While there are still five matches left this season, it would actually be perfectly fine for Christian Pulisic to never play for Chelsea FC ever again. The left-sided attacking midfielder would best be served by sitting out the rest of this pathetic season, making sure he’s 100% fit for leading the United States Men’s National Team this summer, in the Gold Cup, and let his agent find him an escape route.
As you saw last night against Arsenal, Chelsea have absolutely nothing left to play for this season, and it shows.
Pulisic not even on the bench. Better keep the private jet running, he’s going to have no shortage of interested clubs this summer. I don’t believe he is injured either, this is just him being dropped. https://t.co/lyfCip9Xd8
— USMNTrev (@Eyesandvibes) May 2, 2023
They could play for pride, but they don’t seem very interested in that concept right now. Interim manager Frank Lampard left Christian Pulisic out of the squad entirely on Tuesday, and maybe that was not such a bad thing.
This club is in severe decline, as new owner Todd Boehly has no idea what he’s doing. Stamford Bridge is where the careers of forwards go to die.
I’m sure Christian Pulisic and his agent know that.
Scoring one whole goal, and taking one whole point, for all of April pretty much tells the story. Chelsea have scored 31 goals in 33 league matches this season, with only three teams having achieved fewer scoring strikes.
Not coincidentally, it is the three teams currently in the relegation zone.
It’s not just Pulisic that knows how southwest London is the place where attacking players see their careers take a sharp nosedive.
Just ask Kai Havertz. Or Timo Werner. Romelu Lukaku. Raheem Sterling. Hakim Ziyech. And Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang.
And it doesn’t matter who is in charge in the dugout either.
Thomas Tuchel. Graham Potter. Frank Lampard. The Blues cannot score under any of them.
Christian Pulisic watching Chelsea get demolished by Arsenal after Lampard left him out of the squad. pic.twitter.com/npHOOiYEvn
— USMNT Otaku ?? (@USMNTOtaku) May 2, 2023
So where can Pulisic go? In the recent past, he’s been linked to (and you can read more about it where highlighted) Newcastle United, Manchester United and Juventus among others.
Although club legend Joe Cole believes he should stay put. He said of Christian Pulisic:
“He’s a super talented footballer. He’s won the Champions League with Chelsea and he played a big part by scoring important goals. It’s just, I feel sorry for Christian with the amount of injuries he’s got. It’s really stopped his development.
“I think he needs to find his happiness again in a Chelsea shirt. It’s very difficult and there’s always competition.
“There are 31 players playing in the Chelsea squad, world-class players a lot of them. He has to find his rhythm again.
“There’s no doubt he’s a top, top, top footballer and he just needs to find out and work out how his body is and how he can keep himself on the pitch because, if he can do that, football is not a problem for him. He’ll be fine. He’s a great player.”
Players that should be sold in the summer:
* = depending on price
– Kepa
– Mendy
– Azpi (free)
– *Chalobah
– Cucurella
– *Chilwell
– Koulibaly
– *Kovacic
– Loftus Cheek
– Gallagher
– Sterling
– Pulisic
– Ziyech
– Havertz
– Auba (free)Here is your clear out, @ChelseaFC pic.twitter.com/VMjEqK55WS
— Pys (@CFCPys) May 2, 2023
All good points, all true, all around- except for, obviously, I disagree with Cole about where the future of Pulisic lies. Pulisic has been injured quite a bit during his time in southwest London. However, he’s also provided plenty of electric moments when fit and selected to feature. Project Restart (yes, Pulisic is, arguably, the greatest player in Premier League history during July matches…maybe June too! LOL).
Man of the Match versus Porto in Champions League. Versus Real Madrid in the UCL semifinals.
The dominant performances in the league versus Manchester City and Liverpool.
Yes, we’re spelling out a lot of sentences in just simple words and phrases here. For Effect. Even though that is grammatically incorrect.
Pulisic has all the potential in the world, but he needs to go somewhere else in order to realize it. There have been some special moments during his Chelsea career, but it’s no longer a good fit. In the words of the singer-songwriter that the world lost on Monday, Gordon Lightfoot:
“I don’t know where we went wrong, but the feeling’s gone and we just can’t get it back.”
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now. Follow the website on Twitter and Instagram.