Christian Pulisic is starting to draw more comparisons to another American superstar athlete, one that was heralded as The Next Big Thing at a very young age. Like Detroit Pistons point guard Derrick Rose, Pulisic is extremely talented, but also very injury prone.
And a big reason that both of these stars are so injury prone is the aggressive, attacking style in which they approach their game. The desire and ambition is always there, and they can’t turn it off. Both love to go all out, play in an explosive manner and head right into the thick of the action whenever possible.
Pulisic scored nine goals and registered four assists in 19 Premier League starts in the 19/20 season. Those are extremely efficient numbers, especially when you consider the time missed due to injury and the period required to adapt to the new league and nation. While he’s been injury prone, both at Borussia Dortmund and at Chelsea, he’s also shown an ability to convalesce quickly.
Now, with this first adjustment year under his belt, look for his star to shoot up, rapidly; provided he stays healthy.”
He has yet to feature in the young season, and manager Frank Lampard has said that he won’t be available tomorrow at West Brom either.
Pulisic is back in full training, having recovered from the hamstring injury he suffered in the FA Cup final loss to Arsenal on Aug 1.
However, he is still not match fit.
Chelsea FC at West Bromwich Albion FYIs
Kickoff: 5:30 pm BST Saturday Sept 26, The Hawthorns
Chelsea Team News: go here
Chelsea FC starting XI Prediction: go here
Odds: West Brom win (+750), Chelsea win (-280), the draw (+400)
One thing that Lampard did say however is that the club is working on a special training program for the American who just turned 22 a few days ago. They’re looking to not “overcook” Pulisic, and to get the most out of all the quality he brings, while at the same time also not overtaxing him.
“There is always a concern about players’ fitness when the history says there has been some injuries and last season we did have it with Christian,” Lampard said at his news conference earlier today.
“I was questioned many times on my position on Christian when he did play and didn’t play.
“Of course, when you look at a player with his recent record, you are trying to find the right way, the right balance of getting the best out of him which we saw in big periods last year and making sure you don’t overcook him and leave him susceptible to injury, particularly a player of his explosive pace and balance. That’s a fine line.
“We are working on that and Christian is also very open to that. He wants to play, he is so hungry to play and he is very nearly fit now but it is certainly something we will have to manage with him this season because we have all seen the talent and it is something we want to get right.”
Lampard is absolutely right, he’s going to get criticized no matter what he does when it comes to the handling of Chelsea’s $73 million asset, the young man that many believe will replace Eden Hazard. The good news is that Pulisic’s injuries are not chronic.
“I am not saying it is a fundamental chronic issue, it’s not,” Lampard continued.
“But we want to get as many minutes of the really great Christian we saw lots of last season on the pitch.”
Lampard also revealed that Pulisic is a week or two from making his debut this season.
“Christian isn’t ready for the squad tomorrow — nor is Hakim Ziyech — but they are both training with us now which is good news and we hope to have them with us in proper match contention over the next week or two,” he added.
Going back to his days with BVB, Pulisic’s time at the Bundesliga side was marred, to some extent by injury. We talked about with Dortmund club legend Patrick Owomoyela, around the same time that the American was joining up with his new club.
“Overall, he’s a fantastic player and a fantastic talent, still, so there’s more to come I’m pretty sure,” Owomoyela told us in an exclusive interview.
“He had a little dip in form the last year with us, some struggles, but there was so much weight put on his young soldiers at a very young age, not just from our side, but from the U.S. side as well- that’s not unusual that you would see an outcome like that.”
“But with new things going on in London, with Chelsea, perhaps he reaches the next step in his career. He’s good enough to fill up the gap left by Eden Hazard leaving for Madrid.”
“I’m quite sure he’s going to perform well in the Premier League.”
Prediction: Chelsea FC 3, West Bromwich Albion 1
Taking on a side that sits dead last in the table, with a 2-7 goal differential on the very young season, and Chelsea should cruise.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.