Chelsea: Christian Pulisic should take inspiration from Willian’s early days

Christian Pulisic is frustrated with his perceived lack of minutes at Chelsea. He should look no further than Willian’s early days for inspiration.

Christian Pulisic is very frustrated with the start to his Chelsea career and he seems to know Americans (and plenty of Chelsea fans) are as well as he spoke exclusively to NBC Sports. Mind, the frustrations are less about the fact that he has started or appeared in over half of Chelsea’s competitive games this season and more about the fact that most of those minutes came before the international break. He had his audition, whether he knew it or not, and it did not go well enough.

But Pulisic does not need to be disappointed and neither should those begging for his appearances. Frank Lampard has been very clear that training is the main vehicle he uses to pick his players and when they play they have to show it was the right pick. Pulisic has to outwork the other wingers off the pitch and then he can show he can do the same on the pitch. There will be no handouts because of his price tag; he has to fight for every inch.

If Pulisic is looking for an example to follow, he needs to look no further than the player currently keeping him out of the side. Willian knows plenty about early frustrations at Chelsea and even frustrations down the line. And while he may not have made the best decisions on the latter, the parallels with Pulisic on the former are numerous.

Both players were at Champions League clubs for several seasons when they made the move to Chelsea. In the year before Willian joined Chelsea, he had four goals in the group stage and three assists. Two of those goals came against Chelsea. That earned Willian a transfer to the Blues side, over several other Premier League clubs (just like Pulisic) as a new yet familiar manager was looking to make his way at Stamford Bridge.

This is where things begin to diverge between Pulisic and Willian in a way that should make the American feel more comfortable about his playing time. By 1 October this year, Pulisic will be on 441 minutes played across five starts and six appearances in a total of 10 games played by the club. Willian on 1 October 2013? Two starts for a total of 157 minutes. To even find Willian’s fifth start, one would have to go all the way into November of that season.

Now it should be mentioned that Willian’s season did start in the middle of the summer in Ukraine before his transfer. That is not much different than Pulisic’s Gold Cup adventures going deep into preseason. Athlete’s bodies are fine things but it is entirely possible that fitness is currently an issue for the American compared to the rest of the squad.

Willian did not even truly break into the Chelsea side until roughly Boxing Day, and from then on he was a near constant fixture for Jose Mourinho’s side. That may not be what Pulisic or fans want to hear, but a failure to launch right away is not a sign of a failed transfer any more than a quick launch is (see Alvaro Morata).

Pulisic has had chances and will have chances again. He must take them when they come. Willian may be his roadblock now, but he should also be his inspiration. A slow start is not the end of a career or the sign of a bad decision. It is a challenge to get to work. Willian did in 2013/2014 and has been a major player for Chelsea ever since. Pulisic much take inspiration from that and do the same while leaving his frustrations aside.