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Christian Pulisic: Life at Chelsea is tough and playing out of position has been a struggle

Christian Pulisic: Life at Chelsea is tough and playing out of position has been a struggle - NMC POOL
Christian Pulisic: Life at Chelsea is tough and playing out of position has been a struggle - NMC POOL

Christian Pulisic has become the latest Chelsea player to open up on his concerns about life at Stamford Bridge, saying he is having a "tough" time and not playing in the positions he wants.

Pulisic, who was speaking on international duty with the United States, admitted it has been an “up and down” year at his club, where he has been an unused substitute in the last two matches.

The 23-year-old, primarily a winger, has occasionally been used in an unfamiliar wing-back role this season, as well as playing as a central playmaker or as a striker.

"It is tough," said Pulisic. "I have not always been playing in the positions I want to play in. But I think it is a good quality to be versatile and able to play in all kinds of positions and have different strengths on the pitch.

"I have learned a lot and I’m ready to hopefully be in a spot over the next few games that I’m more comfortable in."

Asked about his recent form at Chelsea, and whether it would have any impact on his performances for the United States in the coming days, Pulisic said: "It doesn’t affect me too much coming into US camps. I am ready when I come in here to do whatever I can to help this team so I’m not thinking about that.

"Obviously it has been up and down this year, for sure. Not exactly where I want to be and how I want things to be right now. I’m just going to keep going and it doesn’t affect me when I come here. So I am excited to be here."

Pulisic’s comments come a few weeks after Romelu Lukaku, his Chelsea team-mate, declared himself "not happy" with his situation at Stamford Bridge due to head coach Thomas Tuchel "choosing to play with another system".

Lukaku’s interview, which he had personally arranged with Sky Italia as opposed to Pulisic speaking in a pre-match media conference, resulted in the Belgian striker being dropped for Chelsea’s recent match against Liverpool. He was also fined by the club, despite issuing private and public apologies.

Romelu Lukaku has returned to the fold after being dropped for one game - ACTION IMAGES VIA REUTERS
Romelu Lukaku has returned to the fold after being dropped for one game - ACTION IMAGES VIA REUTERS

Pulisic, who joined Chelsea from Borussia Dortmund for £58m in 2019, has scored three goals in 19 appearances for Chelsea in all competitions this season and appears to have fallen down Tuchel’s attacking pecking order.

Speaking earlier this month, Tuchel insisted he was happy with Pulisic’s current contribution to the team. "It’s true, we moved him around a little bit,” siad Tuchel. “In the end they want to play. It’s a good thing if they can play more positions.

"You can always argue I would be more consistent or better if I have one clear position. But maybe then you have less minutes or face more concurrence as up front we have two or three players in every position.

"It is a good thing. It was also a bad sign because it means we have trouble on the left and right wing-back with injuries and he helped us out there.

"We are happy with the impact he has. He can play a lot of minutes, he needs to. He has the physical ability to help us. Everybody wants him to have numbers, to be effective. Everybody can improve on that. From there we go, that’s the situation."