He played decent in the second half. But 8.5? Dayum. He’s being rated on that “Chelsea Academy product” curve. If Puli was a Chelsea academy product, he’d get a 9 every match haha.
FWIW... He's not from our academy. He was brought in from Rangers. He's one of Scotland's best young prospects and will probably be a big player for us as well if he keeps developing, hopefully taking over the Kante role as he can break up play and usually maintains possession unless he's fouled... The bit at 20 seconds is Roy Keane talking about him and I think most people would recognise he knows a bit about the position. He can also pick out a pass as well... So, yeah, he's still young and he needs to develop more but he's a very good player.
Agree with all that. He has a very bright future if he continues to developed. But he was nowhere near an 8.5 that match. I thought he was Chelsea's second worse player, to be honest.
Not sure why folks were saying Pulisic faded in the last 20 minutes. He made great runs in the 70th, 83rd and 90th minute. He can go the distance and keep pestering defenses over the full 90. He looked OK overall. As others have notes, too many easy givaways.
Listen, I think he is very good, and expect him to grow into a great player. I thought he was out of his depth in the first half, but he grew into his role today. Nothing but respect. But not sure 8.5 is accurate, if we are looking at the entire game performance
Maybe u should reread my post before wasting time replying thus wasting my own time having to respond to straw man argument. My premise was made based on CP interview complaining about having to prove himself again and again, there "could" have been some tension building up already between the 2. His coach also stated how angry CP was at him after he told him he wasn't gonna start the champion league match.. This is my last post on this particulat subject.. stop replying to my post and go throw a fit at Pulisic on twitter...I'm done with this subject...Move on.
Rather than make a post from scratch, I'm going to build on this one. Not for the first (or second) time, on the sequence that led to the winning goal, Werner was allowed to slip free on the right side because LaPorte was keying on CP (you can call that a CP homer hot take if you want to, but look at the play in slow-mo first). CP may have not had his best game today. But he belonged. He played out of position and had to track back quite a bit more than usual. One thing about that second Chelsea goal: people have been saying that both Mount and Kante are indispensable. Neither was on the field for that game-winning sequence. I know that DeBruyne and Mahrez weren't playing. But it seems that Chelsea can be formidable without any one or two people in the lineup. I think that their single most important player has probably been Kovacic over the last two seasons. But they have done fine without him.
Tuchel said he turned his anger into positive energy to help the team. He never said he was angry at himself. One can be angry at the outcome of a decision and not the person who made it or even the decision itself. Stop making crap up when you respond, thus wasting my time.
I didn’t think he was an 8.5 either but grew into the game and his passing stood out in the second half. I don’t know what Azpilacueta had for a rating but he stood out to me as Chelsea’s best player for the match. I can recall several times he thwarted attacking moves from much quicker players, like Sterling. Not to mention the assist on the first goal.
a) Yes, of course Pulisic belongs at this level, no reason to keep asking ourselves that question. It betrays a lack of confidence, understandable but come on... b) Yes, he drew players away from the other attackers. But there's nothing extraordinary about that. Every player is drawing at least some other player away from the others. It's the nature of a team sport. Being honest. I don't think it was a particularly good game. Which is ok. Even the best players with more seasons of experience have bad days. In fact, the best teams always have some guys who have one good game, one bad one, and three meh ones every month. You don't have to be elite all the time to play for elite clubs.
You make no sense at all...I should have known better..lol He's mad at the decision to bench him but not mad at the coach who ultimately made the final decision to bench him?. Bro, let it go and go argue with yourself..Please!..Not interested in your weird bobbling that make absolutely no sense.
Well, to be clear, I don't think he should be rated at 8.5 for yesterdays game either so I agree there. I thought he did well against a very good midfield yesterday alongside Kante. I was simply correcting the statement that he's an academy product and the impression given that's why he's playing. As to whether he'll amount to anything in the long run... who the hell knows.
