Frank Leboeuf said Christian Pulisic was hindered by Thomas Tuchel’s decision to play him on the “wrong side” of the pitch in Saturday’s stalemate with Leeds United.
Pulisic made his first Premier League start under the new manager at Elland Road — in a rather interesting role.
After Callum Hudson-Odoi, Pulisic became the second winger who has played as a wing-back under Tuchel.
But Chelsea had the possession, the 22-year-old played higher as a right winger in a 4-2-3-1 shape with Hakim Ziyech as a No.10 and Mason Mount on the opposite flank.
It was far from being his best performance for Chelsea, to say the least.
He created only one chance and could not any teammate with any of his three crosses.
Leboeuf believes Tuchel was partly to blame for playing the winger in an ill-suited role.
“It was interesting to see Pulisic,” the former Chelsea centre-back told ESPN FC.
“But he played on the right which I think is the wrong side.
“Because he’s mostly a guy who can start the action from the left, being right-footed.
“[On the left], he can get add pace into the game and shoot with his right foot — then maybe you can find him useful.
“But on the right, he’s completely useless for me, and he didn’t show more because of that position, except for giving crosses.
“I’m very disappointed with the way they [Chelsea attackers] played.
“For me, the [actions in the] last third of the pitch was horrendous from Chelsea.”
Chronicle view
It is interesting that Leboeuf holds the same view with many Chelsea fans about Pulisic’s best position.
And it is easy to see their reasoning — Pulisic will be able to cut inside onto his dominant right foot from the left.
However, being the manager who gave Pulisic his senior breakthrough at Borussia Dortmund, Tuchel is clearly familiar with the player.
In the 2016/17 season, when Pulisic first became a regular starter under Tuchel, he made 43 appearances in all competitions.
He played as a right winger (and right midfielder) in 30 of those games — (Transfermarkt).
There must be a tactical reason behind this.
Bear in mind, this is the same man who was shouting at Timo Werner when he played on the wrong side of the pitch during the win against Everton.
Receive a digest of our best Chelsea content each week direct to your mailbox
