Thomas Tuchel lauds the impact and versatility of Christian Pulisic for Chelsea
Thomas Tuchel has expressed that he is delighted with the impact and versatility that Chelsea winger Christian Pulisic brings to the team. The latter got used in several positions this season to meet the needs as the club was going through an injury crisis in different areas.
The 23-year-old has taken one for the team this season as he sacrificed his own benefits for the greater good of the club. The attacker was used to fill in as a wing-back due to the injury issues to Ben Chilwell and Reece James, while he also played as down the middle of the attack when there was a lack of options up front.
Speaking in the pre-match presser (h/t Football.London), Tuchel acknowledged the contributions Pulisic brings to the Blues while mentioning that he is happy with the forward’s displays. The boss added that the winger’s physical ability is a great asset for them as they could use him to a great extent without worrying too much about fatigue.
“Yeah it’s true we moved him (Pulisic) around a little bit, but in the end they want to play, and it’s a good thing if they can play more positions. So first of all it’s a good thing, it was also a bad sign because it means we had trouble on the left and right wing-back with injuries and he helped us out there. We are happy with the impact that he has. He can play a lot of minutes, he needs to play a lot of minutes, he has a physical ability that can help us.”
A team player!
The US international has played 18 matches this season and has scored three goals with three assists to his name. His output in terms of goals is not great but that hasn’t really been his main job considering the roles he has been used in this season.
As such, we have to acknowledge what the Blues star has done so far and take the matters with the full context. Without that, one might think that he is underperforming, which is far from the truth. We are hoping that in due time he can be deployed in his natural role for him to play at his usual best.
We will face Tottenham Hotspur in the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-finals later today. We have earned a 2-0 lead due to the excellent display in the reverse fixture, and we have to drop a similar performance to overcome the task at hand. It remains to be seen where the US forward would be used this time around considering the injury crisis in defence is far from over right now.
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If we do end up signing some reinforcements this month to compensate for the lack of options, we may see the Chelsea attacker being reverted to his usual role. Pulisic is electric when playing further up the pitch where he has attacking freedom.
The USMNT star was impactful against Liverpool in the 2-2 draw and we can count on him to do something similar against Spurs tonight.