Chelsea Playing Time Not a Deterrent for Pulisic As He Makes His USMNT Return

Christian Pulisic has not been a regular starter since Thomas Tuchel took over at Chelsea, but he comes into U.S. camp confident and eager to continue proving his worth.

To whatever extent Christian Pulisic might have been feeling down on his luck in recent weeks, his mood will have been boosted by two events—Sunday’s man-of-the-match performance in Chelsea’s FA Cup quarterfinal win over Sheffield United, and his subsequent arrival at the U.S. men's national team’s camp in eastern Austria. There, 16 months removed from his last cap, he’ll enjoy a long-awaited opportunity to reconvene with familiar faces and play for a team on which his value is unquestioned.

“Regardless of what’s happening at the club level, I’m thrilled to be here and excited to represent this crest again,” the 22-year-old forward said Wednesday.

What’s been happening at club level has been a significant test for a player whose trajectory and potential seemed to be limited only by frustratingly frequent muscular issues. The talent was never in question. But in late January, Thomas Tuchel replaced Frank Lampard as Chelsea manager. Because he knew Pulisic so well from their days together at Borussia Dortmund, Tuchel decided to start by having a look at different players. He already knew he could trust Pulisic. But Chelsea started winning, and lineup changes are less likely when a team is in good form. Since Tuchel took over, Chelsea is unbeaten in 14 games in all competitions, and Pulisic had started just twice for Tuchel before getting his chance this weekend. He made the most of it.

Meanwhile, conversation in England and the U.S. already had started about whether Pulisic was in Chelsea’s future, or whether his spot on Tuchel’s depth chart was permanent. Speaking ahead of Thursday’s friendly against Jamaica in Wiener Neustadt, Pulisic acknowledged his difficult situation but insisted he hasn’t lost faith in his abilities.

"It hasn’t been the easiest thing, obviously. I’m a guy who always wants to play,” he said. “[But] I think I’m on a really good path. I love to take on challenges. I love to prove people—not prove people wrong—but, you know, for myself, prove myself right in a way and just continue to work hard.

“Coming into camp, I’m really just excited to get more minutes and play for my country,” he concluded.

Pulisic’s last run with the national team was in the fall of 2019, when the USA contested four Concacaf Nations League games against Canada and Cuba. Pulisic started the first two, missed the second pair in November with a hip injury and, thanks to the pandemic, fitness issues and club commitments, hasn’t been on the field since.

U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter obviously won’t be holding that against him. Nor is he too concerned about Pulisic’s time on the bench at Chelsea. While it’s far from a perfect situation, Berhalter doesn’t see it as a reflection of Pulisic’s ability or form. If anything, it’ll create a hungrier, more eager camp participant.

“Ideally you’d want every player to come into camp in top form, right? It’s not always possible though, and these are things that we do take into consideration and we are thinking about,” Berhalter said Wednesday.

“We also want to create the type of environment here that the players enjoy coming into, and sometimes this can almost be a like a kickstart for the player. And it is the case with Christian on this trip,” the manager continued. “We’re so excited to have him in camp. It’s been since October 2019—to get him back on the field playing with us is a great step forward. I know he has the resiliency to keep going, and I know it’s a matter of time before he breaks through. He’s a fantastic player and his qualities will show through, as they did in the last game in the FA Cup that we saw.”

Pulisic said he’s been impressed by the team’s growth since he was last in camp. He’s gained several new international teammates during that stretch, such as Gio Reyna and Yunus Musah, while other young Americans have started to break through. The squad has become more comfortable in Berhalter’s pressing 4-3-3, and it’s starting to look beyond this week’s games against Jamaica and Northern Ireland toward the Concacaf Nations League in June, the Gold Cup and then the start of World Cup qualifying in September.

Pulisic likely will play a big role in Nations League and qualifying, and implied he has what it takes to be earning more minutes at Chelsea by then.

“I was in a similar situation, I think, when I first came to Chelsea,” he said. “I had to work my way and earn my position in the team and finally get some minutes. I feel like I did that, and I feel like I’m basically going out there trying to do the same thing now. I feel very confident in my form right now and the way I’m feeling and playing, so yeah, I think I’m on a good path.”

Xinhua/Sipa USA

Another event that’s technically on Pulisic’s horizon, and that of many of his teammates, is the Olympics. The U.S. U-23 team is currently in Guadalajara, where it’s competing in Concacaf’s qualifying competition for this summer’s tournament in Japan. The USA (2-0-0) meets Mexico (2-0-0) in the group stage finale on Wednesday night then faces a do-or-die semifinal on Sunday. Should the Americans win that match and qualify, they theoretically could bring a significant chunk of the senior side to Tokyo. The Olympics are a U-23 event (U-24 this year because of the pandemic), and a lot of Berhalter’s squad is of age.

Pulisic’s affinity for the crest would carry over, he said.

“The Olympics is something that is of course a massive honor to play in, and to represent your country in an Olympics would be amazing,” he said. “I’m fully supporting the guys qualifying now as well. It’s something I’ve thought about and I have wanted to play in. Obviously, I can’t control exactly what goes on. And what’s best for me at the time and what is best for the team at the time, I obviously can’t say. But it is something that I would like to play in.”

It’s an intriguing but unlikely possibility, as Berhalter later spelled out—after warning everybody not to look past Sunday’s decider. Clubs like Chelsea aren’t required to release players for non-senior competitions.

“I’m not the one to answer that question. The ones to answer that question are the players’ clubs,” he said. “We have to sit and have conversations with these clubs and we have to say ‘O.K. guys, here’s what’s coming up in the calendar: You have Nations League. You have Gold Cup. You have Olympics. You have World Cup qualifying in three windows in the fall, and then in 2022 you have January and March. So what do you think guys, you want to release your players for the Olympics?’ What are they going to say? It’s an uphill battle that we’re fighting.

“If we were in a perfect world, there’s nothing more I would like to see than our best group compete in the Olympics. It would be amazing,” Berhalter concluded. “I’m just not sure that’s going to happen. I’m not sure the clubs are going to allow the players to go.”

If the USA qualifies, and if Berhalter, GM Brian McBride and U.S. U-23 coach Jason Kreis request Pulisic’s presence in Japan, and if Chelsea forbids it, then that’s not necessarily a bad sign. Pulisic may miss out on another chance to play for his country, but it likely means Chelsea values him enough to keep him rested and ready for the following Premier League season.