Believe if Christian Pulisic played in his position he would do better, reveals Shaun Wright-Phillips
Former England international Shaun Wright-Phillips believes that Christian Pulisic’s versatility has hurt his ability to improve because he can’t nail down a starting spot at Chelsea. He also added that Pulisic has everything people believe he does but has suffered more than his share of injuries.
While Christian Pulisic thrived in his debut season for Chelsea contributing to 21 goals across all competitions, the forward has struggled to replicate that consistency since then. That has been partly down to the fact that Thomas Tuchel has played him all over the field and partly because the American has suffered more than his fair share of injuries. That, more than anything, has affected Pulisic’s form and place in the team although he has still played his share of games.
Yet in light of that, former Manchester City and Chelsea star Shaun Wright-Philips believes that the USMNT star’s versatility and ability to play across the field has seen him struggle. Not only that, the 40-year-old believes that if Tuchel plays Pulisic in his normal position, as an attacker, there will be a change.
“That tends to be the way of football when you can play a lot of positions, you just do well rather than excellent. I can imagine that if he just played in his normal position, you would see why they bought him in the first place,” Wright-Philips said, reported Goal.
More than anything, Wright-Philips believes that Pulisic’s injuries have affected his place in the Chelsea team especially since the American has missed just under a year of action. However, the former England international added that the 23-year-old has everything and all the tools to thrive again but he needs to find a way to stay fit consistently, in order to make sure Tuchel has no choice but to play him.Â
“I wouldn’t say there is too much competition because I’m a big fan of Pulisic. I love the way he plays, I love how dangerous he looks. The thing he has found tough is staying fit. When he has gone into great form, he will get an injury and then it puts him back a bit, players come in and they are in form and the manager can’t drop them.
"He has got everything that people believed was there, it’s just that every time he has got on that roll and started becoming that Christian Pulisic that everyone wants to see, he breaks down again,” he added.