If #LampardOut has a twin brother, then it’s probably “Christian Pulisic is overrated.” Fan overreaction has been around as long as sports have had spectators, but it’s really ramped up, and then injected with steroids in the era of social media. Christian Pulisic has yet to play a full 90 minutes in a league game for Chelsea, but he is already getting written off as “overrated” by many Blues supporters.
Sunday’s result, which Pulisic’s friend, New Orleans Pelicans SG Josh Hart was on hand for, was about as entertaining and interesting as 1-1 draw can get, but Pulisic didn’t have a great game against Leicester City, who came to Stamford Bridge with a great game plan.
Pulisic didn’t have much of an impact, and he got subbed off for Willian in the 71′. Pulisic, who got dispossessed 18 times today, clearly needs time to adjust to a new league, team and manager.
On Sunday he showed a lot of energy and pace, but didn’t show a ton of acumen in regards to what to do with it. Plenty of Chelsea fans are already labeling him “the next ___” or “Chelsea’s next ___,” with that blank getting filled in with the name of somebody who was a bust.
Pulisic has only won 1 out of 5 attempted dribbles today.
I believe he has outstanding potential but this can be so frustrating to watch when he plays in your team.
Still you got to love his determination. pic.twitter.com/jL4aqiDL3P
— Molina (@Vorlage09) August 18, 2019
That’s a bit trigger happy; even with despite the $71 million transfer fee.
Pulisic is not Eden Hazard, and to think that he would automatically step in and replicate Hazard’s production right off the bat is ridiculous.
The young forward who did show us something today was Mason Mount, he of the Vanilla Ice style haircut. Mount was as close to a star man as Chelsea had today, but the team overall disappointed. The Blues came out guns blazing right out of the gate, but faded fast and wilted overall.
https://twitter.com/PaulMBanks/status/1163128953986605057
Yes, Chelsea will enter their fourth match of the 2019-20 season still looking for win #1, but it’s been a group effort. They have conceded seven goals in three games, and they’re just not a club with the firepower to keep up with a pace like that right now.
It’s unfair to single out just the 41-year-old manager or the 20-year-old American winger.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is 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,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
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