We’re minutes away from the League Cup clash between Chelsea FC and Manchester City, the headliner of the competition’s third round. But for today’s edition of Chelsea news and notes, focusing on Reece James and Christian Pulisic, we’re going to look ahead to the World Cup, and specifically, the United States and England National Teams.
The USA and UK are in the same World Cup grouping, and they’ll face each other on Friday November 25.
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Reece James was officially left out of the England World Cup squad. More on that over at this link. You just got to feel gutted for the 22-year-old. What a tough blow. Sad.
Moving on to Pulisic, England manager Gareth Southgate said his side has to account for Captain America, when the two sides meet in 16 days time, as he’s a genuine threat.
“I obviously watched him [Pulisic] a fair bit at Dortmund as we had Jadon Sancho there at the time and then moving into Chelsea, I think that adaptation from the Bundesliga to the Premier League isn’t straightforward for a start,” he said in an ESPN interview.
“The level of the biggest games is similar if you’re playing Bayern Munich or [Red Bull] Leipzig, but then when you drop down the league, there’s a big difference between the spending power in the bottom half of the Premier League where they can basically take players from some of the biggest clubs in Europe and the bottom half of most of the other leagues in Europe where that depth isn’t there.”
“So, I think that takes some adjusting to not only the physical nature of our league but the intensity of every match.
“Of course, he’s had two or three coaches to deal with, so I think there’s been moments where he’s looked like he’s on his way, he’s flowing and he’s got a coach that believes in him and he’s had to deal then with setbacks with injury.
“He would probably feel he hasn’t got quite to where he wants to get to yet, I’d imagine, but he’s a very good player and is a player when you’re looking at the opposition team sheet, he’s someone you’ve got to be aware of and got to be ready for.”
Paul M. Banks is the Owner/Manager of The Sports Bank 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 contributed to WGN News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and he co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast. Follow him and the website on Twitter and Instagram.