TBF it does make the obvious point... That’s according to WhoScored, who have him down as losing the ball 3.5 times a game, behind only Wilf Zaha and Emi Bunedia in the whole division. Of course that list of top three tells you everything you need to know. These are all fast tricky wingers taking on full backs. It’s never going to be Gary Cahill at the top of these rankings. It’s just the nature of Pulisic’s position that you’re putting the ball at risk. It just goes to illustrate the point that these sorts of statistics can only provide so much information because they ignore key issues... in this case that even a good player might be expecting to risk losing possession of the ball in that situation.
I know there are some Americans amongst us but can we please stop keep harping on about Pulisic all the bloody time!! Thought we looked better today than we did at home against Sheffield and Leicester, still have occasional 'wobbles' though they seem to be getting shorter in length, Jorghino my man if the match, we should have scored more today.
The Pulisic talk isn’t just about Americans. We spent 70 mill on him. Pedro and Willian have been widely inconsistent. He flashed a very high ceiling in the games he’s played so far. He hasn’t done anything so far to get blanked like he has been. American or not. Yes he needs to adapt to the league but he can’t do that glued to the bench. If Frank doesn’t think he’s a 90 minute player just yet then use him as a sub but use him.
Agreed. Let’s talk about any of other 60mm players we bought this year that we’re weirdly giving zero time to. Of any of the other players we’ve bought in the last two transfer windows that weren’t previously with the club. Absolutely.
I was talking more about the Mount comparison. The criticism of Mount’s game is that he specifically does not make key passes or dribble!
I’d be making the same complaints if Pulisic wasn’t American. He’s a young promising attacking player who has shown that promise. That he’s not starting in lieu of a 30 year old Willian and a 32 year old Pedro is aggravating. That we spent a lot of money on him is what makes it more aggravating.
Pulisic cost us £58 million. IF we had to buy CHO, Mount or Tammy they would be around the same price, if not more considering the English tax. I believe that Pulisic will be given more games as the season progresses and I know that he will do well. It is not even October yet and there will be injuries, dips in form and opportunities. Some points: 1. Willian justified his place in the starting line-up. He scored. 2. Seems like it is Barkley-Kova switch again this season. That is one substitution per game spoken for. 3. Tammy needs to be more clinical. Also, he doesn't seem to be able to last the full 90 mins. He runs out of steam. Batsman or Giroud have to come on [like for like]. That is another substitution spoken for. 4. I have never been a huge Pedro fan. But we do perhaps need some experienced players in the starting XI, especially with Kante and Rudiger out. CHO for Pedro added a lot more direct power to our attacks. 5. Mount was running out of steam today. I was expecting to see Pulisic on for him. But the 3 subs were all used up [see above].
Lies, damned lies and statistics. Speaking of, are WhoScored generally considered reliable? Would love to be able to dig into the opta stats more but only seem to be a few headline stats on the official premier league sites.
Ah, OK! I was simply referring to the issue about losing the ball raised in the article. Not sure I'd agree with the point about Mount as I think he does make some key passes and dribbles. Where did it say that about him? Is that another article on the same site?
I think Pedro playing when Puli isn't is a fair criticism, (although I'm guessing Frank sees them as playing different roles?), but Willian has been pretty decent in the last few games and presumably in training.
I don't know. I only linked to them because somebody else provided the link further up. They have some interesting statistics but I don't know what they're basing their 'ratings' on. I'd like to see their raw data and what they define as someone 'losing possession' which I assume they mean when they'd be expected to maintain possession. Bluntly, this is all why I don't tend to take that sort of stuff very seriously... because sometimes it's in the eye of beholder. It's only ever a guide IMO.
Yeah, fair point. I wondered if Puli would have had a start instead of Pedro if both Kante and Rudiger had played the last few games? As it is we're trying to integrate quite a few new players at the same time. Pedro and Willian have played together a lot over the past couple of years.
