Christian Pulisic just can't catch a break.
The Chelsea winger has been battling injuries all season, and although none of them have been too serious, they've been frequent enough to stop him from building any momentum on the pitch, and that rustiness has shown in his performances.
In his 30 appearances for the club this season, the man who totally wasn't the heir to Eden Hazard's throne at Stamford Bridge has managed a paltry return of three goals and two assists. He hasn't played well enough to get a shot in the first team even if he could stay healthy.
With things going downhill for Pulisic, there have been plenty of rumours suggesting the American could be shipped out this summer, with Chelsea alleged to be growing tired of his fitness struggles, but manager Thomas Tuchel has swiftly put such rumours to bed.
"Fitness is always important especially for Christian because he has this huge physical impact for us in the amount of sprints and the amount of intensity he can give to a team at then highest level," Tuchel said (via ESPN).
"This is one of his biggest strengths. The other thing is that he need to feel confident and to feel calm, mentally, and then he can be a huge weapon for us. He scored in the last game against West Brom, unfortunately the overall game and his need to go off the pitch at half-time clouded the goal and the impact he could have had with that goal.
"But now again he was very close to scoring [against Porto], he had a huge impact from the bench. We have to take care about him, that he hopefully will not be re-injured because I feel him stronger and stronger, more and more self-confident.
"He can be a decisive factor in the next game with his speed, his ability to dribble and his ability to arrive in the box in dangerous situations.
"From balls from the side and crosses, he has the feeling to arrive and to score. So hopefully he can have that impact and it is our job to push him there, to calm his mind that he feels the trust and he feels confident."
If anyone knows what a fully fit Pulisic can bring to the table, it's Tuchel, who gave the youngster his breakthrough at Borussia Dortmund earlier in his career. He turned Pulisic into a dynamic, goalscoring winger and will have watched his progress with a keen eye.
That means he will have seen Pulisic doing his best impression of Pele in the post-lockdown months of last season.
When Pulisic was happy, healthy and, above all, confident, he plundered four goals and four assists in nine Premier League games, almost single-handedly dragging Frank Lampard's stuttering side into the Champions League.
Even with the rest of Chelsea's front line struggling, Pulisic was ready to step up and take the weight of Stamford Bridge on his shoulders, and that's exactly what Tuchel needs this time around.
Timo Werner, Kai Havertz and Hakim Ziyech are all floundering, Olivier Giroud is struggling for minutes and Tammy Abraham is so far out in the cold he might as well start building shelter until he's sold. Chelsea need help in attack.
Pulisic can be the man to provide that help. He just needs his body to let him do it.
Tuchel has already done his best to manage N'Golo Kante's fitness and turn the Frenchman back into the world-class midfielder we all know he is deep down, and Pulisic is his next test subject.
It won't be easy, but Tuchel knows better than most just how great the reward could be. Patience will be rewarded.
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Source: 90min
