Christian Pulisic

[NikkiCFC 7,624]

 

[Jase 43,479]

 

[Azul 1,615]

On 10/03/2021 at 20:25, Jason said:

But he is not a striker, no? And you said it so yourself, Werner's position is better than Pulisic's. 

Did you pick the wrong goal or what? His goal against City was him winning the ball in midfield and then running through to score.

Am just using it as an example because you keep on saying Werner shouldn't have played so many games and that Pulisic should have played. So, was just using one of the recent lineups and switched Werner out for Pulisic.

Okay...but why didn't Tuchel play Pulisic on the right? It's a much more familiar position to him than Werner.

I know but as I said, Tuchel could have come up with a plan to fit Pulisic in the front 3. I don't know how many times Ziyech played Werner in against Liverpool but Tuchel could have used Pulisic and made us hurt them in a different way. And Pulisic also came on for Ziyech in that game. There is more than one way to skin a cat.

I do agree that Werner's positioning is better, however the positioning Werner had in the Everton game for example was something even a toddler could do. Everton opened up so much that the ball was easily placed to him, and all he had to do was finish. Pulisic, Mount and CHO are all better finishers at the moment. What's the point of someone positioning themselves if their end product is bad at the moment?

There was another chances where Pulisic had very good positioning to pick up a pass, go round Ederson and score but the ball was cleared off the line.

"Am just using it as an example because you keep on saying Werner shouldn't have played so many games and that Pulisic should have played. So, was just using one of the recent lineups and switched Werner out for Pulisic."

I'm not saying that Pulisic should have played every single game, but to leave him on the bench after a lot of average games Werner had is a bit unfair. I trust Tuchel will do the right thing at the end of the day, and us signing a striker in the summer, will surely put more pressure on Timo.

"Okay...but why didn't Tuchel play Pulisic on the right? It's a much more familiar position to him than Werner"

That is what we're here to discuss. Maybe because he was tasked to specifically bring the best out of Werner and Havertz according to Matt Law and Simon Johnson? Who knows. Pulisic's injury history could be another factor. I have no idea what goes on in Tuchels brain, but I have hope that he will solve this Werner issue hopefully. Whether it'd be Haaland coming in or Timo actually showing up and perform to our standards which I think is unlikely.

I'm just not surprised that Pulisic is not happy and wants to leave according to Romano. He has not been given a chance, when Werner was not even lighting the world on fire. 

"I know but as I said, Tuchel could have come up with a plan to fit Pulisic in the front 3. I don't know how many times Ziyech played Werner in against Liverpool but Tuchel could have used Pulisic and made us hurt them in a different way. And Pulisic also came on for Ziyech in that game. There is more than one way to skin a cat."

Who would feed the balls to Werner and Pulisic if Ziyech is not there? I think that in Tuchel's mind he wanted two players that were able to make good long balls to Timo, one being Jorginho and the other being Ziyech. I see no other reason why Ziyech played that game to be honest. To say what if Tuchel found a way to play the two of them together is completely hypothetical and it's something we can't measure or use in an argument to be honest. It's like saying, what if my grandmother had a penis would she be my grandfather?😂

Anyways let's enjoy the rest of the season and see where the whole Werner/Pulisic thing takes us. I hope Tuchel does his best in managing the situation.

[Jase 43,479]

9 minutes ago, Azul said:

I do agree that Werner's positioning is better, however the positioning Werner had in the Everton game for example was something even a toddler could do. Everton opened up so much that the ball was easily placed to him, and all he had to do was finish. Pulisic, Mount and CHO are all better finishers at the moment. What's the point of someone positioning themselves if their end product is bad at the moment?

As much as Werner's finishing has left a lot to be desired, there's nothing to suggest that Mount, CHO and Pulisic are better finishers themselves at the moment. Otherwise, one wouldn't be on only 5 goals, another wouldn't be on only 2 goals and the other wouldn't be on only 1 goal right now. 

15 minutes ago, Azul said:

I'm not saying that Pulisic should have played every single game, but to leave him on the bench after a lot of average games Werner had is a bit unfair. I trust Tuchel will do the right thing at the end of the day, and us signing a striker in the summer, will surely put more pressure on Timo.

