Chelsea star Christian Pulisic has revealed that he was disappointed with Thomas Tuchel, amid the German’s decision to drop him ahead of their UEFA Champions league second leg tie against Real Madrid in 2020/2021.
The American International spoke in his impending book about how wound up he was being brought on for his cameo in the tie, after being told by Tuchel he’d be starting.
“What happened before that game was hugely disappointing for me. I’d had a really good first leg performance and our following match was against Fulham in the league. Tuchel told me that he was resting me for the second leg and as a result I didn’t play a single minute in the Fulham game. Then on match day of the second semi, Tuchel tells me he’s changed his mind and he’s going with Kai [Havertz]. I honestly was dumbfounded and very disappointed. I thought that I’d earned a start and, most importantly, he had assured me previously I was going to start. So by the time he brought me on with about 25 minutes left, I was just so wound up,” said Pulisic in his book (quotes via USMNT Only on Twitter).
The Blues’ winger may well be happy to see the back of Tuchel after the German was sacked earlier this month. Pulisic’s gametime may be set to improve under new boss Graham Potter, as the American aims to replicate his form of 2019/2020.