Christian Pulisic makes honest Tuchel admission in his book
Christian Pulisic has lifted the lid on an incident involving recently axed Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel, claiming that he was misinformed before the Champions League semi-final second leg against Real Madrid in 2021-22.
Following a well-taken goal decorated by immense composure and neat dribbling in the first leg, Pulisic was assured of a place in the starting XI for the forthcoming fixture against Los Blancos.
However, he would only go on to add an assist to his outstanding performance off the bench. Tuchel preferred his compatriot Kai Havertz instead.
Chelsea progressed to the final and eventually emerged as champions of Europe, but Pulisic was left gutted with his boss’ decision.
Pulisic has only managed 155 minutes in the Premier League this season, with his only start coming in what was Tuchel’s final league game in charge.
Various reports from the summer indicated Pulisic wanted a loan move away from Stamford Bridge but wasn’t allowed to leave. He’s often cut a frustrated figure, and this new book of his titled, ‘Christian Pulisic: My Journey So Far’, highlights the fractured relationship between himself and the coach that handed him his professional debut.
In an excerpt, he wrote:
“What happened before that game was hugely disappointing for me. l’d had a really good first leg performance and our following match was against Fulham in the league. Tuchel told me that he was resting me for the second leg and as a result I didn’t play a single minute in the Fulham game.”
He added:
“Then on match day of the second semi, Tuchel tells me he’s changed his mind and he’s going with Kai [Havertz]. I honestly was dumbfounded and very disappointed. I thought that I’d earned a start and, most importantly, he had assured me previously I was going to start. So, by the time he brought me on with about 25 minutes left, I was just so wound up.”
Pulisic is evidently not having his best time at Chelsea. Graham Potter’s open-minded approach could work in his favour because the talent is clearly there, it just needs to be nurtured.
What could make a difference is the timing of this book, given all the change transpiring at Chelsea. Was it really wise to come out now? Will it affect his relationship with Potter as well going forward? Only time will tell.
As of now, Pulisic is with his national side and will return hoping to make a start when Chelsea travel to South London to face-off against Crystal Palace.
-Roy Akarshak
Twitter: @RoyAkarshak
Photo: Kirill Venediktov. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.