Not saying Werner has been consistent but let's just break down the league games under Tuchel for a second:

Wolves - Werner didn't play (Pulisic could have started but Tuchel went with Ziyech and Havertz behind Giroud instead)

Burnley - Werner started but did nothing of note (Pulisic came on at HT and played with Werner upfront)

Spurs - Werner won the penalty that led to the winning goal (Pulisic came on in the second half and again, played with Werner upfront)

Sheffield United - Werner assisted the first goal and then won the penalty for the winner (Pulisic missed the game due to family reason)

Newcastle - Werner created the first goal and then scored the second

Southampton - Werner started but nothing of note (Pulisic missed the game due to a calf issue)

Man United - Werner started on the bench (Pulisic again could have started but he was also on the bench)

Liverpool - Werner started and was played to exploit Liverpool's high line; would have had a goal as well for the silly VAR/handball rule (Pulisic came on in the second half but played with Werner upfront again)

Everton - Werner started (on the right) but did nothing of note

Out of 9 games there, Werner didn't start in 2 games, started but did nothing of note in 3 games and made an impact in the other 4 games. Even if the general performance hasn't been great, it's kinda hard for a manager to drop someone who's at least making something happen in the final third, especially when we're still finding our fluency in the attacking third. Plus, Pulisic missing a game here and there for other reasons has probably not helped his cause either. Not interested in going into another lengthy debate here but just pointing it out. 

Werner would be under pressure to get things right next season, regardless of whether we sign a new striker or not. He needs to be converting more and missing less chances in front of goal.

24 minutes ago, Azul said:

That is what we're here to discuss. Maybe because he was tasked to specifically bring the best out of Werner and Havertz according to Matt Law and Simon Johnson? Who knows. Pulisic's injury history could be another factor. I have no idea what goes on in Tuchels brain, but I have hope that he will solve this Werner issue hopefully. Whether it'd be Haaland coming in or Timo actually showing up and perform to our standards which I think is unlikely.

I'm just not surprised that Pulisic is not happy and wants to leave according to Romano. He has not been given a chance, when Werner was not even lighting the world on fire. 

Isn't this why I have precisely been saying what I said? There's nothing stopping Tuchel from tailoring our game plan to fit Pulisic in, be it on the left or right, from the start and especially when he already knew him at Dortmund but he hasn't done that. The decision to not play Pulisic of late has more to do with whatever Tuchel thinks of him as opposed to just Werner completely blocking Pulisic's path. 

29 minutes ago, Azul said:

Who would feed the balls to Werner and Pulisic if Ziyech is not there? I think that in Tuchel's mind he wanted two players that were able to make good long balls to Timo, one being Jorginho and the other being Ziyech. I see no other reason why Ziyech played that game to be honest. To say what if Tuchel found a way to play the two of them together is completely hypothetical and it's something we can't measure or use in an argument to be honest. It's like saying, what if my grandmother had a penis would she be my grandfather?😂

To quote you "That is what we're here to discuss". 🤪 Let's not forget that we did see Pulisic come on for Ziyech in the second half and he played with Werner and Mount. 

The plan of using Ziyech to feed passes to Werner sounds logical but funnily enough, it only happened on 3 occasions in that Liverpool match. That's the same amount of passes as Kante made to Werner, less than Rudiger to Werner (4), and Mount to Werner as well as Chilwell to Werner (each on 6).

[Azul 1,615]

1 hour ago, Jason said:

As much as Werner's finishing has left a lot to be desired, there's nothing to suggest that Mount, CHO and Pulisic are better finishers themselves at the moment. Otherwise, one wouldn't be on only 5 goals, another wouldn't be on only 2 goals and the other wouldn't be on only 1 goal right now. 

Not saying Werner has been consistent but let's just break down the league games under Tuchel for a second:

Wolves - Werner didn't play (Pulisic could have started but Tuchel went with Ziyech and Havertz behind Giroud instead)

Burnley - Werner started but did nothing of note (Pulisic came on at HT and played with Werner upfront)

Spurs - Werner won the penalty that led to the winning goal (Pulisic came on in the second half and again, played with Werner upfront)

Sheffield United - Werner assisted the first goal and then won the penalty for the winner (Pulisic missed the game due to family reason)

Newcastle - Werner created the first goal and then scored the second

Southampton - Werner started but nothing of note (Pulisic missed the game due to a calf issue)

Man United - Werner started on the bench (Pulisic again could have started but he was also on the bench)

Liverpool - Werner started and was played to exploit Liverpool's high line; would have had a goal as well for the silly VAR/handball rule (Pulisic came on in the second half but played with Werner upfront again)

Everton - Werner started (on the right) but did nothing of note

Out of 9 games there, Werner didn't start in 2 games, started but did nothing of note in 3 games and made an impact in the other 4 games. Even if the general performance hasn't been great, it's kinda hard for a manager to drop someone who's at least making something happen in the final third, especially when we're still finding our fluency in the attacking third. Plus, Pulisic missing a game here and there for other reasons has probably not helped his cause either. Not interested in going into another lengthy debate here but just pointing it out. 

