CHELSEA boss Frank Lampard underrated Christian Pulisic when he first arrived at the club ‘because he was American’.
RB Salzburg manager Jesse Marsch made the claim after a chat with Lampard during pre-season a year ago.
Frank Lampard underrated Christian Pulisic when he first arrived at Chelsea ‘because he was American’Credit: Getty Images – Getty
RB Salzburg manager Jesse Marsch made the claim after a pre-season chat last summerCredit: Reuters
The Yankee winger has become one of the most exciting players in the Blues squad after several special moments last season.
He also returned from injury on Saturday to put in a solid outing in Chelsea’s 3-3 draw with Southampton.
But Salzburg boss Marsch, also from the US, believes Lampard initially underestimated the winger’s talents because of his nationality.
He spoke to the Chelsea boss last year and was left with the impression he did not quite grasp Pulisic’s full potential, both physically and mentally.
Marsch, 46, told Extratime Radio: “The perception in Europe, mostly, is that the American player is willing to run, willing to fight, has good mentality, but technically they’re not very gifted and tactically they’re not very aware and their experiences aren’t very big.
“But we’re seeing that change. We’re seeing more and more of these players develop themselves.
“Even Frank Lampard, when I spoke to him in pre-season a year ago now, I was talking to him about having Christian Pulisic and he was kind of like, ‘Yeah, he’s got a lot to learn so we’ll see how he does’.
“I said to him, ‘Listen, he was at Dortmund, and they had a high level of tactical thinking, of playing, and he was very successful’.
“He was considered one of the best young players in Germany and that’s in a group of players with Timo Werner, Kai Havertz, Joshua Kimmich, these kinds of players.
Niggling injuries prevented Pulisic from getting consistent runs in the team throughout last season Credit: Getty Images – Getty
“He was in a group with those players, and it’s not just because he was talented but it was because he understood the tactics and understood how to fit in the game and he was developing a real astute way of how to play.
“I could see right away that Frank Lampard’s idea of Christian Pulisic was shaped a lot by the fact that he was American and not that his football education came a lot from what has happened in Germany.
“Since then, I think Lampard has learned that Pulisic is a lot better than he gave him credit for.”
Pulisic was signed for £58m from Dortmund at the beginning of 2019, but would not join Chelsea until the summer.
After a slowish start to life at Stamford Bridge, he announced himself with a stunning hat-trick at Burnley.
Injuries prevented the American building up a run of form, and he missed much of the action until football was cancelled in March.
His other standout moments came after lockdown, including a brilliant individual strike against Manchester City which helped hand Liverpool the title and an FA Cup final goal against Arsenal.
Chelsea star Callum Hudson-Odoi shows off amazing ball control with Christian Pulisic
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
