In a 4-0 thrashing of Crystal Palace last weekend, Christian Pulisic finally made his first appearance of the season, subbing on at the 84′. Off this week for international break, Chelsea return to the pitch on Oct 17, when they’ll take on Southampton FC. Expect to see much more of Pulisic in that match, as well as the debut of Hakim Ziyech, possibly.
Mid to late October is when we could see full on Chelsea, with all their key components finally fully fit and coalescing together. The Stamford Bridge summer spending spree to end all sprees hasn’t been fully realized yet, as we’re still waiting to see all the new additions match fit and playing together.
When we get there, which will be soon, we’ll see what Chelsea truly is. For Pulisic individually, his form was as high as anyone in the Premier League after the restart. However, he got injured, yet again, in the FA Cup final and his 20/21 season hasn’t truly started yet.
“I had a tough injury, and it was really hard to work to get back out there,” Pulisic said in an all-encompassing, wide-ranging interview with CBS Sports. “I’m really excited I got some minutes before the break. Now I just wish we had a game sooner.”
Pulisic has a specialist training programme going on with the west London club, and hopefully that will keep him from getting injured so frequently. With a fit Captain America, or Pennsylvania Messi, in the fold we should see Chelsea compete for titles.
Asked to predict if this season will include Premier League and Champions League silverware, Chelsea’s No. 10 responded with supreme confidence and high ambition: “Absolutely. Why not? … We’re gonna compete hard to get those trophies.”
“Chelsea is a club with a lot of history that always wants to compete and win titles. Our goal is to finish at the highest standing in the Premier League and win every trophy available. Champions League included.
We’ve got a great group of guys, we’re going to compete, and we’re hungry to win titles.” For the full CBS Q&A with Pulisic go to this link.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.