Chelsea winger Christian Pulisic finds himself lacking playing time ahead of the World Cup in Qatar with the USMNT. Perhaps a new boss in Graham Potter can help him earn more minutes because he clearly fell out of favor under Thomas Tuchel, who was fired recently. On Tuesday, Pulisic released a book on his footballing journey so far and revealed his disappointed reaction to being benched in the second leg of the 2021 Champions League semifinals vs. Real Madrid after scoring in the first leg.
According to the American, Tuchel promised him a start and then changed his mind last minute, opting to go with Kai Havertz instead. Via ESPN:
“What happened before that game was hugely disappointing for me,” Pulisic wrote in his upcoming book “Christian Pulisic: My Journey So Far,” according to an excerpt published on Tuesday.
“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.
“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.”
Tuchel and Christian Pulisic certainly didn't have a great relationship. To be frank, the Blues are screwing the youngster right now. He had the chance to go on loan and consistently play elsewhere this past summer, but Chelsea wouldn't let him leave. Pulisic is one of the USMNT's most important players and he's now heading into the World Cup with minimal game time.
A brutal situation but at least Tuchel is gone for Pulisic's sake.
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