Werner would be under pressure to get things right next season, regardless of whether we sign a new striker or not. He needs to be converting more and missing less chances in front of goal.

Isn't this why I have precisely been saying what I said? There's nothing stopping Tuchel from tailoring our game plan to fit Pulisic in, be it on the left or right, from the start and especially when he already knew him at Dortmund but he hasn't done that. The decision to not play Pulisic of late has more to do with whatever Tuchel thinks of him as opposed to just Werner completely blocking Pulisic's path. 

To quote you "That is what we're here to discuss". 🤪 Let's not forget that we did see Pulisic come on for Ziyech in the second half and he played with Werner and Mount. 

The plan of using Ziyech to feed passes to Werner sounds logical but funnily enough, it only happened on 3 occasions in that Liverpool match. That's the same amount of passes as Kante made to Werner, less than Rudiger to Werner (4), and Mount to Werner as well as Chilwell to Werner (each on 6).

"As much as Werner's finishing has left a lot to be desired, there's nothing to suggest that Mount, CHO and Pulisic are better finishers themselves at the moment. Otherwise, one wouldn't be on only 5 goals, another wouldn't be on only 2 goals and the other wouldn't be on only 1 goal right now."

The reason why Werner has more goals is because of the role he has. He is tasked to run in behind to score goals and Mount is tasked to provide for him. So ofcourse he has more goals😂 The amount of chances he's missed however is astounding. You can't sit here and tell me Mount, Pulisic and CHO would miss all those chances. If you're disagreeing with me for the sake of it then there's no point in continuing talking about this topic.

Moreover, you mentioned Premier League games, and you forgot the game against Atletico where he was woeful. Also we were criticising our attack under Tuchel since he arrived, so why is Werner getting praise for the minimal we've done in attack? It's clear we have been struggling in attack and he has been a big part of that in my opinion. 

"Isn't this why I have precisely been saying what I said? There's nothing stopping Tuchel from tailoring our game plan to fit Pulisic in, be it on the left or right, from the start and especially when he already knew him at Dortmund but he hasn't done that. The decision to not play Pulisic of late has more to do with whatever Tuchel thinks of him as opposed to just Werner completely blocking Pulisic's path."

Tuchel clearly said in many press conferences that he is not going to change his system for the sake of it. It's working and he wants to keep it. So why would he fit Pulisic and Werner in the system, when he said that? Sure it's not Werner completely blocking his path, but Werner has been underperforming in my opinion even more so than Mount, hence why I focus on him.

"The plan of using Ziyech to feed passes to Werner sounds logical but funnily enough, it only happened on 3 occasions in that Liverpool match. That's the same amount of passes as Kante made to Werner, less than Rudiger to Werner (4), and Mount to Werner as well as Chilwell to Werner (each on 6)."

Things obviously go to plan with Tuchels Ziyech decision, but it was still the plan he put in place. Whether it worked or not is not what we're discussing. Ziyech played instead of Pulisic because Tuchel decided that he needed a good passer before the game. Ziyech's performance might have showed that it was the wrong decision, but that doesn't change the fact that Pulisic was not played for tactical reasons(in my opinion).

But yeah let's stop here, I respect your opinion but we agree to disagree. I hope I'm wrong, and Werner turns out to become world class and score over 10 goals for us till the end of the season😂 

 

[Jase 43,479]

3 minutes ago, Azul said:

The reason why Werner has more goals is because of the role he has. He is tasked to run in behind to score goals and Mount is tasked to provide for him. So ofcourse he has more goals😂 The amount of chances he's missed however is astounding. You can't sit here and tell me Mount, Pulisic and CHO would miss all those chances. If you're disagreeing with me for the sake of it then there's no point in continuing talking about this topic.

The point is, it's not as if Mount, Pulisic or CHO have been clinical when they have gotten their own chances. They have had their fair share of misses as well. It's just that they get less chances to score - or miss - than Werner.

