“Players need time” – Pundit believes Christian Pulisic will be a top player for Chelsea

Chelsea winger Christian Pulisic could only watch on from the sidelines again last night as he watched his team suffer a 1-0 loss in the Champions League.

Pulisic was seen warming up, but remained not used by Frank Lampard for the second game in a row.

The USA international has just turned 21 today, and sometimes that is easy to forget because he actually brings a lot of experience for such a young player and he comes across as very mature.

He hasn’t exactly hit the ground running in the chances he has gotten at Chelsea so far this season, but you get this feel that there is a real player in there waiting to explode onto the scene.

He will get more chances, and he will get his opportunity, but Chelsea fans are being urged to remain patient with him in these early stages.

Kyle Martino, a former United States international turned NBC pundit, knows Pulisic better than most having followed his career closely for years.

He told Sky Sports:

“Players need time but not everyone is given it.

“De Bruyne and Salah did not get time and then they went on to show their brilliance. But I think he (Pulisic) will get more time than in the past because of the ban and because of Lampard’s trust in youth. He will get his chance soon.

“He won’t need any more time than that… and if he does it’s because it’s not working out.

“He is an excellent finisher and he is good with his dribbling at creating space for himself and others. He is cerebral so he reads the game well.

“The physicality of the Premier League will be a learning curve – having to be a bit quicker in getting the ball out from under his feet. He will need to be intelligent in terms of when he takes players on.

“He has got the qualities to be an incredible asset to Chelsea in between the lines.

“Remember that this is a player who has played in massive games against Real Madrid and Bayern Munich where he has delivered.

“This is a very experienced player who was tossed into World Cup qualifying by Bruce Arena and ended up being one of the best performers despite having had no experience with the national team.”

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