It's interesting how they just blatantly lie about the player having family issues. No wonder no one believed it when Aubameyang actually did.
The numbers and seasons are in a post above, I compared their senior careers to date & their respective Chelsea careers to date, in CL & respective leagues; CHO has better production relative to minutes. If he plays more this will probably go down, he's still bordering on small sample size with his minutes. But that's the relevant talking point when considering what CHO has "done", as far as I can tell. He can only do what he does, after all. If his numbers drop over the next 12-18 months or so, which in an overall sense I expect them to because of his early production in limited minutes at Chelsea, we can reassess. Not sure how to be less selective than looking at a player's entire career & secondarily all minutes at a single club post-transfer. It's a direct comparison. I'm not going to bat for CHO... he does something better than CP & CP does something better than him, that's true of every footballer comparison ever made. And they've both in ways had their purple patches, & also both been inconsistent too. Most attackers go through this, generally. But the production relative to minutes is what it is... only stated facts in that regard.
Wilshere had a lot of bone issues, which led to some tendon issue I think. He just couldn't stop breaking bones in his legs. Pulisic hasn't had bone or ligament issues, which to me is a huge relief. You can fix muscle problems with proper training & therapy, and do so long term.
Tell that to Daniel Sturridge. Might just be in the genes? Some fast-twitch muscle people are Russell Westbrook... some are... I don't know of a good example. Who had their game somewhat reliant on pace and saw their career sidelined due to muscle injuries? All the ones I'm thinking of had ligaments & joints involved. Apart from Sturridge.
There are loads of players who have had recurring hamstring/muscle issues in all sports and never shake them. Pulisic could very easily be one of those players.
I skimmed this and my brain first thought it said "the excuse was because he was in 'the family way'" and I realized I've read too many bad 19th century novels in my yoof.
Yes you can, but similarly you can see problems with recurrent muscle issues, especially in guys who play a sport requiring massive acceleration and high flat out pace and changes in direction, especially those who thrive in the sport specifically because of his elite ability in that realm. I don't know how you get those completely fixed in season without a complete shut down until healed and also until the size/strength/flexibility in both legs is in balance again through rehab. Troublesome, but the kid has never been one to shy away from hard work so if there is a kid who can overcome it's CP.
Maybe I should say "relatively better". When you have those bone and ligament issues, there's no overcoming that. No amount of yoga, physical therapy or anything like that is getting you past that. It's pure luck. At least with muscle problems you can work strengthening various muscles, stretching, yoga, rest, etc - you have a much better chance of overcoming that. That's not to say Pulisic WILL overcome that, but it's better than having those bone and ligament issues
Michael Owen perhaps. Liverpool ran him into the ground, and while he was there he had a pretty bad hamstring issue which led to him completely being a different player.
Yes, it was both for him. And took root mentally within the player, eventually. Sad to watch his decline, was one of my very favorites. Ballon d'Or. 98 WC. LFC trophies. Shame. It's one enabled by Chelsea. CP will almost certainly be here longer than (or perhaps nearly as long as) Tuchel... who has an 18 month contract, right? There's no way he's going to be playing nice and worrying about feelings, or even the growth of a player, when this is purely a mercenary job for him. That's for Chelsea to worry about. But Tuchel is just advertising his services... all he cares about is demonstrating that he can be win matches. That's got to be motivating everything he's doing.
I can think of a lot more guys who ended up having recurring problems after a major injury that caused a cascading amount of leg/muscle problems because their gait changed or they over/under rehabbed their leg or they lost confidence in their ability to stay healthy.
Loved this! No one sounds like an absolute villain, but nor is Pulisic expected to act like he has no agency. The injuries are a worry....but exactly how many are real? Apparently yesterday's injury worry wasn't true. Goes to show that the club can only use that card so often before it affects the value of their very expensive asset.
We'll see how long this formation holds up. I think if you sub in a healthy Kante for Jorginho you can easily go back to a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 that suits Pulisic well. I don't think keeping Azpi in the game with a 3 man backline is that important. If this formation is designed around Werner and Havertz behind a striker there could be long-term issues for Pulisic. I doubt Chelsea will have a lead this game so hopefully Pulisic can have an impact as a super sub today.
He saved Chelsea’s CL arse last season. Why on earth should he accept a subs role? His agent can start working on offers before the summer.
Word. His cost isn't that high compared to what he showed after the covid break. There should be a significant number of suitors.
I agree. I know there are good, friendly Chelsea supporters/posters out there - like CrawleyBus on this board. But since the Mourinho days, all the way up until now, where I watch them closely, I just see a team with no soul and no traits to root for. but credit to them, they win trophies in their way. but I would like to see CP move on, while hoping his career is still successful and relevant enough to earn minutes for another elite European team