It might be safe to say that Christian Pulisic is not as bad as much of the Chelsea supporter base on Twitter seems to think he is. By the same token, he is also not as good as a lot of United State Men’s National Team fans seemingly believe he is.
Pulisic is just like most extremely talented star players- give him opportunities and he’ll produce. Today he did just that. See below:
Christian Pulisic’s first goal of the season was worth the wait ?
(via @NBCSportsSoccer)pic.twitter.com/2jWj2zjXJY
— B/R Football (@brfootball) October 8, 2022
Getting a rare starting assignment, from manager Graham Potter, Pulisic scored Chelsea’s second goal in a 3-0 rout over relegation fodder Wolverhampton Wanderers. It was also Pulisic’s first goal of the 2022-23 season.
Maybe the comments made by football legend and current television pundit Thierry Henry somehow got back to Captain America?
And thus he responded? Henry was right- Pulisic needs to show what he can do, and he did that.
Then again, the Hershey, PA native has been doing that all along, and maybe it has gone unnoticed?
Take a look at this:
Most non-penalty Premier League goals for Chelsea since Oct. 2019:
20 ? Christian Pulisic
19 ? Mason Mount
14 ? Abraham & Havertz— Paul Carr (@PaulCarr) October 8, 2022
Maybe this leads to Pulisic reaching peak confidence in his fitness and form, and then it leads to a purple patch? USA supporters can only hope so. They will really want to see their team captain at the top of his game as the World Cup approaches.
All that time languishing on the bench was raising a ton of concern.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and he co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast, part of Edge of the Crowd Network. Follow him and the website on Twitter and Instagram.