Lampard Explains Pulisic Absence For Third Game In A Row

 

Christian Pulisic

Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has explained that his continued omission of Christian Pulisic is simply down to other players being preferred at the moment.

Pulisic has now been an unused substitute in three straight games for the Blues, even after he left U.S. national team duty early to rejoin his team-mates in London this month. 

The 21-year-old was Chelsea’s lone new addition this summer, having signed for €64 million (£58m/$73m) from Borussia Dortmund in January and played the second half of last season on loan with the Bundesliga side. 

Despite Chelsea’s inability to sign new players due to a transfer ban, Pulisic has recently fallen behind options already on the roster such as Mason Mount, Willian and Pedro. 

Following Chelsea’s 2-1 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday, though, Lampard insisted that the USMNT star would get his chances at Stamford Bridge. 

“I have a squad to pick from, he played before that in a few games,” Lampard said of Pulisic.

“Willian has come back and looked sharp and good. I decided to go with Mason today. We needed to stay strong and play Mason high up the pitch. That’s my choices to make.

“[Pulisic] will get ample opportunities. He is a young player as well. Everyone talks about Mason, Tammy [Abraham] and Fikayo [Tomori] but he is young and younger than some of them so his chances will come.”

It has been suggested that Pulisic is struggling to adjust to his new surroundings in London and the Premier League, but Lampard has denied those claims.

“It is not the case [that he hasn’t settled in],” Lampard said. “There’s Pedro, Ross Barkley and [Michy] Batshuayi on the bench.

“[Batshuayi] deserves more minutes from the way he is training, those are unfortunate choices I have to make.”

Overall, Pulisic has tallied one assist in four Premier League appearances this season, three of which have been starts. 

However, the winger has not played at all for Chelsea since a 2-2 draw against Sheffield United on August 31.

That could change on Wednesday, however, as the Blues welcome League Two side Grimsby Town to Stamford Bridge in a Carabao Cup fixture.