Yes, really. Playing through pain is why a lot of ex-NFL players can barely walk. It is in the business interests of the NFL to have players play through pain, but it is not in the best interest of the player.
It's not in the best interest of the player after they retire. It is usually in their best interests in their careers. I like where we've come in this discussion tho, just two weeks ago a bunch of us were being told we were idiots for thinking he's the glass man and has a low pain tolerance.
Because it's ridiculous. Nobody is going to apologize to you for ridiculing a ridiculous statement. They'll just start adding you to ignore lists.
Holy hell. Is no place safe from this? You absolutely have to be tough to rehab sports injuries. You have to be tough to be a professional athlete. While you don't have to be Jack Youngblood to be tough, it's dumb as hell to write what you just did. I have coached elite female basketball players and they are all tough as hell. One of my former players has played through pain since she was a junior in high school and she just won a WNBA title. She's tough as hell and she is feminine. So yeah, I think we can have a discussion about toughness without it being about whatever the heck it is that you think it is.
Chelsea caved and sent a player to UEFA WCQs who was literally internationally retired before... so yeah, Chelsea have no power to deny a FIFA international date for one of their players. The only thing that could prevent this would be if he was actually still in some stage of injury recovery. No question. And even if he's healthy and not playing all the time, he'll be wanting the minutes all the more surely. Chelsea don't have any power to prevent him from leaving in this situation. In this example you're talking about, he's not technically "healthy", or fit to play. But if he is in full training with no pain, he's going to go. That's all.
I'm sorry, I thought it was obvious that I'm presuming Berhalter calls him up, and CP is training without pain and wants to play. Tuchel has literally nothing to do with it... unless he can convince Berhalter not to call him up for the sake of CP's injury history. But again that kind of presupposes that he's not really fit. And that's the only realistic way that he doesn't go for a WCQ, if all involved come to some agreement that he's not quite fit to play. Or I guess if he doesn't want to play? Which seems unlikely. Other than that, Chelsea and Tuchel have zero power over this decision; as I said, France previously called up a Chelsea player who was retired from international play, and in that staring contest Chelsea blinked first. He went, and played.
Yes, you are speaking of Makele and Domenech "Magne" We know six things for sure: 1. Pulisic wants to play in the Mexico match 2. Chelsea wants Pulisic back fit and to start playing matches with the team 3. Pulisic last played for Chelsea on August 14th, over 2 months ago 4. Tuchel will not be happy about Pulisic going on international duty right now 5. e^(i * PI) = -1 6. Keira Knightley is delicious The rest is speculation.
The thing is if Pulisic is healthy Chelsea has no power to block Pulisic from going. There is absolutely zero evidence they would try to or that Pulisic would decide not to go. Anything else is baseless speculation without any source behind it.
I think you have it completely opposite. He tried to play through 2 injuries on the field- both times in the heat of battle- and wound up making it worse. (perhaps significantly worse in both cases). In both cases that hurt like hell for Christian. That happened because he is too tough for his own good, not because he isn't tough enough. He made a big mistake (both times) in pushing it when he body was saying 'stop'. When you get into longer rehab period (vs. game day action), an athlete becomes more rational in listening to their body and advisers (including medical). An athlete no longer has the in-game adrenalin and 'heat of battle' to fool you into thinking you are Superman. Also, the longer you have pain (weeks versus days), you better be damn careful lest you create a long-term situation out of a short or medium term one. Credit to Tuchel for defending Christian very rational and with support. Tuchel is growing on me as a coach who cares for his players. He had some very rational comments about Lukaku being over-worked as well. Tuchel is not the stiff robot he often appears to be. It is as if he is taking weekend courses from Ancelotti haha
Many years ago I worked with an NBA team and interacted with some former players who played in the 80s. Some had sales jobs, others were ambassadors. The one thing that stuck out was how badly some of them limped. Especially if they were physical players. That said, I'd rather Pulisic take his time myself personally.
I doubt he'll be there for the November games. Injured/not injured is not as clear cut as you think. Professional players learn to live with a certain amount of pain. It's pretty much the way it is. Some injuries never heal up completely, and you're left with some limitations. I went through two very bad ankle injuries, and since then (it's been over 30 years) I know I cannot flex my foot a certain way without pain. It's just the way it is. But you learn to live with it, and to not move the way it hurts. The point here is that your club can use your chronic pain to mark you as "out of commission" at will. If they don't want you to go on an international, they can tell you to move your foot so that it hurts and then report on the pain. You're injured, and you're not lying. It does hurt. So you can't go. If your club has plans for you and such plans demand that you be rested, able to run, and only needing to improve match form (which can be done in a couple of weeks of pre-season training), then they can tell you that too. Move your foot that way. It hurts? Yes? Ok, you're out until the window.