4 minutes ago, Azul said:

Moreover, you mentioned Premier League games, and you forgot the game against Atletico where he was woeful. Also we were criticising our attack under Tuchel since he arrived, so why is Werner getting praise for the minimal we've done in attack? It's clear we have been struggling in attack and he has been a big part of that in my opinion. 

Even if I did not include the Atletico Madrid game, it still doesn't change the point that I was making. But if you want to include the Atletico game, then I would include the Barnsley game as well. You can say Werner was poor against Atletico but so was Pulisic against Barnsley. Forget the team playing badly that night, Pulisic did himself no favors whatsoever in that game. 

The point with listing those games is that Werner made an impact in 4 of those 9 league games, 3 of them in consecutive games. When you have someone contributing goals, it's hard to drop that player, even if the performances aren't always consistent. Combine that with Pulisic suddenly missing 1 game through family issue and 1 through calf issue, he was always gonna end up in a disadvantage spot, which Tuchel alluded to in his presser today funnily enough.

7 minutes ago, Azul said:

Tuchel clearly said in many press conferences that he is not going to change his system for the sake of it. It's working and he wants to keep it. So why would he fit Pulisic and Werner in the system, when he said that? Sure it's not Werner completely blocking his path, but Werner has been underperforming in my opinion even more so than Mount, hence why I focus on him.

Why does it have to involve changing the system? Tuchel has constantly rotated the front 3 and found ways to fit the players, even if they aren't comfortable in a back 3 system but he hasn't included Pulisic much at all. Why?

16 minutes ago, Azul said:

But yeah let's stop here, I respect your opinion but we agree to disagree. I hope I'm wrong, and Werner turns out to become world class and score over 10 goals for us till the end of the season

SEE WHAT I MEAN WHEN I SAID WE WOULD JUST GO BE GOING CIRCLES RIGHT FROM THE START!? 

[Azul 1,615]

28 minutes ago, Jason said:

The point is, it's not as if Mount, Pulisic or CHO have been clinical when they have gotten their own chances. They have had their fair share of misses as well. It's just that they get less chances to score - or miss - than Werner.

Even if I did not include the Atletico Madrid game, it still doesn't change the point that I was making. But if you want to include the Atletico game, then I would include the Barnsley game as well. You can say Werner was poor against Atletico but so was Pulisic against Barnsley. Forget the team playing badly that night, Pulisic did himself no favors whatsoever in that game. 

The point with listing those games is that Werner made an impact in 4 of those 9 league games, 3 of them in consecutive games. When you have someone contributing goals, it's hard to drop that player, even if the performances aren't always consistent. Combine that with Pulisic suddenly missing 1 game through family issue and 1 through calf issue, he was always gonna end up in a disadvantage spot, which Tuchel alluded to in his presser today funnily enough.

Why does it have to involve changing the system? Tuchel has constantly rotated the front 3 and found ways to fit the players, even if they aren't comfortable in a back 3 system but he hasn't included Pulisic much at all. Why?

SEE WHAT I MEAN WHEN I SAID WE WOULD JUST GO BE GOING CIRCLES RIGHT FROM THE START!? 

😂😂😂You were right, we'll go in circles. After Tuchels press conference, there is a chance that Pulisic might start against Leeds. I'm curious to see what happens.

I can honestly answer every question, but it won't amount to nothing lol. Let the players do the talking on the pitch.

[Jase 43,479]

The ironic thing about the current situation with Pulisic is that, is he even going to start week in week out at the clubs that he's being linked with - Bayern, Liverpool, Man United?

Bayern have got Sane, Gnabry, Coman and even Muller who can play in the wide areas.

Liverpool still have Salah and Mane going strong as well as Jota. Plus, it's unlikely they will even have the money right off the bat to buy someone for big price tag, unless they sell some players.

Man United have Rashford, Martial, Greenwood, Diallo and heck, even Dan James, who Solskjaer seems to like. And if they go get Sancho for real this summer, then there's hardly any place there.

On top of that, any interested club would also be wary of his injury record and might not be keen to pay big money for him.

[Fernando 6,389]

I thought he did good. Better then zyech. 

If anyone should go is zyech, pulisic is clearly a good player that cause problems in the wings. 

[NikkiCFC 7,624]

Where is this talk of him leaving coming from? There is more chance of him becoming player on Sterling, Mane, Salah level than being a flop.

