The American forward has struggled to make his way into the line-up since Frank Lampard left
Thomas Tuchel says Christian Pulisic has been “unlucky” not to start for Chelsea, as the Blues boss has full confidence in his former Borussia Dortmund player.
Chelsea have dominated since Tuchel took over from Frank Lampard in January, with the most recent victory in a 2-0 win over Everton.
Under Tuchel, Chelsea are now unbeaten in nine games, but Pulisic has contributed little as he has stayed out of all of Tuchel’s Premier League starting lineups since hiring.
Tuchel on Pulisic
“I can say nothing but good things about him. Perhaps his biggest problem is that I know him from Dortmund and I think he only started in the cup games,” Tuchel said at his post-game press conference.
“It’s my responsibility and it’s a bit unfair, but I know the impact he can have in the last 20 or 30 minutes.
“He’s been a little unlucky in the last few games. It’s not a lack of confidence or quality, it’s just that he’s going to have to be patient.”
“I have another man I’d like to name in Emerson [Palmieri] suffering from bad decisions by me. He doesn’t play, but he’s a great guy who trains at the highest level and he never lets the team down with his mentality. It was a super difficult decision today to get him out of the selection, just like Tammy [Abraham]
“It’s like this, we have a strong group. The boys have to keep fighting. There is no other way.”
Pulisic this season
Having emerged as one of Chelsea’s stars after the reboot last season, Pulisic has struggled to replicate that form in this season.
The US men’s team star fought injuries to start this season and never quite hit the highs of his debut season with 11 goals in London.
Pulisic has only found the back of the net twice this season in 24 appearances and has now dropped out of the starting XI since the introduction of Tuchel.
Tuchel, who previously led Pulisic from 2016-17 while the two were both at Borussia Dortmund, has said he thinks Pulisic deserves to start for Chelsea, but has yet to select him as a Premier League starter.