Jamie
Carragher has branded Maurizio Sarri's comments about Callum Hudson-Odoi's
England debut as "stupid".
Sarri admitted in the week that he only watched 20 minutes of England's 5-1
win over Montenegro - a game which saw Hudson-Odoi make his first England
start before he has even started a Premier League game for Chelsea.
"I saw the English national team for 20 minutes and Callum didn't start very
well on the right," he said. "He did very well on the left, immediately in
his first action. But I know very well he prefers to play on the left."
And speaking on Super Sunday ahead of Chelsea's clash with Cardiff,
Carragher said Sarri got it all wrong by going public with his thoughts.
"This is a lad who's making his international debut. Why are you not
watching the full game?" he said.
"You could argue Sarri is watching a lot of his Chelsea team-mates, flicking
the channels, but he doesn't need to watch them, they are all 27, 28, 29.
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.
"So to then just dismiss this lad's international debut - maybe the biggest
thing that's ever happened to him as a footballer - I can just imagine the
people above Sarri just shaking their head and thinking 'why are you saying
such a stupid thing in the press conference? We are trying to get this lad
to sign a contract.'
"I would not be surprised if the people at the top at Chelsea were onto the
agent and trying to calm the situation down.
"If he hasn't watched it and he doesn't think he's played well, be clever,
use your brain. Don't say it. Say you did watch it. Of course, he has to
improve, he's still a kid, but to dismiss someone on their international
debut I think it was an absolutely stupid thing to say."
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