RB Salzburg manager Jesse Marsch reveals that he was left with the impression that the Chelsea manager, Frank Lampard didn’t rate Christian Pulisic highly as he was an American.
In 2019, Pulisic moved to Chelsea from Borussia Dortmund just after some weeks Lampard was given the role of a manager to replace Maurizio Sarri.
The American winger took some time to settle in the new club but gradually became a big weapon for Lampard’s team. He tore the defences of big clubs like Manchester City and Liverpool single-handedly on many occasions.
He was definitely the top player in the EPL after the Covid break where he delivered back to back stellar performances and he received the Chelsea No.10 shirt as a reward.
In an interview, Marsch says that the Blues coach told him the previous season that he wasn’t so sure if Pulisic can cope with the tactical gameplay of Premier League. To that, he pointed out the development of Pulisic amongst the other stars in Germany including Werner and Havertz.
“The perception in Europe, mostly, is that the American player is willing to run, willing to fight, has a good mentality, but technically they’re not very gifted and tactically they’re not very aware and their experiences aren’t very big,” Marsch told Extratime Radio.
“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 the preseason 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. 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 really 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.”
“Christian had to fight for that, which is the American quality, but he’s a damn good player. Same with Gio Reyna, same with Tyler Adams, same with Weston McKennie.”
The American manager says that Lampard’s initial perception is just another example of how most managers underrate the values of American players. Most of them hold the opinion that U.S players are hard-working and less tactically abled and smart.
Chelsea is set to face Sevilla where Pulsiic is undoubtedly ready to start the game for the Blues and start from where he left his fine form in the UCL.