[Jase 43,479]

Chelsea have big plans for Pulisic. He must be patient under Tuchel

https://theathletic.com/2435207/2021/03/14/Chelsea-have-big-plans-for-pulisic-he-must-be-patient-under-tuchel/

It was Hakim Ziyech who threw the hissy fit when the board went up midway through the second half, his face fixed in a scowl as he tossed away the water bottle handed to him upon his replacement and retreated to a seat up in the stand at Elland Road. The team-mate who accompanied him from the turf kept his emotions rather more buried, as is Christian Pulisic’s style. The United States international merely accepted the water and energy drink pressed into his hand, then the club-issue puffer jacket, and climbed the steps lost in thought.

The forward’s sense of frustration, while subdued, will have been just as acute. This had been his big opportunity, the first Premier League start offered to him by Thomas Tuchel and a chance to show he deserves more than a bit-part role off the bench as this team challenge on three fronts. “It is the moment for him to step up,” the head coach had mentioned in one of his pre-match interviews and yet, a bright start aside, it had not amounted to much. Not as much as the player would have hoped, anyway.

Perhaps had Kai Havertz made better contact when reaching Pulisic’s centre early on and actually forced it beyond a sprawling Illan Meslier, then the focus might have been more on the burst of pace that had taken the winger away from a rattled Ezgjan Alioski in the build-up. Maybe, had Chelsea’s forwards not designated the six-yard box a no-go zone, Meslier would have been punished for pushing out another fizzed low Pulisic cross minutes later. For that matter, if the loose ball that cannoned off Diego Llorente had billowed the net rather than bounced down off the crossbar, then more might have been made of the neat one-two summoned by Pulisic and Havertz to provoke such panic at the centre of the Leeds defence.

Instead, his performance rather fizzled out, much like that of his team on this dismal playing surface and in a howling wind, with his craving for involvement drowned out amid Tuchel’s barked instructions— “Higher!”, “Wider!” — across the play. A sense that he had fluffed his lines will have pursued him as he retired 68 minutes in, for all that he had done well to snuff out Raphinha at the far post moments earlier and tested Meslier himself just before the hour-mark.

He had been yearning for a spark, a goal to ignite his season after 18 scoreless outings stretching back to Chelsea’s last meeting with Leeds back in early December. The vast majority of his recent appearances, since the club’s mid-season change in management, have been cameos; mere flirtations with contests late on in a team still striving for proper invention and incision. Too many have passed him by. That he only mustered 45 touches at Elland Road, a tally only Ziyech failed to match from Chelsea’s starters, suggested another afternoon spent on the periphery.

There was a collective failure in the visitors’ approach. “We have a strong squad and everybody deserves to and, at some point, needs to play, to show and to feel that I trust them, but (we were) not clinical enough on the counter-attacks,” was Tuchel’s honest assessment. “Not enough determination and precision in the last touch.

“Our strikers never stopped working, our frontline never stopped the intensity and counter-pressing, but do they always arrive in the freshest moment? No, they don’t. But I believe we have enough quality to use the moments, the half-chances, better and to create more and be more clinical.”

It will have been easy for Pulisic to have read into those criticisms, reinforcing the sense this was an opportunity missed. The player will stew over that, so desperate is he to recover some of the post-lockdown zest that illuminated Chelsea’s run-in to last season. At present, these are trying times.

His toils require context. Pulisic ripped his hamstring in the FA Cup final at the beginning of August, an occasion he had earlier decorated with his fifth goal in 11 matches since the resumption of football, which denied him any kind of pre-season even in the rejigged calendar. It has been stop-start ever since. He has never generated any real rhythm over the current campaign, not least with twinges and minor strains regularly checking his progress. There have been nine injuries since the start of last season, evidence of an underlying fragility that was evident earlier in his career and on which the club are working, but, inevitably, that will play on the mind of a player for whom explosive pace is such an asset.

When he did enjoy a prolonged run in the side, it coincided with the unravelling of Frank Lampard’s tenure, a period when results flatlined and belief waned throughout the group. Maybe he could have contributed more to arrest that decline, grasping the initiative as a figure of influence within the team, but the collective was enduring a crisis of confidence at the time. He was as affected as anyone. The problem for Pulisic is that, since the change at the top, things have arguably become harder.

