I missed his performances at the WC so seeing it today was eye opening. When he's on there are not many attackers in the world better. I don't think that is in question after he's proven again this spring when he can string together a few healthy months he's dynamite. He's not playing with his head down any more, even when things go wrong. Fun to watch, prove me wrong about health please.
I didn't watch the WH game but everyone was commenting on his howler in the same game. How bad was it?
Rebound a foot off the ground from a moderate angle goalie was out of the picture. So not as bad as the miss for Germany.
Kante has always been a Makelele style defensive specialist so anything he adds offensively is a bonus.
Let's not. Let's just go with what my comment relates to which is CP's current form in comparison to various versions of Hazard. Nothing I said limits his potential in the future.
I just wanted to mention that Pulisic is a big-game player. He scored in Couva when the US needed a goal (let’s not talk about the final result of that WC qualifier), he scored vs City last season to help guide them to top 4, he scored in the 2020 FA Cup final, he scored in the FA cup semi last week (ok, ok, it was technically a hair offside), and he scored today vs Real in a CL semifinal. I laugh hard with the English fans calling him “playoff Pulisic,” cause he shows up in the end of the season in big games with an American playoff mentality haha. It’s sorta true, no? Real Madrid will not give him much time on the ball next week, he’ll definitely be discussed in their planning. But if he can help carry CFC to a CL title somehow, I think we can all die happy as Yank Abroad fans
Again, he should have got it on target which is the point. If a forward gets a decent strike on target, what happens then is often up to the defenders and keeper. That's been his issue... But he took his goal well enough in that game and he also helped create it... As long as strikers keep getting into a position to score and getting a shot away on target fans won't complain. TBH that was the point about CP's goal. Even if the defender DID happen to be exactly in the right place, it would still have been a tremendous piece of play. If you notice CP got a decent shot away at the beginning of the vid but it went straight at the keeper. fans won't mind that because he was in position to do it and took responsibility for trying to score. That's OK Frankly the guys we probably should be feeling sorry for are Tammy Abraham and Olivier Giroud who aren't getting much of a look in atm.
Micah Richards said the same thing after today’s game. He said that he rates CP as one of top players when it comes to big matches. He said that he finds it ridiculous that people slag him when he has a mediocre game against lower teams, but when the games that matter, he always plays like a top player.
CP has been getting a lot better since his role changed... he is spending way more time in the middle of the field and coming back to get touches. It is leading to break aways and opportunities. I always thought he would be best as our #10... just worried that he wouldn't be able to take the hits and play good enough on D. I am seeing strides in both of those categories. One fantastic goal today and a perfect header on a plate to Werner who can't seem to beat a keeper one-v-one. He needs to start aiming high on a lot of these chances because he keeps hitting the ball right at the keeper. At any rate... CP is in form and it is a beautiful thing to behold. You could tell that Madrid had enough of it by minute 30 and just started banging on him as much as possible. How many fouls did he draw in this one? Two yellows and several others. At this point it is clear that he wasn't fully healthy for most of the season and is just now rounding into form. The kid is pretty special. He could literally have 5+ more assist on the season if Werner and Havertz had hit their targets.
Assuming many of us here are Americans, we know exactly what Micah is talking about. As a hockey fan, if a player has an off game (or a bunch of off games) in the regular season, I’m not as harsh on the player compared to the player failing in the “season” which counts - the playoffs. CP’s goal today was well taken because he had it all to do to get a shot on frame. Pulisic had to work for his goal - no sitter that one. (I’m looking at you Werner!) The cherry on top was that Pulisic’s goal was an away goal. ::::::: chef’s kiss :::::::
So for the season, he's at 6 goals, 2 assists in 36 matches and overall, 17 goals, 12 assists in 70 appearances since joining.
damn ... that is pretty low expectations .... how much did the owner pony up for him? kind of like Jim Carey in Dumb and Dumber - when told he has a 1 in a million chance to get the girl to go out on a date with him ..... "so you are telling me I have a chance" .... Is that Werner says to Tuchel next time he gets admonished to bury his chances?
Bad news for Chelsea - Marcelo may have to miss the return leg due to jury duty in Madrid. https://www.elmundo.es/deportes/futbol/champions-league/2021/04/28/608932befc6c83aa518b4597.html
Since this is Yanks Abroad, I'd like maybe to remind some posters whose initials are AB that their piss-colored glasses don't need to dominate the threads here. Chelsea has its own forum.
The celebration was with Hungarian assistant coach Zsolt Lőw who often works with the offensive players.
It's common in many sports for players to have close relationships with assistant coaches. They often work more closely with assistants than they do managers/head coaches.