Christian Pulisic

[communicate 2,703]

4 hours ago, Superblue_1986 said:

Probably been the right thing against Liverpool and Wolves who are two of the best drilled teams in the league with regards to counter attacking and making use of spaces left.

However, I think you can afford to play with Pulisic as a winger higher up the pitch in some of our games coming up if we either played with wing backs or played with the 3 in midfield we had yesterday because either of those two formations should give a better balance and platform for the attacking players to operate higher up the pitch. The likes of Mount and Pulisic are hardly like Hazard either, they will be more than willing to put the hard yards in when defending.

Pulisic just needs time. He has some very appealing attributes, namely his pace and ability and willingness to run in behind. From what I've seen too, he looks a decent finisher when in those positions and I think could become a very important weapon for us but he needs time to adapt to the pace and power of the league. Just because of the money we paid for him it's easy to forget just how young and raw he is. 

You only have to look at yesterday's opponents, Klopp ignored the clamour for Robertson and Fabinho to be chucked in immediately and gave both ample time to acclimatise (in Robertson's case the way Klopp wanted to play and in Fabinho's case both Klopp's way and adapt to the English game). He kept both out of the firing line and made sure they were ready. 

Against pool, I thought he should have come on for mount. I want somebody to test Alexander Arnold. 

 

[robsblubot 3,507]

15 hours ago, Sir Mikel OBE said:

Willian is better than him right now.

With that reasoning none of our youngsters would start...

while I do t disagree with what you wrote, the younger players offer something different. A bit more impetus and pace, so it’s up to the manager to a balance that out.

balance is the keyword and what has been missing tho.

on the subject, think someone else here got it right, Tammy prob was struggling a bit which made frank opted to replace him.

[Abreu03 292]

15 hours ago, Sir Mikel OBE said:

Willian is better than him right now.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

 

Willian is better at doing nothing. 

[Tomo 21,733]

It always amazes me that no one can see middle ground with Willian.

He's either amazing or hopeless when in reality he's always been something in between.

[killer1257 3,282]

Just now, Tomo said:

It always amazes me that no one can see middle ground with Willian.

He's either amazing or hopeless when in reality he's always been something in between as the post above demonstrates.

I agree with you. He is very good at carrying the ball into some spaces in a very fast way through his athleticism. His athleticism is his biggest strenght. He is very fast, mobile and has good cardio. His pressing is decent and he can start good counter attacking movements. What he is not good at is his decision making. He sometimes does not see the right passes and he is also not the most creative player. Furthermore, his crossing is not good at all and his dribbling abilities at right winger is pretty bad. His dribbling abilities as a left winger is way better, even though he still in not a world class dribbler. His shooting could be way better. He is not bad, but not a player for a world class team overall.

[robsblubot 3,507]

10 minutes ago, Tomo said:

It always amazes me that no one can see middle ground with Willian.

He's either amazing or hopeless when in reality he's always been something in between as the post above demonstrates.

Despite all the evidence stating otherwise. Brazil Call ups, several managers starting or using him, interest by other top clubs.

it’s really his final ball that is mostly lacking: like killer said, decisions mostly.

what willian offers is exactly what most of our younger players lack, so reckon he will see a lot of minutes this season.

[Special Juan 27,429]

16 hours ago, Sir Mikel OBE said:

Willian is better than him right now.

Yeah because he is playing and Pulisic is sitting on his arse, not difficult, but even saying that Willian is just rank poor has been for ages.

[MoroccanBlue 5,306]

Willian for me has always been a 10-7th league table player. His numbers justify that. 

[Jase 43,479]

50 minutes ago, Robchels said:

what willian offers is exactly what most of our younger players lack, so reckon he will see a lot of minutes this season.

Lovely...just watch him sign a new contract too! What a turnaround after being pushed to fringes by Sarri last season.

[Jase 43,479]

12 hours ago, communicate said:

I think you want somebody who make run behind. That mean you have to drop mount otherwise it is going to be very imbalance. At the same time, Mount has produced and at this point he is kinda lamp favorite player so it is difficult. 

If you play him over Willian, and he keep making run behind, somebody need to drop. Tammy is a striker, Mount will be ineffective deeper. So he will drop and play Willian role

Not saying Pulisic should stick up there and not drop back when he has to. Admittedly, he might not be as good as Willian in dribbling with the ball but he can still carry it from deep areas and if we have any sense of play at all, we can work around pressing or getting up the field through passing combination moves. It's just that Pulisic would provide more in the attacking third than Willian, in terms of making those off the ball runs, being more direct etc. 

And here's a little stat - Mount has more goals this season than Pulisic, Pedro and Willian combined (3 vs 0) but on the other hand, Pulisic has more assists than Mount, Pedro and Willian combined (2 vs 0). 

[robsblubot 3,507]

7 minutes ago, Jason said:

Lovely...just watch him sign a new contract too! What a turnaround after being pushed to fringes by Sarri last season.

It really depends on how quickly the young players develop doesn’t it? And also whether we have a window or not.

football is about winning, unless folks here want us to become one of those clubs who develop players only... yeah pretty much mutually exclusive.  

And mount had a shitty game yesterday... that’s a young player for you.