I hate to remind everyone that I said all of this two weeks ago. I told everyone pulisic wasn't going to get minutes on this team and when everyone gets healthy he'd be lucky to get in the 18. He glued to the bench right now and midweek you have to add kante/rudiger to the bench 18 so two people have to go. It will likely be pulisic and guehi because they'll move mount to the wing because there just isn't room for him in the midfield even though thats his best position. when rlc comes back...I mean there just isn't a reason to keep pulisic around it doesn't make sense for the club to have a kid that the manager gets asked about after every match and has no intention of playing.
I thought Mount was key for us in this game. He also won us the penalty. Could easily have been a 0-0. The only negative was Barkley. But even that would be easily fixed by a returning Kante or Loftus Cheek. James can fill that Kante role too. The quality of our academy players has been a pleasant surprise. Abraham, Mount, Tomori, Hudson Odoi, Loftus Cheek and James. How many more which we aren't even aware of? It makes me think that a squad made up entirely of our academy players could actually challenge for a mid table finish or even a top 6 in the premier league.
Incidentally, this is exactly the kind of game Mount shines in - he presses very well and links play when we have free flowing possession that doesn’t require him to play the final ball.
Tomori, CHO and RLC are the three I have the most faith in. Mount has put in good shifts, just not sold on him yet. Tammy, despite his goals, has had two games in a row now where he has missed clear 1v1s. Has to do better, simply has to. I love seeing our team create chances for our strikers by playing through a defense, it deserves better end product.
I'm sorry but 'high ceiling' he hasn't actually done that well, not yet. He will get his chances, it's up to him to take that chance when it comes and I'm sure he will, now can we change the bloody record?
TBF it shows he's still making the runs in behind and giving us something different to Giroud by stretching the other teams defence and creating more space for other players, even if he doesn't score. So I agree he needs to do better but, (also, tbf), it's not he hasn't scored. In the past we've had guys who couldn't seem to hit a cow's arse with a banjo. Well, he's not that guy, is he.
So many great talented young players and academy players. In all probability they are not ALL going to make it. BUT what if they ALL did? It has never really happened before - maybe the United era Beckham, Giggs, Scholes, Neville, Butt, etc. It would really be something IF it happened. Some clubs produce the players, but are then forced to sell them on, like Southhampton. Chelsea are under no pressure to sell to the bigger clubs. Billy Gilmour. Looking through Billy Gilmour's eyes [Adverts choon].
Tammy needs to shoot like Hasslebaink and worry less about 'dinking' the ball over the keeper. Play to his strengths. And that part of the game when he was hiding behind the keeper all ready to pounce. That was hilarious. Great attitude.
I still rate Jimmy floyd as the best pure striker of the ball we've had. Goodness, if tammy can get halfway there and know the dimensions of the goal as well as jfh he would be an absolute weapon.
Sorry to bring this up again but I just saw this... https://metro.co.uk/2019/09/29/christian-pulisic-frank-lampard-win-back-chelsea-place-10826634/ Christian Pulisic says Chelsea boss Frank Lampard has told him he must improve in training if he is to win back a place in the starting XI and the American is confident he will rise to the challenge.
So far Wil, Pedro and Pul have all equally started 3 matches, have near the same minutes played, Pul a bit more than Pedro ( yes injuries also a factor) so ridiculously, insanely early to make judgments. Also as Andy mentioned, missing Kante, Rudiger, and Emerson and having 2 fb's who can get burned by speed and caught up field are probably big factors as well and as Supah desperately needed a home win, and when you do, do you go to the new kid that has showed flashes but clearly not made the job his or do you go with two experienced guys that have won 2 League Titles here and Pedro a whole lot elsewhere. Pul will get plenty of chances this season, up to him to make himself the obvious Choice. Lamp was one of the hardest working during, before and after practice players, so pt probably earned more there than with many other managers. (and I think Pul is very hard working so will earn time) And as was said above, if rumors are to be believed, We turned down a similar amount of money to keep Willian, a shi-load to keep CHO, and Pedro not exactly a dollar store bargain rack payer so the money paid not really relevant. I think Pul will likely start a lot of matches this season and probably be first choice next season, if he does his part.