Christian Pulisic has had a mixed start to his Chelsea career. Frank Lampard showed exactly what he thought about the American in the first game of the season, when he benched him for the visit to Old Trafford.
The summer signing was then brought back into the fold, but for two games in a row since the international break, he has sat on the bench. His manager has preferred playing Mason Mount tucked in one one side as a kind of inside forward, with Willian on the other side. When Mount was taken off injured, it was Pedro who joined the fray.
Pulisic turns 21 today, and with that one of the chief defences of him – “he’s only 20” – fades away. He’s still adjusting to a new team and a new league, and we believe what Lampard says – that he is a part of his plans. But it’s going to be a long road displacing the age and experience of Pedro and Willian. The rest of the team is so full of youth that the manager will be inclined to include some older heads in some parts of the pitch, and that could be at Pulisic’s expense at times.
On the other hand, after a midweek game, there’s always the chance that a fresh Pulisic will be given the chance to take on Liverpool on Sunday.