It's possible, yes. He knows coaches have tough decisions to make. But I guess it's easier to extrapolate that they hate each other because a hug didn't happen.
Here we go again with that lame strawman argument just to make your point of view look good.......When did I said they "hate each other" exactly? All I said is, there might be some tension between the 2 after Pulisic complained about having to prove himself repeatedly....Why would Pulisic bring this up after such a huge win?? Have you ever wondered that genius???? I noticed you keep ignoring CP interview complaints as if it never happened where everyone agreed he went much further than most players who gets mad after getting benched.. Stop creating lame strawman arguments. Here's the definition of a strawman argument..It perfectly fit your lame argument with me. A straw man argument misrepresents what a person is saying so it's easy to attack. A straw man (sometimes written as strawman) is a form of argument and an informal fallacy of having the impression of refuting an argument, whereas the real subject of the argument was not addressed or refuted, but instead replaced with a false one. One who engages in this fallacy is said to be "attacking a straw man".
Chelsea has some incredible depth, which as others have stated, really help them down the stretch at the end of the season being in 3 competitions and succeeding in all 3. You can take out any of several "must have" players and the shoes are filled with folks that are pretty much just as capable (e.g., like against MC yesterday, against RM in the 2nd leg semi). Tuchel has done a good job managing these highly competitive folks and keeping them motivated, even when they don't start. They have been extremely successful under Tuchel and it is the same crew that Lampard had earlier in the year (albeit there were some injuries). The fact that Pulisic directly in the mix and starting more often than not is awesome!! Honestly, at this point it shouldn't be much of a surprise. Maybe he follows these boards and when he said he has to keep proving himself over and over again he was talking at us!
After yesterday’s victory, Chelsea has now beat Man City twice in a row. What do we think about their chances of making it three in a row assuming no additional major injuries to either side between now and May 29th? I tend to think the loser of two in a row comes in to the match with more motivation and that it gets increasingly difficult to beat a team in subsequent matches. However, I have nothing to back that up. Thoughts?
I worry about this as well. Obviously Chelsea won’t let their guard down but Man City must be pissed, and they have a winning mentality(ala Bayern) that could be the difference in a final.
So Steve Nichol said that players have always had to prove themselves game after game. Not true with Chelsea. Both Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber (Havertz and Werner) haven't had to prove squat to get automatic starts. Meanwhile, Pulisic has to score or assist coming off the bench with 20 minutes to play to impress. And he has done that very well. And he still doesn't earn starts. That would frustrate the hell out of me.
Again, he is being penalized for his success. He comes in with 20 minutes to play and creates all sorts of havoc for the defense. Then, genius coach says, "Look what a great substitution I made!" So, by doing well, CP cements his status as a "super sub." Do you think that Werner or Havertz could make that kind of impact in that limited time span? No, they can't so let's start them and give them more time to make an impact. Then, we can also check the box for management that we are utilizing our most valuable assets.
You can't argue with Tuchel's results. But you have to feel for Pulisic and understand why he is frustrated.
I doubt Pulisic will ever accept being used as a super sub in big matches on a regular basis....I believe he'll push for a move as soon as this summer if Tuchel insisted on it....
Havertz isn't an automatic starter. CP has earned starts (he started the first leg against RM if you need a big game example). Timo does seem to be an auto starter.
There is a good chance Pulisic will not start both FA Cup and CL finals. If his form in the PL matches stays good and he does not get starts in the big finals, he should push for a move. Tuchel is going have to change formations to get Mount, Werner, Havertz and Pulisic in the same starting lineup. Won't happen this season and may never happen.
Fully agree....but CP will need to keep his current form going ahead of these match finals...If not, Tuchel will feel justified to use him as super sub. I thought he was average yesterday and looked tired, so we'll see if he gets the start for the FA CUP final in 3 days..Wouldn't be surprise if Harvertz/Zeyech start ahead of him since both scored in their last match.....Mount is a lock starter as the third attacker.