Chelsea suffered a 1-0 defeat in their trip to Everton today, continuing their problems getting results againt the sides that are in in the middle or higher in the table.
Christian Pulisic was left out of the matchday squad, just a day after manager Frank Lampard said the left winger was full go and match fit versus Everton. So that’s what we call the Art of War right there- obfuscating at best, hiding at worst, critical information from your opponent.
“He had to be left out,โ Lampard said of the most expensive American of all time.
โHe was uncomfortable in training this week and yesterday. He canโt play 90 minutes or start a game in the PL.โ
A week ago today, Pulisic scored his first league goal of the season in the 3-1 win over Leeds United. The 22-year-old played an hour in that one, which followed a 67 minute output, and prior to that, a 16 minute effort.
However, he missed out on entirely in the midweek Champions League fixture against Krasnodar. At the time, we thought he missed out on that clash just as a precaution, because the stakes could not have been lower for that clash.
Now we’re seeing that Pulisic had been building up his fitness, as expected, until it became a situation of two steps forward, two steps back.
It’s getting tough to take any “injury news” or “fitness news” from the club seriously at this point.
He first suffered the hamstring injury on August 1 in the FA Cup final defeate to Arsenal. He relapsed prior to the start of the match at Burnley on Halloween.
His minutes have been quite limited, and he has just two goals, across all competitions, this season.
Needless to say, Roman Abramovich is just not getting return on investment here.
Paul M. Banks runsย The Sports Bank, partnered withย News Now.ย Banks, the author ofย โNo, I Canโt Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,โ has regularly appeared inย WGN,ย Sports Illustrated,ย Chicago Tribuneย andย SB Nation.ย Follow himย onย Twitterย andย Instagram.
