Christian Pulisic – Chelsea – Frank Lampard – Premier League
Pulisic finally vented some frustration in an interview with NBC Sports after he didn’t see any minutes in Chelsea’s 2-0 win over Brighton at the weekend.
Describing feeling “very frustrated” with the lack of minutes, Pulisic went on to say that getting playing time is his only concern right now as he fights for a spot in the lineup.
The feelings of frustration are felt by fans as well, who watched Pulisic stun and marvel at Dortmund, even starting for a better BVB team than his Chelsea squad currently is. Don’t forget, at Dortmund Pulisic even started deep in Champions League against the likes of Real Madrid, but now can't find minutes when Chelsea are up 2 goals against Brighton.
For him to not see minutes with this struggling Chelsea lineup is extremely perplexing. Even more so when you account that Pulisic was Chelsea’s only big signing before the transfer ban, making it even more vital for them to get the most out of the 21 year-old.
Fighting for a Spot
Willian, Pedro, Mason Mount and even Callum Hudson-Odoi have all been given spots ahead of Pulisic, who finds himself on the outside looking in, and if things don’t change soon, Pulisic could be all they way down to 5th pick for winger. To me, that is a ridiculous notion with this Chelsea squad.
Lampard says Pulisic is still settling down in England and hasn’t found his groove yet. This, according to Lampard, is part of the reason he isn’t seeing any playing time.
It should come as no surprise that Pulisic, being in new the country and league, would need a few weeks to get settled, but Lampard didn’t even give him a chance to get settled. A 70 million Pound transfer that Lampard won’t even give a chance to when Chelsea trailed 2-1 against Valencia in Europa League.
Speaking of that match, if anyone recalls, both Pedro and Willian had awful matches that day. Both of them were gigantic wastes on the pitch, yet Lampard had nothing to say about their poor performances, giving them another start a week later.
Singing the Blues
If Pulisic was trying to get minutes at the likes of City or Liverpool, I would expect this to be happening to him. Although, speaking of Liverpool, Klopp rates Pulisic much higher than Lampard does, and would likely give him amble opportunity like he did when they were at Dortmund together.
However, this Chelsea squad is light years away from City or Liverpool. Mind you we are only 7 matches into the season, and Chelsea are already 10 points adrift from Liverpool.
Right now, Chelsea are in a sad state of affairs. The club is a mess from top to bottom. Listless and without a clue, Chelsea are going to bumble their way into a mid-table finish this season--if they’re lucky.
Lampard is ill-equipped to manage this squad. This whole Lampard experiment is quickly turning into the trash-fire that everyone expected it to be.
Norwich, Sheffield United, and Valencia have all given Chelsea trouble so far this year, yet Lampard can’t find Pulisic some regular minutes somehow.
The former-Chelsea star has no idea what he is doing at the helm of this club. 7 weeks into the season and they are in 7th place. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are 10th place by week 10, and I promise I won’t be shocked when Pulisic isn’t even given a chance then.
What a joke.
This post was originally published by me on Scorum Sports Media