Pulisic was one of only two players at Chelsea with whom Tuchel had previously worked and, in many ways, he has been a victim of that familiarity. The German, parachuted into a mid-season crisis, has spent his brief time at Cobham scrutinising those he inherited, learning their qualities and assessing their shortcomings. Pulisic, in contrast, was a player he already knew. He was the forward who had played 38 times as a teenager in the Bundesliga under his stewardship at Borussia Dortmund.

Half of those appearances had been off the bench. Tuchel was already au fait with the winger’s ability to inject pace and energy into a contest as a substitute. So, given so much else was alien to him upon his arrival at Stamford Bridge, it was perhaps only natural that he initially reverted to type and used Pulisic in cameos. After all, as other members of the Chelsea hierarchy have privately acknowledged, back at Borussia, the forward had been very effective in the role. There was a logic to that decision.

The head coach has since admitted that instinctive reaction was rather “unfair”. “But I just know what impact he can have in the last 20 minutes or 30 minutes with his power and strength,” said Tuchel. “It isn’t a lack of trust or quality. It is just that he will have to be patient.”

That word, in truth, has cropped up rather too often for comfort of late.

He has only played 282 minutes for the new head coach in the Premier League to date, including Saturday’s outing at Elland Road, and was ring-rusty after hamstring trouble on his only previous start, at Barnsley in the FA Cup on another scarred surface. Those close to him find it hard to accept the super-sub tag, not least because Pulisic is a better player now than he was at Dortmund, and presumably less accepting of such a role given his stature.

The lack of an obvious pecking order up front — for all that Tuchel appears of late to have prioritised the revitalisation of the club’s more recent expensive imports from the Bundesliga, Timo Werner and Kai Havertz — has given attacking selections a rather chaotic feel and further confused Pulisic’s status. Nevertheless, he has proved an eager and committed trainer, working diligently to impress, and has probably warranted greater involvement.

The 22-year-old has cut a frustrated figure on the fringes. “He is a dedicated guy who is hungry for success — visibly more hungry than some of the others,” says one source. “People see he is quiet and assume he is shy, but he is intense and driven. He wants to be the best, whether that is down to the pressure he feels as a key player for his country, or the pressure he puts on himself to succeed. He wants to play all of the time.” That would even extend to operating in the left wing-back role more usually taken by Marcos Alonso, with the attacking freedom from which the Spaniard has benefited to relaunch his career at the club. Pulisic would relish the space Alonso regularly enjoys.

Except he is still waiting for that opportunity having started on Saturday on the right of midfield in a rejigged formation. Regardless, his disappointment at Elland Road will have been born of a failure to make a proper impression for the new man at the helm.

For some, all of this will feel surprising. The assumption had been that, given Tuchel was the coach who had first granted him his senior chance at Dortmund, Pulisic would relish rekindling their relationship. Yet whether the player will have welcomed this latest change in management is open to question. There would undoubtedly have been a wariness at the assumption he would be a favourite from the outset given the pair’s previous association, which may have driven a quiet character to withdraw further, but they were never bosom buddies in Westphalia.

Regardless, further disruption just as he appeared to have convinced Lampard of his pedigree would hardly have felt ideal. The forward has only been a Chelsea player for a little over two years but must already be dizzied by the regular changes in the dug-out.

The original sales pitch to lure Pulisic from Dortmund had actually been delivered by Maurizio Sarri in late 2018, for all that the Italian later feigned public surprise to learn that a £58 million deal had actually been struck. Sarri had prepared a video presentation of clips of his Napoli team’s attacking patterns, providing the prospective new signing with a detailed breakdown of how he intended to take his game to the next level. The youngster was enthused at the idea of working for the Italian and the role he would play in Sarri-ball.

And yet, by the time Pulisic arrived in England, Sarri was long gone.

It would take time to convince Lampard of his value to the side, not least because Pulisic did not readily come out of his shell. He is still young and was tentative at first, playing within himself and apparently reluctant to use that distinctive burst of pace as he felt his way into life at a new club. Once he settled, his club-mates and management marvelled at his natural ability and drive, christening him “Captain America”, with his best form reserved for that period after the resumption.

Yet he remained overtly unemotional — “He is a man of one fixed expression,” suggested one figure close to the player — if quietly determined, and, while the head coach came to value his contribution, he and Lampard were never particularly close. Some have suggested they were actually too similar, two characters almost reluctant to open up. A wariness remained. Pulisic never felt first-choice even last season when things were going well.