I mean the test for that though is if he’s playing games or not. Like if he’s playing for Chelsea, he’s going to be playing for the US. Pulisic also does have some agency here. The club isn’t going to force him to stay behind against his will if he’s able to play. It also doesn’t work to say he’s injured if Pulisic turns around and says that he’s actually not.
Of course. Things are arranged first and foremost with the player. And doesn't have to be a brutish "do as we say or else..." It can be cordial. "We don't have enough plans for you going ahead, but we can secure a great loan for you. However, the other club demands that you don't be injured, so we need you to stay. Now, move your foot that way... does it hurt? Yes? You cannot go." And of course he's not playing for Chelsea. So not playing for Chelsea and with pain, he cannot come. It's not that hard. You just need for him to see things your way, after all it's just one window and if he secures a good loan he can be in tip top shape for his beloved national team for the next ones. Not that I think this is going to happen with Pulisic. It may happen, but I doubt it. I'm just using this as an example. Basically, so far a player is not playing for his club for whatever reason (they don't need him right away and he'd just spend the whole game on the bench, or they have plans to loan/sell him, or maybe they're indeed concerned about the pain he experiences when moving a certain way and want to make sure it's minimized), he cannot be forced to play for his country. There is no way for FIFA, or anyone for that matter, to know how much something hurts.
I mean if and when he’s healthy he’s not just going to be sitting around. He’ll be in training with the team and playing games. Maybe not starting right away but it’s not as if Chelsea can’t use him. And the standard for denying a call up isn’t about whether the player is in pain, it’s about whether the player is injured. And if Chelsea says he’s injured and it’s not on the level, than the national team has the right to an independent medical evaluation as to whether or not he’s actually injured. Which isn’t going to come down whether something hurts or not. Pulisic is hardly the first player to be in such a situation.
So, one ankle injury later and Tuchel is going to go from "we hope he gets some minutes under his belt during national team duty" to "I'm going to freeze him out of the squad and make him train alone forever if he goes on national team duty?" I don't see it. Does Tuchel like that his players go on international duty? Of course not. But does he see Pulisic going on duty any differently than he does anyone else? Not likely. Again, it will all come down to fitness. And it sounds like Pulisic is the one determining fitness at this point.
Maybe not chronic but just Tuchel reminding us that these days a player starts training before sprains are fully healed because they say it heals better that way. I'm not a doctor - is that still a thing?
My guess is all or most Chelsea players go on national duty. There is risk for everyone of their national duty players… there is nothing special with CPs case. part of the reason Chelsea bought CP is because he goes on national duty. It brings more value to the club to have big name national players. Chelsea and other big clubs are accustomed to this risk… they plan for this risk by having deep rosters with multiple high quality internationals.
Well….they could always bench him after the fact. Which is another stupid argument people make when they try to pretend clubs actually have a voice in this conversation. “We don’t want you to go because you risk not being available for us….so if you go we’re gonna make it so you’re not available to us..”
I mean presumably there’s also value for Chelsea in having the most high profile USMNT player. The EPL is looking at getting $3 billion in TV money from the US in their next contract and they very much view it is a growth market.
The club has a voice. They may not have the final say but they have a voice. They are also in communication with the National team. They could advise Berhalter that they think Pulisic is rushing back and not 100% healthy and that it is not in his best interest to play in November. It is not as black and white as people are making it out to be here. Pulisic's injury status is not black and white either. It never is with him. Do you really think it will be a case of "Yeah, he's 100% now. Completely healed. His ankle is stronger than it was before." A final thing is that his fitness could very well be in question also. And why that might not be something that is negotiated, it will certainly to consider on both sides. And both sides will advise the other.
This quote was from an article today, if true; it is mind blowing. . The 23-year-old has been injured for an astonishing 335 days since joining Chelsea in the summer of 2019. He’s missed a total of 38 games, which may not seem like a lot until one realizes that he’s been sidelined for an entire Premier League season