The first thing USMNT fans are thinking when they heard the news Frank Lampard was fired by Chelsea was this: ‘What does this mean for Christian Pulisic?’
Well, what does it mean?
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In short, Pulisic may come out of this better than pretty much any other Chelsea player.
Pulisic, 22, played for the new incoming Chelsea manager (not confirmed, but widely expected) Thomas Tuchel. Pulisic was given his spot in the Borussia Dortmund starting lineup by the German coach and previously had this to say about the former Paris Saint-Germain coach.
“I’m just very thankful for everything [Tuchel] did for me,” Pulisic said in 2017 to Bundesliga.com. “Tuchel always just trusted me and gave me a chance. Of course he’s given me tips and feedback with what he sees every day in training and stuff like that, small things.”
In short, Tuchel has played a big role in Pulisic’s career so far and all signs point to him continuing to be a regular at Chelsea when Tuchel arrives.
Pulisic has been playing well this season but has only scored one goal in the Premier League and has grown increasingly frustrated in recent weeks as his finishing, like Chelsea’s other forwards, has been wayward.
Tuchel coming in to take charge of Chelsea could be a perfect situation for Pulisic.
Lampard did like Pulisic, a lot
That’s not to say it will all be easy for him.
Lampard rated Pulisic highly, even if a lot of Chelsea and USMNT fans thought he had an agenda against the American winger.
In his early days at Chelsea he was left out of the team often, but Lampard worked closely with the American to time his runs into the box and we saw how well that worked during ‘Project Restart’ in the summer in terms of goals and assists.
He has a lot of competition in this Chelsea side, though, as Callum Hudson-Odoi, Timo Werner, Mason Mount, Kai Havertz and Hakim Ziyech are all competing for the three attacking midfield spots.
But it’s safe to say that even though even Tuchel will give everyone a clean slate when he arrives at Chelsea, Pulisic has a massive advantage as he is appreciated by the German coach and knows exactly what is expected in training and in games.
That means that, all of a sudden, Pulisic is even more important at Chelsea as Tuchel will use him, plus his former captain at PSG Thiago Silva, to get his message across as quickly as possible.
For USMNT fans, and Pulisic, this is as close to a perfect scenario as he could get.