He found his periods in rehabilitation hardest, not least living on his own in London with no obvious release or distraction from the bubble, but he has always been prone to internalise and stews on things when they are going awry. The constant churn in the dug-out can hardly have helped him settle. There is always the fear that a player may not fit into a new coach’s preferred system, or that his face will simply not fit. Even well into his second season at the club, it is hard to argue that his adaptation has been straightforward.

“I hope he will (be patient),” said Tuchel, responding to a flurry of stories last week that had suggested the player’s dissatisfaction at a bit-part role might prompt him to seek a challenge elsewhere. “When you sign to play for Chelsea, this is part of the job description, as a player, to be impatient and patient at the same time. Impatient because all my players are competitors. All of them want to play every single minute, and this is what they all show, every day.

“The hunger and desire, this is what Christian shows. At the same time, when you’re not selected by the coach, you have to also be patient, to not lose confidence, and to keep on going and be ready at any time. It can happen at any time.”

Maybe it will in the weeks ahead, whether against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, Sheffield United in the FA Cup or once the Premier League resumes after the international break.

Gregg Berhalter’s United States squad meet up for friendlies later this month against Jamaica (to be played in Austria) and Northern Ireland at Windsor Park. Pulisic may welcome the release of being able to spend time with Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams, team-mates in the national set-up with whom he has become close. A change of scenery, if only for 10 days, might be beneficial after the claustrophobia of life in a lonely bubble in London. He had made the point of linking up with the squad back in November for the games against Wales and Panama even though he had no chance of featuring. Just being in the camp may serve to revitalise him and be beneficial when it comes to building up confidence.

Certainly, within the US set-up, there is a belief that the player’s quality will shine through and earn him more regular involvement at club level. That word, patience, has been mentioned yet again. Berhalter’s staff and the clubs where all his players perform enjoy regular dialogue and a mutual exchange of information. A few eyebrows may have been raised at the slow start that Pulisic has made under Tuchel, but there is faith that class will eventually out. Besides, the key fixtures in their calendar start in the autumn, when their CONCACAF qualification campaign for next year’s World Cup commences.

Berhalter will need his star forward fit and firing by then but, for now, there is no need to panic.

That is the underlying sentiment, too, at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea consider Pulisic a key member of their squad. Even if opportunities remain limited in the weeks and months ahead — a scenario Tuchel does not envisage — there would be no appetite on their part to move him on in the summer. He is a young player of talent, an established international who would not benefit from joining their ranks of loanees, and a player upon whom they are pinning much hope. There will be few clubs in the post-pandemic market who boast the funds to prise him away, and his current employers consider him a major player for the future.

“He is in my plans,” offered Tuchel. “He is an important player and he has the potential to be decisive for us from the bench and as a beginner. Is it necessary that he can prove it? Yes. But this is my job, and his job is to be ready, like everybody else. This is what you sign up for at a club like Chelsea.”

At Leeds, he offered only glimpses of his qualities, nothing more. The player himself may not have resorted to flinging water bottles in a strop around the stand, but even his deadpan expression betrayed dissatisfaction at the way things had turned out. As frustrating as it is, he is enduring a dip in form, but his time will come.

Patience.

[R2D2 368]

He will turn good, just needs to find his rhythm again, took Callum almost a year after his injury to get back to the level prior, same here needs the time, his class and talent is there.

[Blue Armour 4,176]

Clean shaven Pulisic >>>>> Bearded Pulisic

[nyikolajevics 2,449]

Great skilling yesterday but no benefit from it, pointless performance again. If we wanted this, we could have just keep Kenedy with the team.

 

He clearly has the talent, hope he’ll improve because this is not enough.

[ZAPHOD2319 3,929]

He played well. It is funny that people are giving Timo credit when he is having a good game but not scoring, but are super harsh on Pulisic. I hope he comes good, but there is no sense in ragging the kid when he plays well. Of all the bad performance yesterday, his was not one of them.

[MoroccanBlue 5,218]

Yeah thought he did well yesterday too. That touch to control the ball in the second half after the Sheffield United mistake was sublime. 

It appears our attackers are now picking up form at a pivotal part of our season. Just fingers crossed, knock on wood, pray to Allah no injuries in the international break. 

[sainttourist 68]

He has a bit of Jones in him. Always going in any challenge. While bravery and self-sacrifice appreciated, I think he needs to be more cautious or could get another injury. 

[Jase 43,479]