🇺🇸 Christian Pulisic

[Jase 43,479]

19 hours ago, Beigl said:

He is not quite at 100% yet, but I think the signs are promising. We need him at his best for the rest of the season, because he can unlock a low block, which we will face quite often the next few months. 

It has come to the point where I am just praying Pulisic escapes unscathed after each game, knowing how fragile that hamstring of his is. His workload also needs to be managed carefully. 

[Johnnyeye 7,509]

Im delighted for him, great to see him playing and getting on the scoresheet again, i hope he can stay healthy 🙏

[Blues11 213]

18 hours ago, Jason said:

It has to come the point where I am just praying Pulisic escapes unscathed after each game, knowing how fragile that hamstring of his is. His workload also needs to be managed carefully. 

I really count it as a win each time he finishes a shift unscathed like you mentioned...We're going to need him especially with the Ziyech injury. 

I think that goal will do wonders for him though, you can tell how frustrated he has been when you watch him play. He's trying so hard to make that leap for the team but keeps having setbacks. Hopefully getting a consistent run of games will ease his mind and turn him into the playmaker we know he can be. *knock on wood*

[MoroccanBlue 5,382]

So.....when is this going to be addressed?

 

[Magic Lamps 11,692]

3 hours ago, MoroccanBlue said:

So.....when is this going to be addressed?

 

long been addressed. he will miss at least half the season every season.

I remember some time last season his american coach said pulisic could outgrow us and goto real or barca. i laughed hard cos obviously no one is gonna evne consider him, beingthis injury prone. If someone cam ein with a crazy bid, i would take it. but whether we keep him or not, we need to sign another winger who can be a regular.

[Vesper 30,182]

3 hours ago, Magic Lamps said:

long been addressed. he will miss at least half the season every season.

the new Robben and Ribery

[Vesper 30,182]

On 04/12/2020 at 6:52 PM, Jason said:

We have PROBLEMS in January 2022...

Looks like Pulisic will play World Cup qualifiers with USMNT in January 2022, on top of Mendy's and Ziyech's participation at the African Cup of Nations.  

this is yet another reason why I have been saying we need another winger this coming summer (said we needed one last summer (2020) too, but we had already dropped a shedload of coin)

[Jase 43,479]

1 hour ago, Vesper said:

this is yet another reason why I have been saying we need another winger this coming summer (said we needed one last summer (2020) too, but we had already dropped a shedload of coin)

If only we still have Willian.  

[Jase 43,479]

Pulisic injury woes leave Chelsea lacking natural width in 4-3-3 formation

https://theathletic.com/2256729/2020/12/13/christian-pulisic-chelsea-injury-worry/

The frustration in Frank Lampard’s voice was palpable.

Chelsea’s head coach had just been asked by The Athletic if it’d been a tough decision to leave Christian Pulisic out of his match-day squad for the 1-0 defeat at Everton because of a minor hamstring complaint.

“It wasn’t hard,” Lampard replied. “It was just a fact. He was uncomfortable in training this week and yesterday (Friday). He couldn’t play 90 minutes or start a game in the Premier League.”

This has been an all too regular occurrence for Lampard since he took over in July last year. The USA international, who was signed from Borussia Dortmund for £57.6 million, has been a regular absentee.

In the 50 Premier League games Chelsea have played under their former star midfielder, Pulisic has now started just 21 of them — an underwhelming 42 per cent. Even if you add in his nine appearances as a substitute, it still works out at a disappointing return of 60 per cent of their top-flight fixtures.

The statistic is even worse when we look across all competitions. Pulisic has been in the first XI on 31 occasions out of 76 fixtures played (40.8 per cent) and got onto the pitch 55.3 per cent of the time overall (includes 11 substitute appearances).

Obviously, this is nowhere near enough for such a key player who was bought for a lot of money to inject some quality into Chelsea’s attack. Pulisic’s return of 13 goals and 10 assists from the matches he has been involved in — which means he has either created a goal or found the net virtually once every two appearances — shows he can do just that when available.

It is alarming then, that he is missing so often.

“Christian is a work in progress,” Lampard admitted after Chelsea’s line-up had been announced at Goodison Park. “I don’t want to call this an injury he had in midweek. If the game had been a different type of game, maybe I would have used him (today). I just have to find the right way to get the best out of him regularly and consistently.”

Pulisic shares Lampard’s angst.

Sources have told The Athletic the 22-year-old gets really down when he is not able to take to the field. This is not an individual who is using any slight twinge as an excuse to declare himself unfit. Pulisic’s mentality has been described as one where, when injured, he is desperate to play and when in the team, he wants to play every single minute.

This mindset is why Chelsea agreed to let him join up with the USA squad last month, even though there was no chance of him adding to his 34 caps in their games against Wales and Panama. The attacking midfielder lives on his own and it was felt he would be better off being surrounded by familiar faces, being in the camp, than just dwelling on things for long periods at home.

Another insider reveals that the club soon became aware of a fragility following his arrival from Dortmund, where he also picked up various niggles. Figures from Transfermarkt.com say he sat out 73 days in his last campaign at the Bundesliga club in 2018-19. There was a reason why Lampard didn’t start him in the Premier League for almost two months in his debut season between September 1 and October 25.

It is understood the club have been looking to build strength in certain muscles to try to alleviate Pulisic’s problems, but it is a complicated process. The suspicion is that he is particularly susceptible to these kinds of issues due to the way he plays and his extraordinary pace. It was while displaying this burst of speed that he pulled up with a bad hamstring strain during the FA Cup final loss to Arsenal in August, an injury which, with the shorter summer break, meant he missed the start of the new season.

