Why has Christian Pulisic been underwhelming in a Chelsea shirt?

Christian Pulisic was bought from Borussia Dortmund in the winter of the 2018/19 season. He remained on loan in German until the summer before joining up with the Chelsea squad. Pulisic was regarded as a special talent, coming with even more allure considering he is American. His acquisition also pulled in more American football fans, which was part of the plan. Pulisic’s time at the club, however, has not been rosy. For one, he has had injury problems, often being sidelined due to a number of serious injuries. Thus, for a long time, fans didn’t quite have a correct assessment of Pulisic’s skillset except for what they saw when he was at Dortmund.

This was until the famous Project Restart of the 2019/20 Premier League season, the period after the COVID-19 lockdown. Project Restart saw Pulisic go through what many Chelsea fans remember as “that purple patch” where he scored five goals and registered four assists in nine appearances leading up to Chelsea’s UEFA Champions League qualification. This has been the winger’s most productive period to date. Pulisic has not quite displayed such a hot run of form since then, and the big question (as asked by Twitter user @daveaji) is, why is this the case?

Why has Christian Pulisic been underwhelming during his time at Chelsea?

Injuries, of course, have played their role in his psychological and physical well-being. However, there are several factors that have affected Pulisic’s effectiveness. One important factor is the American’s style of play. If you were to ask 20 Chelsea fans what Pulisic’s style of play is, 15 of them will tell you that Pulisic is a dribbler. If you asked them how good his dribbling was, 10 of them would probably say he’s an elite dribbler. There’s, unfortunately, a misconception that Pulisic is a very good—maybe even elite—dribbler, and this is far from the truth. Pulisic is a high-volume dribbler, but he’s not very good at it.

Does that sound ridiculous?

Here is a comparison of some of Europe’s “elite dribblers” over the last five league seasons, including the current campaign, according to WhoScored:

• Mateo Kovacic (Chelsea): 82% dribble success rate
• Eden Hazard (Real Madrid): 73% dribble success rate
• Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain): 58% dribble success rate
• Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain): 57% dribble success rate
• Jadon Sancho (Manchester United): 54% dribble success rate
• Christian Pulisic (Chelsea): 47% dribble success rate

Mbappe, Neymar and Sancho all also attempt more dribbles per game, but even Pulisic doesn’t attempt as much as they do. A 47% accuracy in something doesn’t indicate someone that is very good or elite at it. Pulisic has attempted 4.2 dribbles per game during the last five domestic seasons, this is why many think he’s very good at it. They see him try it a lot, and they see him pull it off sometimes. The brain sees what it wants to see most times.

This is important because Pulisic’s first instinct is to dribble. Further, because he’s not that good at dribbling overall, he loses the ball and wastes opportunities to affect games by trying to beat his man. This constant attempt to dribble leads to a lot of lost possession and frustration from fans and teammates. A forward doesn’t get many chances to get onto the ball in a match. If you’re not a center forward, you’re most likely expected to create when you get the ball. Pulisic is not that much of a risky passer, so he tries to create through dribbling. As we’ve already learned, he’s not elite at beating his man, so he ends up not creating much.

Another factor that might be affecting him is the strength of his team and the nature of the league itself. Only a few teams in the Premier League play at an intensity that sees them get in the faces of their opponents. The strength of Pulisic’s team means it’s stronger than most of the other squads in the league. The nature of the league means that when Chelsea comes up against other opponents, the majority of them would prefer to sit back and hold their shape, rather than come at the Blues and try to win the ball back. When Pulisic is faced with this kind of opponent, he has two options: try to create with passes or run at them to force them to try to tackle him. He’s not inclined to do the former and the latter sees him get back to the point discussed above.

Another factor that may explain his struggles could be decision-making. His decision-making needs work. He often shoots when he should pass or tries to dribble when he should lay it off or shoot. Ultimately, he’s a very good player who will improve things like decision-making the older he gets. But in order to be effective, he has to focus on his actual strengths, rather than what he thinks his strength is. One trait Pulisic can take advantage of at Chelsea is his movement off the ball. Pulisic has a way of sensing and running into gaps in the opposition’s back line, combine this with the fact that he also has good finishing technique, and he can be a weapon for the Blues. He has gotten on the end of several chances and even scored several goals for Chelsea that way.

What have you made of Pulisic’s career at Chelsea thus far? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or on Twitter!