that lacklustre loss, but put in a brighter cameo in Sundays 2-1 Premier League win at Arsenal.LONDON IS BLUE Great comeback and end to the year!!!#CFC pic.twitter.com/exZjE8P07B Callum Hudson-Odoi (@Calteck10) December 29, 2019And now Blues boss Lampard has pledged to help Hudson-Odoi shake off the outside criticism and graft his way back to his best.I think its a lot at 19 to say with one performance you must produce instantly or youll get social media criticism, and Ill certainly protect him against that, said Lampard.Little snippets like at Arsenal, coming on and looking bright and going by people, he can do all that.He does need to show more but he absolutely will do and were right behind him.Ive not spoken to him about that specifically and unfortunately on social media thats par for the course.Frank Lampard, pictured, will protect Callum Hudson-Odoi against social media abuse (Adam Davy/PA)Thats something unfortunately that youve got to have a very thick skin about.Hes a young player, 19 and only just. We actually do have to give time and patience given how young he is.Ive got no problems with him and Im very pleased with how he did at Arsenal. That should be a nice little boost for him.The Chelsea fans will get behind him, they want to see passion and they want to see all the other things as well as the ability to go by people, which hes got.So he needs to understand whats needed but Ill back him and work with him on that. Last term Bayern Munich pressed hard to prise Hudson-Odoi away from Stamford Bridge before the Blues academy product eventually signed a long-term deal to stay in west London.Asked if the hype around a possible switch to Germany could be causing Hudson-Odoi problems now, Lampard said: Im not sure but if that is the case I think that will quite quickly be put to bed.He signed a really long contract here, he wants to be here, were happy with him but now he has to produce.Maybe were asking too much from him at 19.But his consistency needs to be how he works, how he trains every day and how much pressure he puts on me to put him in the team.From all the conversations Ive had with over the last few weeks, and Ive had a few, he understands what he needs to do on and off the pitch. And I will certainly stick with him.(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
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