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Three big questions: Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic and going again

By Travis Tyler

WATFORD, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 02: Christian Pulisic of Chelsea celebrates with teammate Tammy Abraham after scoring his team's second goal during the Premier League match between Watford FC and Chelsea FC at Vicarage Road on November 02, 2019 in Watford, United Kingdom. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
WATFORD, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 02: Christian Pulisic of Chelsea celebrates with teammate Tammy Abraham after scoring his team's second goal during the Premier League match between Watford FC and Chelsea FC at Vicarage Road on November 02, 2019 in Watford, United Kingdom. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images) /
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LONDON, ENGLAND – JULY 07: Christian Pulisic of Chelsea celebrates with teammates after scoring his team’s second goal during the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Chelsea FC at Selhurst Park on July 07, 2020 in London, England. Football Stadiums around Europe remain empty due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in all fixtures being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Justin Tallis/Pool via Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – JULY 07: Christian Pulisic of Chelsea celebrates with teammates after scoring his team’s second goal during the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Chelsea FC at Selhurst Park on July 07, 2020 in London, England. Football Stadiums around Europe remain empty due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in all fixtures being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Justin Tallis/Pool via Getty Images) /

2. Will he continue improving at his current rate?

When Pulisic joined, there was understandable hesitation from many fans about what he could add to Chelsea. Stylistically and statistically, he shared a lot with Willian. He would work hard off the ball and look to dribble his way out of problems on it, but goals and assists just were not in his game.

Lampard has to be credited with developing Pulisic into more than that. He began to play Pulisic on the left side instead of the right and asked him to drive towards goal more directly and take shots in the box. In effect, Pulisic became an inside forward and in some passages of play it could be argued that he acted more like a second striker than a winger.

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This directness paid dividends for Pulisic, Lampard, and Chelsea. Adding Olivier Giroud into the mix gave Pulisic a strong reference point to play off of and that further improved the American. It is no coincidence that Pulisic’s best season as a professional came this season.

All that being said, one does have to wonder if he can keep it up. It is already hard enough to match a best season, let alone build upon it. Pulisic has time on his side and Lampard is continuously making adjustments that suit the American, so next season even more will be expected of Pulisic.

He already ended the seasons with comparisons to Eden Hazard instead of the comparisons to Willian he started with. And if that was his first Premier League season, his second should be something to witness.

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