USMNT and Chelsea star Christian Pulisic has struggled to find playing time in the Premier League of late, having not featured in Chelsea's starting XI since departing for the international break in March. His last EPL start came all the way back on March 5, a 4-0 win against Burnley during which he scored a goal and provided an assist.
Manager Thomas Tuchel was asked about Pulisic's reduction in playing time after the American starlet scored a 90th-minute game-winner against West Ham after coming on late in the game as a substitute. Via NBC Sports, Tuchel admitted that Pulisic hasn't been as sharp since returning from his stint with the USMNT, causing him to lose out on playing time to Timo Werner, who has rediscovered his form in recent weeks.
“[Pulisic] has a period when he was on the run, when he had the confidence and he was heavily involved up front and Timo [Werner] had to wait for many, many weeks. Now things turned around a little bit from the Southampton game,” said Tuchel. “Puli struggled a little but since he came back from international break. Where I think he had three matches and incredible amount of journeys and time zones to cope with. From there he struggled a bit energy wise, that was my impression on and off the pitch.”
In the six matches across all competitions since Pulisic came back from the international break, he's managed to feature in just four games for Chelsea, never exceeding 64 minutes in a match. He was an unused substitute against Crystal Palace and Arsenal before featuring for a quick 12-minute stint against West Ham, when he managed to lift Chelsea to victory with his goal.
Hopefully, that will provide the spark Pulisic needs to claw his way back into Tuchel's starting plans, as the American looks to regain the form he was displaying earlier in the season.
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