Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has defended Callum Hudson-Odoi after the Chelsea winger faced huge criticism from Burnley boss Sean Dyche.
The 19-year-old was awarded a penalty during the closing stages of Saturday’s 4-2 win at Turf Moore but Michael Oliver’s decision was overturned by VAR and Hudson-Odoi was then given a yellow card for simulation.
Burnley boss Sean Dyche then severely criticized Hudson-Odoi and admitted that he fears for the future of the game due to young players diving.
Dyche urged the referees to send off players who dive rather than just showing a yellow card.
But Lampard has insisted that Hudson-Odoi did not dive and suggested that Dyche may not have had access to all angles of the incident.
Lampard said: ‘I’ve said nothing to him [Hudson-Odoi]. I didn’t feel the need to. I asked him on the day of the game straight afterward, after my press conference, what happened and he said he got a touch.
‘Clearly, when you see it back from behind he gets a hand on his back. I know it is light. I’m not saying it is a definite penalty but it’s not a dive.
‘Not sure if Sean had maybe watched it back and all the angles when he spoke because it wasn’t a dive as such. If that becomes a dive you will start analyzing every bit of contact. How much?
‘Was that enough to put Ashley Barnes on the floor, or not? Was that enough for Callum to go down or not?
‘That is the game. Those are the grey areas. I didn’t think the whole “in five or ten years this is where the game is going to go” was probably the right nature for what turned out to be nowhere near a clear cut issue.
Chelsea is currently on a seven-game winning streak and is looking to continue their good run of form when they welcome Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s struggling Manchester United in the Carabao Cup round of 16 on Wednesday.