[Jase 43,479]

8 hours ago, Superblue_1986 said:

Pulisic just needs time. He has some very appealing attributes, namely his pace and ability and willingness to run in behind. From what I've seen too, he looks a decent finisher when in those positions and I think could become a very important weapon for us but he needs time to adapt to the pace and power of the league. Just because of the money we paid for him it's easy to forget just how young and raw he is. 

You only have to look at yesterday's opponents, Klopp ignored the clamour for Robertson and Fabinho to be chucked in immediately and gave both ample time to acclimatise (in Robertson's case the way Klopp wanted to play and in Fabinho's case both Klopp's way and adapt to the English game). He kept both out of the firing line and made sure they were ready. 

Perhaps so but it would be nice if Lampard could explain a tad more than just say "He will get lots of opportunities. It's just my choice now because I have options" . I don't know if he doesn't want to do that knowing all the US attention is on him - Pulisic already has a lot of pressure from them to deal with and he doesn't need more - but having said what he has said, it has kinda just left us all wondering 'what the hell is going on?'.

[robsblubot 3,507]

17 minutes ago, Jason said:

Perhaps so but it would be nice if Lampard could explain a tad more than just say "He will get lots of opportunities. It's just my choice now because I have options" . I don't know if he doesn't want to do that knowing all the US attention is on him - Pulisic already has a lot of pressure from them to deal with and he doesn't need more - but having said what he has said, it has kinda just left us all wondering 'what the hell is going on?'.

Well saying the right thing, and sometimes strategically saying then wrong thing, may be just another aspect of the job that frank has yet to develop.

[communicate 2,703]

9 hours ago, Jason said:

Not saying Pulisic should stick up there and not drop back when he has to. Admittedly, he might not be as good as Willian in dribbling with the ball but he can still carry it from deep areas and if we have any sense of play at all, we can work around pressing or getting up the field through passing combination moves. It's just that Pulisic would provide more in the attacking third than Willian, in terms of making those off the ball runs, being more direct etc. 

And here's a little stat - Mount has more goals this season than Pulisic, Pedro and Willian combined (3 vs 0) but on the other hand, Pulisic has more assists than Mount, Pedro and Willian combined (2 vs 0). 

You just don't like Willian. 😄😄

For me in our current setup I like Willian. He is not very direct and good dribller which mean less turnover and it help with moving the  forward. I think michy and and Mount late chances both came from Willian crossfield passes to Alonso. I maybe wrong, but I remember there is one he hit with his left foot. 

You want  both winger that make more run behind, that is fine. Then you need your striker to drop more, play more like a target man. So Tammy need to drop more and play like Giroud. 

Just watch pool, sometimes salah will drop deep and feed firmino but the majority of the time salah will make run behind and firmino will drop deep. 

 

 

[Jase 43,479]

15 minutes ago, communicate said:

You just don't like Willian. 😄😄

For me in our current setup I like Willian. He is not very direct and good dribller which mean less turnover and it help with moving the  forward. I think michy and and Mount late chances both came from Willian crossfield passes to Alonso. I maybe wrong, but I remember there is one he hit with his left foot. 

You want  both winger that make more run behind, that is fine. Then you need your striker to drop more, play more like a target man. So Tammy need to drop more and play like Giroud. 

Just watch pool, sometimes salah will drop deep and feed firmino but the majority of the time salah will make run behind and firmino will drop deep. 

Or maybe, you're just obsessed with Willian.  

No big clubs in their right mind would make Willian as their first choice starter but based on how you've been putting it, we will not survive without Willian in the XI. God help us all. 

[communicate 2,703]

3 hours ago, Jason said:

Or maybe, you're just obsessed with Willian.  

 

Not really,Willian don't have much future with us but he is our best winger right now.  Maybe Cho will surpass him but we'll see, I don't want us to rush him. Archiless is nasty. 

I absolutely agree that Pulisic should play more. But pulisic is not ready for epl. It is too easy to disposes him physically, so it is better for him to use his speed by playing up high and make run behind.

Then it all come down to your midfield and front setup. Two runner (Mount, Pedro, Puli), maybe play Giroud. If you want to play Tammy and two runner, then our midfield need  to win the midfield without forward help. 

 

 

[Sir Mikel OBE 4,920]

5 hours ago, Jason said:

Or maybe, you're just obsessed with Willian.  

No big clubs in their right mind would make Willian as their first choice starter but based on how you've been putting it, we will not survive without Willian in the XI. God help us all. 

How many top clubs would make Pulisic their first choice starter?

 

We have to be honest here.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

I think there are two ways of looking at this, in honesty - Lampard doesn't think he's ready, or he simply thinks Mount and Pedro are better options (and right now, I'm inclined to agree). You also have to concede Lampard already has a great relationship with Mount.

He will get his chance, but my biggest concern is he needs to work on his body strength and his ability to shield the ball. This isn't down to muscle mass or brute strength, as Messi and Hazard have proved in the modern era, but he certainly looks "lightweight". 

He was excellent in the UEFA Super Cup, but I have to be honest, every time we've seen him since, he's been pretty poor. I actually agree with Lampard's decision not to play him (and I have, in general, been extremely critical of a lot of what Frank has done so far).