Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel admits to being ‘a bit unfair’ on Christian Pulisic
United States winger has not started under the German since the coach’s arrival in January
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Your support makes all the difference.Thomas Tuchel has admitted to being “a bit unfair” on Christian Pulisic since joining Chelsea.
The German coach, who previously worked with Pulisic at Borussia Dortmund, has not started the United States winger since arriving at Stamford Bridge at the end of January.
Pulisic, 22, played in Tuchel’s first three games in charge and Chelsea’s last three matches, coming off the bench on each occasion. Between those sets of fixtures, there was a three-game run in which the American was twice left out of Tuchel’s squad and once an unused substitute.
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The winger came on in the 90th minute on Monday as Chelsea recorded a 2-0 Premier League win against Everton, with Tuchel explaining Pulisic’s lack of game time in the post-match press conference.
“Maybe his biggest problem is that I know him from Dortmund and I think he started only in the cup games,” Tuchel said.
“It is my responsibility and it is a bit unfair, but I know what impact he can have in the last 20 or 30 minutes.
“He was a bit unlucky in the last few games. It isn’t a lack of trust or quality, it is just that he will have to be patient.”
Tuchel also acknowledged that other members of his squad have been unfortunate not to get more minutes on the pitch.
“I have another guy who I would love to mention in Emerson [Palmieri], who suffers from bad decisions by me,” the German said.
“He does not play, but he is an amazing guy who trains at the highest level and he never lets the team down with his mentality.
“It was a super hard decision today to have him out of the squad, the same with Tammy [Abraham].
“It is like this, we have a strong group. The guys have to keep on fighting. There’s no other way.”
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