Chelsea forward Christian Pulisic is doing whatever he must in order to help the team. A natural left sided attacking midfielder, Pulisic has seen some playing time at multiple positions this season, including centre forward, false nine and defender/wing back.
The 22-year-old Hershey, PA native has actually logged extensive minutes at the last position that we listed there, and it’s all been more by need, instead of design. Thomas Tuchel has seen his side ravaged by injury and covid-19 outbreaks, so the squad has been largely short-handed for much of the past month or so.
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“Yes it’s true we moved him around a little bit, but in the end they want to play, and it’s a good thing if they can play more positions,” Tuchel said of Pulisic.
“You can always argue I would have been more consistent or better if I had one clear position, but maybe then you have less minutes or you face even more competition, because up front we have two or three players in every position.”
Chelsea will take on Manchester City this weekend, and a loss will certainly end their league title hopes. Actually, you can make a great case that City already have a hand on the trophy, and that the title chase is already done for this season.
That said, Chelsea are still alive in all three cup competitions too, so there are a lot of minutes to be logged out there. Is it good for Pulisic to be playing out of position though?
How does this help/hurt his career? Tuchel discussed the topic by saying it’s good for him.
“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,” the German said ahead of the Blues’ all-London League Cup semifinal leg 2/2 today.
“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.
“Of course everybody wants him to have numbers, everybody wants him to be effective, and we can improve everybody, we can improve on that. And from there we go, this is the situation.”
Captain America has been linked with a move away from the club, and that’s understandable, given how up and down his Chelsea career has been.
Typically, he is the one who struggles with injury, and he’s missed a lot of time, due to various injuries, since he moved over from Borussia Dortmund in 2019.
But now he’s fit and healthy, at a time when many of his teammates are not. Pulisic has already won one trophy (last year’s UCL) at Stamford Bridge, and he’s playing an integral part towards winning more.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.