England boss Gareth Southgate has praised the individual quality of Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic.
With the World Cup in Qatar just around the corner, international managers are now entering the spotlight for their squad selections and how they fare in the imminent group stages.
For Southgate, his England side will be strong favourites to progress ahead of United States, Wales and Iran.
The Three Lions manager has singled out the quality of US player Pulisic, 24, who is a talisman for his country and a potential threat in the group phase.
Gareth Southgate praised Christian Pulisic
Pulisic has barely been used at Chelsea since Graham Potter took charge as head coach mid-season, starting only three of his 12 games.
The Blues winger is yet to complete 90 minutes under Potter, so you can understand if there’s some worry from the United States about their star man’s form and sharpness.
However, Southgate has admitted that he’s a big admirer of Chelsea’s 24-year-old speedster.
“Of course, he’s had two or three coaches to deal with so I think there’s been moments where he’s looked like he’s on his way, he’s flowing and he’s got a coach that believes in him and he’s had to deal then with setbacks with injury,” Southgate told ESPN.
“He would probably feel he hasn’t got quite to where he wants to get to yet, I’d imagine, but he’s a very good player and is a player when you’re looking at the opposition teamsheet, he’s someone you’ve got to be aware of and got to be ready for.”
Pulisic just can’t quite seem to force his way into Potter’s best XI, despite some eye-catching cameos lately.
Surely, he’s in line to start on Wednesday night in the Carabao Cup third round against Manchester City.
The wide man is an individual the American side often turn towards in the big moments, but he will enter the World Cup with no real momentum from his season so far at Chelsea.
Joe Cole said earlier this month he’d love Pulisic to now get a regular run of starts.
The Blues looked toothless going forward in the weekend defeat to Arsenal, so it’s crying out for the American to get more action.
Keep up to date with all the latest Chelsea news and opinion by following The Chelsea Chronicle’s Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Receive a digest of our best Chelsea content each week direct to your mailbox
