Hopefully he can learn a few things from Sterling and get back to his summer 2020 form. If he he finds ways to score and/or assist he’s going to play. The onus is on him to produce. He will have opportunities.
Sterling could be an influence .. CP will may well be running into dead ends and scuffing his shots .. Seriously Pulisic is an supremely talented player with technique Sterling can only dream about .. just in the wrong team . He’d blossom at Arsenal !!
You could make this case for lockdown Pulisic, but since his FA Cup Arsenal injury, Pulisic hasnt looked the same. Less direct and slower He's become the Jorginho of the attackers...constantly looking to slow things down with a tons of back-passes and sideway passes. Despite losing his starting spot at City, Sterling still managed to produce 15 goals and more assist... More importantly, Sterling already looks much better in the current system than Pulisic ever looked under Tuchel. Let's hope he can flip the switch once the season start but we've seen him play passive a lot last year.
Sterling had 71% of his touches in the attacking third last season. Pulisic had 55% of his touches in the attacking third. They played different positions for different teams. We will see how it plays out this year I guess.
Sterling is not directly competing with Pulisic; he is competing (and won) against Werner. Sterling will score all (or nearly all) those shots Werner fumbled. He should easily become the Chelsea goals leader that Werner should have been. I still think CP's competition for an attacking position is Mount who is not a good attacker, but could be a really great midfield game manager, a real #10 who sets thing up and scores himself. But, that's a big Tuchel decision and he hasn't elected to go that direction.
Agree to disagree, I guess. CP would barely play at City, so that's not the metric that matters in this comparison IMO. They are similar players, but Raheem has the ability to impact the game much more consistently. His performances have won City titles, literally, and over multiple seasons... so if that's not better, I don't really know what we would mean when using the term. We will see who performs this season.
I wouldn't put too much stock on preseason friendlies. Let's see how they perform in real games that matter.
You're fully right, this is preseason, but as someone stated, there's a trend with Pulisic that extends since Tuchel took over and we're not seeing any change or hint that he will have a much better season this upcomin term. I personally was hoping to see his bust of pace being fully back this preseason but it doesnt look like he can count on it any longer.
It's pretty obvious, City would not even be interested in acquiring the CP we've seen over the last 4 years. And in that time Raheem has amassed 142 goals and assists and won every domestic trophy multiple times. Reality speaks for itself in comparisons like this. You want to invent a fantasyland hypothetical -- "who knows what CP would do for City/Pep??" -- you are free to, if it makes you feel better. But clubs on the level of City, which are consistently at the absolute height of the modern game and have arguably the deepest attack in Europe over this time period, aren't interested in getting CP on their books. We don't need a crystal ball to make these kinds of statements.
Pulisic will be 24 in 6 weeks and has lost open field speed since his teens and many injuries - and his quickness is often neutralized now that he is a known player that has been extensively scouted and fouled! He never was considered a clever or sharp passer - and he has never had much power in his shot. He can’t consistently deliver good crosses - so he isn’t valuable as a corner kick or free kick taker. He doesn’t press super hard or with high energy - he basically does what looks like the minimum defensive work of what you’d expect from a top 6 club player in todays modern game. He still gets routinely knocked off the ball like he’s 16 despite having been a pro now for 8 years. Lastly, he has only scored more than 8 goals in one season! That was the 2019/2020 season when he scored 11 goals in all club competition (9 in PL, 1 in Open, and 1 in CL) He just doesn’t fit Tuchel’s system or players and he hasn’t shown (even at Dortmund before the move) that he’s really a top top top player (ie consistently great). He doesn’t look super confident taking players on despite what he says in the press - and even for the USMNT in CONCACAF he struggled to beat players, find his role, and to consistently contribute more than free kicks/restarts. So now what? I think he needs to realize he’s not going to play his way into the Chelsea first team and Tuchel’s heart (they have moved on - RS acquired - and Pulisic is back to the off the bench late game sub that was Tuchel’s initial view) - he has had numerous chances to cement his spot or show people what he’s about. He has missed making key plays in important moments that make top players’ reputations. he needs to move to a new team - be plugged into a new system by a new coach who values him and sees a path for his growth. Tuchels has no time for teaching or growing talent - he is there to win titles.
If he doesn't get enough PT in a few weeks, he should push for a loan before the month ends. Can't risk being out of form for the WC. It'll be here sooner than he thinks.
As it stands right now, Pulisic will get decent rotational PT...but things could change if Chelsea brings in another attacker before the window closes. Than of course, Zeyech and Werner are still here...I suspect one of them will remain and compete with CP for playing time. Last year, when CHO was Healthy, he played as much as Pulisic.....So Pulisic is not guaranty to be ahead of them uuless he outperforms there
Should suck up that Chelsea money and leave for free to decide his own fate in a couple years. He'll still be on the young side of things, can sign a contract anywhere that will have him which keeps the doors open at a lot of places, and he'll get minutes in the meantime. Probably not starter minutes, but enough to stay sharp, advance his game, and contribute in terms of production. Unless Chelsea get some signings they look like they very well might land outside the top 4 anyways, if you ask me.
Anyone able to shed some light on Havertz? I’ve watched him a considerable amount, and I simply don’t get it. I view him as the primary competitor to Pulisic for playing time. I like Pulisic, but I’m not in the camp who believes he has done anything to earn a starting spot with Chelsea. IMO Pulisic has the pace and ingenuity to offer an attacking threat. I don’t see any of that from Havertz. I don’t want to come off like I’m attacking the guy, I just don’t see anything that he brings to the table..
He's in the 90th percentile among European forwards in per90 touches in pen area, progressive passes, & progressive carries. He's in or above 80th percentile when it comes to pressures, tackles, shot creating actions, and non-penalty xG. He had a goal or assist every 177 minutes last season in the prem & CL. That gets better if you include domestic cups. So what he does is be a versatile attacker who will effectively press & tackle, not turn the ball over with bad passing, threaten to beat his man, and also provides a decent goal return per90. Doesn't mean he's crushing it... but on the whole I think he does enough to get minutes through the middle, especially considering his direct competition at Chelsea, who have all disappointed or been sold at this point. Don't think this is true -- pretty sure Havertz will be at forward or playing through the middle perhaps as CF, which is where most of his minutes came last year, Think it more likely that CP will be on a wing somewhere. I think Raheem is much more direct competition for CP for minutes.
Poor guy is played out of position more than Pulisic. He is not a CF but has to continue playing there because no one else (Lukaku, Werner, and to an extent Tammy) has produced in the position. He is basically everything that I hope Gio Reyna to be. He is best as a CAM or right sided attacking mid who will give you almost 25+ goal contributions every year. I think him and CP10 complement each other very well supporting a CF. Wish it would have worked out with Lukaku, oh well.
Rep for actually bringing some stats to this "conversation". Some very positive numbers there. Everyone wants him to get back to that form he had before the Arsenal/Cup hammy. But it is a process... and there are very few attackers that consistently score/assist at the highest level. I think CP is learning to play in a way that will increase his longevity. I do think his pace has diminished a bit but I think he takes fewer chances now primarily because he was being hacked down so often. I would prefer that he was with a team that viewed him as a center piece of their attack but if you are going to rotate in and out then Chelsea isn't a bad team to do it in because their schedule is so congested.