Spending creates its own problems. For Frank Lampard, one came last week. Callum Hudson-Odoi had scored a well-taken goal in Rennes, his second strike in as many Champions League games. Lampard had picked his team to face Tottenham. Hudson-Odoi was not in it. Nor, indeed, was he on the bench.
“It was difficult to tell him as his attitude has been bang on,” said the Chelsea manager. “And that's reflected in scoring against Rennes and coming on and doing well against Newcastle.”
But Hudson-Odoi, a player of such promise that Bayern Munich have tried to sign him in three separate transfer windows and that Hansi Flick has called him “one of the greatest talents in that position”, was in effect Chelsea’s seventh-choice forward.
All of which called for diplomacy. “I did speak to him personally, because I wanted him to understand where he's at at the minute, which is that he's getting better for me,” Lampard said. “If I am taking someone out of the squad who deserves to be in it, I have to be straight and honest with them.
"The main thing is I want him to stay positive, and that's part of my job as well, to have that communication. He took it very well and it is not an easy conversation to have.”
Hudson-Odoi’s is a rare situation; his is the plight of a player with huge potential at a club who are Europe’s biggest spenders this summer and coveted by the continent’s preeminent team.
Bayern had tried to buy him in January 2019 when Maurizio Sarri did not seem convinced of his quality, and again the following summer. They renewed their interest with a loan bid this year as they looked for a replacement for Philippe Coutinho and Ivan Perisic.
Hudson-Odoi may have been on the bench in Bavaria. Instead, he was in the stands on Sunday. Timo Werner, Tammy Abraham and Hakim Ziyech were Lampard’s front three, Christian Pulisic, Olivier Giroud and Kai Havertz the trio in reserve.
______________________________________________________________________
Rennes 1 Chelsea 2: player ratings
______________________________________________________________________
Ziyech’s stellar start to life at Stamford Bridge has made him the first choice on the right. Pulisic is probably happiest on the left, while Werner can also play there. Injury interrupted Hudson-Odoi’s season last year, before Chelsea spent £220 million ($293.7m).
Highly rated as he is, he has only started 12 league games in his career. Lampard is not thinking that omitting him could drive him toward the exit. “I am not worried about the noise around it or what the permutations might mean down the line,” he said.
One permutation will change on Wednesday. Chelsea visit Sevilla, with both clubs having booked a place in the last 16 of the Champions League but competing to top the group. Lampard will rotate. This time the awkward conversation will not be with Hudson-Odoi.
“He will get his opportunities,” he said. “He will get minutes [in Seville]. It is up to him then to show when he plays that he deserves to start. I want to see more of the same from him and to keep the progression going.”
Lampard was a prospect who gravitated to the ranks of the automatic choices. The challenge for Hudson-Odoi is to do likewise.
“I can relate to that as we all have steps on the ladder,” the Chelsea manager said. “He is still a young man so unfortunately for him, I have to see the bigger picture.” And the bigger picture is that, in an age of supersized squads, Hudson-Odoi was not the only one to miss out on Sunday’s glamour game.
“Tottenham had [Gareth] Bale on the bench and Dele Alli wasn't there,” Lampard noted. Like him, Jose Mourinho had made difficult decisions.
______________________________________________________________________
Chelsea 0 Spurs 0: player ratings
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
'How To Build A Boat'
Jonathan Gornall, Simon & Schuster
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, last 16, first leg
Ajax v Real Madrid, midnight (Thursday), BeIN Sports
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
SCHEDULE FOR SHOW COURTS
Centre Court - from 4pm (UAE time)
Angelique Kerber (1) v Irina Falconi
Martin Klizan v Novak Djokovic (2)
Alexandr Dolgopolov v Roger Federer (3)
Court One - from 4pm
Milos Raonic (6) v Jan-Lennard Struff
Karolina Pliskova (3) v Evgeniya Rodina
Dominic Thiem (8) v Vasek Pospisil
Court Two - from 2.30pm
Juan Martin Del Potro (29) v Thanasi Kokkinakis
Agnieszka Radwanska (9) v Jelena Jankovic
Jeremy Chardy v Tomas Berdych (11)
Ons Jabeur v Svetlana Kuznetsova (7)
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
Western Clubs Champions League:
- Friday, Sep 8 - Abu Dhabi Harlequins v Bahrain
- Friday, Sep 15 – Kandy v Abu Dhabi Harlequins
- Friday, Sep 22 – Kandy v Bahrain
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
The biog
Name: Samar Frost
Born: Abu Dhabi
Hobbies: Singing, music and socialising with friends
Favourite singer: Adele
AndhaDhun
Director: Sriram Raghavan
Producer: Matchbox Pictures, Viacom18
Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu, Radhika Apte, Anil Dhawan
Rating: 3.5/5
Silent Hill f
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Rating: 4.5/5
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs: 2019 Cadillac XT4
Price, base: Dh145,000
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged in-line four-cylinder engine
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Power: 237hp @ 5,000rpm
Torque: 350Nm @ 1,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 8.7L / 100km
More on animal trafficking
Haemoglobin disorders explained
Thalassaemia is part of a family of genetic conditions affecting the blood known as haemoglobin disorders.
Haemoglobin is a substance in the red blood cells that carries oxygen and a lack of it triggers anemia, leaving patients very weak, short of breath and pale.
The most severe type of the condition is typically inherited when both parents are carriers. Those patients often require regular blood transfusions - about 450 of the UAE's 2,000 thalassaemia patients - though frequent transfusions can lead to too much iron in the body and heart and liver problems.
The condition mainly affects people of Mediterranean, South Asian, South-East Asian and Middle Eastern origin. Saudi Arabia recorded 45,892 cases of carriers between 2004 and 2014.
A World Health Organisation study estimated that globally there are at least 950,000 'new carrier couples' every year and annually there are 1.33 million at-risk pregnancies.
Company%20profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Belong%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Michael%20Askew%20and%20Matthew%20Gaziano%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Technology%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETotal%20funding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%243.5%20million%20from%20crowd%20funding%20and%20angel%20investors%3Cstrong%3E%3Cbr%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2012%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 201hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 320Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.7L/100km
Price: Dh133,900
On sale: now
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Kandahar%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ric%20Roman%20Waugh%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%C2%A0%3C%2Fstrong%3EGerard%20Butler%2C%20Navid%20Negahban%2C%20Ali%20Fazal%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Brief scores:
Toss: Sindhis, elected to field first
Kerala Knights 103-7 (10 ov)
Parnell 59 not out; Tambe 5-15
Sindhis 104-1 (7.4 ov)
Watson 50 not out, Devcich 49
Imperial%20Island%3A%20A%20History%20of%20Empire%20in%20Modern%20Britain
%3Cp%3EAuthor%3A%20Charlotte%20Lydia%20Riley%3Cbr%3EPublisher%3A%20Bodley%20Head%3Cbr%3EPages%3A%20384%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets