That first touch on the first goal was a puli-slick. That ball was drilled and he put it just out of his feet and he hammered it.
I had already typed up my “Tuchel Hates Pulisic, his teammates hate him, and he is mentally soft” takes...now I have to delete them all. Eff.
"Weel, Mason Mount scored two goals today, one of them an absolute cracker ...but the Man of the Match today is Christian Pulisic for trying very hard." -from Things you'll never hear on Sky Sports
I’m not sure what you expected to see today, but I think your threshold is a little high. Pulisic had an excellent game. Played excellent passes, held the ball and protected it when needed, linked up well with teammates, and made dangerous runs into box. They went up 3-0 early in the game, I dont think the plan was then To have him take on 4 defenders with the ball and then risk a counter attack.
This is a bit of hyperbole. Mount was very good, as were all three forwards. MOTM was a coin toss IMO, and of course the English lad will win most of those on a London based team.
Serious question: does Werner finish either of those chances? I think he for sure does not convert the first one.
Checked in just to complain about Chilwell not passing to CP. But you guys beat me to it. I also think Kovacic, as much as I like him, was shorting CP as well.
It's not 100% the same, but that goal reminded me somewhat of the Landon Donovan goal versus Slovenia that mounted the US comeback in the 2010 World Cup. It was the conviction/pace with which the ball was drilled, and from a somewhat less than ideal angle that reminded me of Donovan's goal.
In my mind, CP has "proven it" already at the highest level of the game. For him, it is about health and the situation he is in...not ability. Havertz and especially Werner haven't proven it to the same extent. They haven't performed to the point where you could say...yup these guys are at the level of a Chelsea starter/regular/star. Pulisic, despite his ups and downs, has. If you gave the final 16 teams in Champions League this year...the option of freely signing 1 of: CP, Werner or Havertz...how many do you think don't sign CP? My guess is not many.
No, I just watch the game. His first goal was a bomb. Wonder strike at a very tight angle. His second goal was hard work crashing the box, like he always do. Outside of those instances, he wasn't as influential and driving the game as I was looking for throughout the 90; you know the whole "Captain America" and "Chelsea best attacker" things. It was certainly a very good day for him, but still a bit away from his best days that we've seen. I think he's getting there.
Had the same thought. meanwhile, it's clear the Mount dismissal will never end and will never stop being silly.
"His finishing, meanwhile is explosive – as his first half goal proved – firing high into the near post corner." I've noticed this as well. It seems his finishing has improved significantly. Previously his strike always seems a bit weak and lacking pace and power behind them. However, his goal last week and his first goal today were like rocket. The speed at which it left his feet, and the power he puts behind them were fantastic. You could hear the impact as the ball hits the back of the net.
One of my favs because the keeper ducked his head out of the way. Honestly it was a good thing because that missile the LD hit might have taken dudes head off. It was just shocking because you do not often see a keepers instinct tell him to get out of the way.
If he can strike a ball like Mount (with better accuracy) and stay healthy like Mount, then he's UNSTOPPABLE!!!
Both Pulisic and Dike have concluded that with enough power you can just drive it past or through the keeper on the near post.
I'd say it was his best game since last summer. His distribution and movement off the ball were both composed and excellent. He was close to a hat trick and was unlucky not to have an assist to go along with his goals. He even looked pretty good on the press to my eye. I thought he was playing at really close to a world class level today (if not outright world class).
If he can learn from Mount how not get hurt or from McKennie how to heal quickly he will be unstoppable.