American player Christian Pulisic has claimed he was misled by German manager Thomas Tuchel ahead of the 2020-21 Champions League semi-final between the Blues and Real Madrid.
What did Christian Pulisic say?
The Chelsea player scored in Madrid in the first leg, admitting he defied the German head coach’s build-up instructions. The player was then assured that he would start in the second leg, but instead remained on the bench before proceeding to assist.
The American player in his new book “Christian Pulisic: My Journey So Far” writes that what happened before that game was extremely disappointing for him. He had a very good first game according to Christian Pulisic and their next match was against Fulham in the league. The American says Thomas told him he was resting for the second leg and ended up not playing a single minute in Fulham’s game.
Then on the day of the match of the second semi-final, Thomas tells him that he has changed his mind and that he is going with Kai Havertz. Christian was stunned and very disappointed. The American thought he had earned the start, and, most importantly, he assured him that he would start. So according to Christian Pulisic, by the time he had about 25 minutes left, he was so wrapped up.
A little about the topic
The passage offers some insight into the relationship between the American player and the German manager, with reports that the relationship had gone sour by the time Thomas was sacked earlier in the season. Thomas’ hiring was initially seen as a big push for Christian, who worked with the head coach at Borussia Dortmund, but he found himself out of the German XI’s first choice for most of his tenure.
Christian Pulisic currently plays for the US men’s national team for friendly matches against Japan and Saudi Arabia. The US national team player will return to the Blues after two finals before the World Cup, while Chelsea will face the Eagles on 1 October.