The timing of Pulisic’s latest setback couldn’t have been any worse as Chelsea’s other recognised wide players, Hakim Ziyech and Callum Hudson-Odoi, were already ruled out against Everton with hamstring injuries of their own.

Striker Timo Werner has been selected consistently on the left-hand side in recent weeks, so playing the Germany international there yesterday didn’t alter their tactics, but Lampard decided to move Kai Havertz out to the right flank to compensate for the forced omissions of Pulisic, Ziyech and Hudson-Odoi. It meant Chelsea had no natural width from their attacking players in the 4-3-3 formation.

Opta’s statistics show the full-backs, Reece James (seven, a figure matched by midfielder Mason Mount) and Ben Chilwell (five), provided a lot of the open-play crosses from the visitors. Havertz didn’t put one into the box in his 68 minutes — the only other Chelsea players, including the two substitutes, who failed to do that were goalkeeper Edouard Mendy and centre-back Kurt Zouma — while Werner managed it on just three occasions.

No wonder striker Olivier Giroud was a rather anonymous figure. It is games like this, where it was going to take a bit of magic to open up Everton’s well-organised backline, that Pulisic could have made the difference.

Lampard has already ruled Ziyech and Hudson-Odoi out for the next game, away to Wolverhampton Wanderers, on Tuesday night and sounded rather uncertain about Pulisic’s involvement too.

Given Chelsea have four fixtures in the space of 13 days over the festive period, starting with West Ham United next Monday and ending with Manchester City on January 2, he will be wary of taking any risks with Pulisic that might see him miss a crucial period completely.

But this is a situation that needs to improve.

Chelsea’s task of competing for the Premier League and Champions League in 2021 will certainly be a lot harder if they aren’t able to use an individual of Pulisic’s quality on a constant basis.

[Dan Lee 47]

Puli is dangerous when he plays LW. Do not move him to RW. I hope FL recognizes it.

[Vesper 30,182]

Weston McKennie voted 2020 U.S. Soccer Male Player of the Year

McKennie beat out Chrisitian Pulisic and Sergino Dest for the award

https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/news/weston-mckennie-voted-2020-u-s-soccer-male-player-of-the-year/

Weston McKennie was voted as the 2020 Male Player of the Year, U.S. Soccer announced through a press release Friday. At 22 years old, the Juventus midfielder is the fourth youngest player to ever receive that award with the others being teammate Christian Pulisic (19 in 2017 and 21 in 2019), and retirees Landon Donovan (21 in 2003) and Peter Vermes (22 in 1988).

"I want to thank everyone for this huge honor. It's been a journey, especially through these difficult times during the pandemic," McKennie said. "Our fans have stuck with us throughout and we really appreciate it. Hopefully in 2021 we can have many more memories together."

McKennie earned 44 percent of the total vote, beating out other notable USMNT players like Chrisitian Pulisic (27 percent) and Sergino Dest (14 percent). The 22-year-old made headlines earlier this year with a high profile loan move to Juventus, where he immediately made an impact when manager Andrea Pirlo slotted him into the starting XI. McKennie became the third ever American to score in a Serie A match with a header against Torino on Dec. 5 that helped spark a comeback victory for his squad.

He also had one of the best goals of the Champions League group stage against Barcelona earlier this month, with a flying volley in the penalty box.

[Dan Lee 47]

I think he played well today. Puli will be back in form soon.

[Magic Lamps 11,692]

34 minutes ago, Dan Lee said:

I think he played well today. Puli will be back in form soon.

His final passes to Werner and Mount where terrible. But we know him. He will get his mojo back. 

[Dan Lee 47]

He performed well today. Hope that he keeps his form. 

[communicate 2,703]

Has anyone watched him plas as rw with Dortmund?

On the right he is pretty much useless. We got all his negatives and none of the positive. 

[killer1257 3,282]

Has anyone watched him plas as rw with Dortmund?
On the right he is pretty much useless. We got all his negatives and none of the positive. 

I watched him back then as a RW and he was nothing special and that is why I did not want him to come to Chelsea. Did not know he was much better at LW.

His crossing was his best asset back then

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[communicate 2,703]

Just now, killer1257 said:

I watched him back then as a RW and he was nothing special and that is why I did not want him to come to Chelsea. Did not know he was much better at LW.

His crossing was his best asset back then

Gesendet von meinem VOG-L29 mit Tapatalk
 

I see, Pulisic is very2 good but on the right you get far less of the good stuff. 

[Vesper 30,182]

3 hours ago, communicate said:

I see, Pulisic is very2 good but on the right you get far less of the good stuff. 

he HAS to be played at LW, not RW

CHO is a better RWer than Pulisic (although CHO too is better on the left)

[Dan Lee 47]

Puli played 180 mins in 3 days. Talking about injury, I think it is not fair to say he looks like the glass. Ziyech should be the concern, not Puli. 

He plays better and better in the game. 

[Magic Lamps 11,692]

32 minutes ago, Dan Lee said:

Puli played 180 mins in 3 days. Talking about injury, I think it is not fair to say he looks like the glass. Ziyech should be the concern, not Puli. 

He plays better and better in the game. 

Pulisic has managed to get injured so badly that he fell down when jogging on plain grass without impact...of ocurse he is made of glass. Just bc he played 180 mins (and hardly over-exerted himself) in 3 days does not mean he is suddenly iron man. Let's not kid ourselves. It won't be long until he pulls a hammy again or some other muscle injury that takes him out for a month or two. We have to enjoy him while he is still fit.