jbdiver

I would take Pulisic over Sterling most nights. But Pulisic does seem to be a man without a position. Is he a striker? I mean yes but not someone you build a team around. Is he a mid? Not even close. He seems to do best when being allowed to run around with seeming little defensive requirements. This is not to say he does not play defense or play hard. It just seems that his best moments tend to be on offense rushing the net or picking rebounds. He is also very good with the ball but does not seem to have the ability to set up the other strikers. 
Due to his size I would suggest that he needs to make himself more into the mold of a Mount if he wants to reach a higher level. He has the dibbling skills but seems to lack the understanding of when to go and stop and drop when playing that connecting role. 
The obvious struggle with him right now is that he does not fit into the Chelsea lineup. But is talented enough to not want to give away. He is a nice 12th man who can play a bunch of different positions well and can give you a goal now and again. 

Its a little deeper than that.  This team has all the hallmarks of a team that is "over-coached" in the sense that there is a such fear of going off script and inducing coaching ire, that players lose their creative instincts.  I'll use one example to explain my point.  Against West Ham, there were multiple instances of an attacking player passing the ball back and then making an angled run to space on the outside of the pitch.  Pulisic must have done it 10 to 15 times, Stearling at least six, and there were others.  Each time that happened, not once was the ball played onto the open space for the attacker to go get, and thus have an opportunity to attack the goal with the defense off balance.  Instead, every single time, the ball was then played back into the center, just above the box.  Since there were multiple different players doing this, it was obviously a coached sequence.  In the abstract the play has merit, the angled run to the outside should drag a defender wide and create space for the ball to be played from the central position to a more central run.  However it only works if the defender does go with the initial angled run. If the ball never goes to the runner, there is nothing to keep the defender honest, and they will simply let the runner go and cheat to the center; which is exactly what happened.   No player appeared willing to break script and actually play it to the open space, when that was the play to make because the defenders were ignoring the runner.  I have seen this fear of pissing a coach off with many youth teams over the years, but never have I seen signs of it in professional ranks.  But the symptoms are all there. The result is very little creativity, and the appearance of players being mere "passengers," which in effect they are.   If you want aggressive movement of the ball up the field quickly, players must be given the freedom to take chances, break script, without fear of being berated if it doesn't work out. 

typical, 98th minute need one more chance 
jorgi plays it back to mendy

When you start with 5 defenders, 3 defensive midfielders and only 2 attacking players…what do you expect? So negative!

Nah. We’ve seen this too many times before regardless of the selection. Has that forward line received any service? I see players making runs. Nothing but back passes and slowing play down. Everything builds up through the wingbacks. It’s so predictable and damned slow.
Just count the number of one-touch passes that half.

Nah. We’ve seen this too many times before regardless of the selection. Has that forward line received any service? I see players making runs. Nothing but back passes and slowing play down. Everything builds up through the wingbacks. It’s so predictable and damned slow.
Just count the number of one-touch passes that half.

Nah. We’ve seen this too many times before regardless of the selection. Has that forward line received any service? I see players making runs. Nothing but back passes and slowing play down. Everything builds up through the wingbacks. It’s so predictable and damned slow.
Just count the number of one-touch passes that half.

Nah. We’ve seen this too many times before regardless of the selection. Has that forward line received any service? I see players making runs. Nothing but back passes and slowing play down. Everything builds up through the wingbacks. It’s so predictable and damned slow.
Just count the number of one-touch passes that half.

HC telling us what he thinks about Puli again. Sigh. We know what you think after weekly posts on the player so why bother? It’s borderline illness  Take a deep breath, get out and enjoy the world  
At least the game commentators and analysts, you know — actual pros — clearly noted the energy level injected by the subs. Apparently my lying eyes saw it as well.

HC telling us what he thinks about Puli again. Sigh. We know what you think after weekly posts on the player so why bother? It’s borderline illness  Take a deep breath, get out and enjoy the world  
At least the game commentators and analysts, you know — actual pros — clearly noted the energy level injected by the subs. Apparently my lying eyes saw it as well.

HC telling us what he thinks about Puli again. Sigh. We know what you think after weekly posts on the player so why bother? It’s borderline illness  Take a deep breath, get out and enjoy the world  
At least the game commentators and analysts, you know — actual pros — clearly noted the energy level injected by the subs. Apparently my lying eyes saw it as well.

HC telling us what he thinks about Puli again. Sigh. We know what you think after weekly posts on the player so why bother? It’s borderline illness  Take a deep breath, get out and enjoy the world  
At least the game commentators and analysts, you know — actual pros — clearly noted the energy level injected by the subs. Apparently my lying eyes saw it as well.

The US has many young players under 25 playing across all the major leagues in Europe today — several on CL teams. Pulisic is probably the highest profile at the moment, but there are others that may have a higher ceiling. In short, the future of USMT is not dependent on Pulisic being the man at Chelsea. He’s just a talented player who’s a little ahead of other talented youngsters in their career progression.

Agreed. Some people get hysterical if he sits on the bench for two games. I want him to struggle and fight and earn it. For all we know TT purposely put him on the bench because he knows that what happens in the next 10 days is way more important for Pulisic’s growth than what happened the past 10 days. The kid has to work this week. 

We’ve had this conversation about “how is Pulisic going to find playing time” many many times. The reality is that when he is fit and in form he’s undroppable. He always comes back from an injury and manages to work his way back into the team.  He could become one of the best in the league. He doesn’t need to worry about any other players on that current front line. Just stay fit and do his thing. 

We’ve had this conversation about “how is Pulisic going to find playing time” many many times. The reality is that when he is fit and in form he’s undroppable. He always comes back from an injury and manages to work his way back into the team.  He could become one of the best in the league. He doesn’t need to worry about any other players on that current front line. Just stay fit and do his thing. 

We’ve had this conversation about “how is Pulisic going to find playing time” many many times. The reality is that when he is fit and in form he’s undroppable. He always comes back from an injury and manages to work his way back into the team.  He could become one of the best in the league. He doesn’t need to worry about any other players on that current front line. Just stay fit and do his thing. 

We’ve had this conversation about “how is Pulisic going to find playing time” many many times. The reality is that when he is fit and in form he’s undroppable. He always comes back from an injury and manages to work his way back into the team.  He could become one of the best in the league. He doesn’t need to worry about any other players on that current front line. Just stay fit and do his thing. 

We’ve had this conversation about “how is Pulisic going to find playing time” many many times. The reality is that when he is fit and in form he’s undroppable. He always comes back from an injury and manages to work his way back into the team.  He could become one of the best in the league. He doesn’t need to worry about any other players on that current front line. Just stay fit and do his thing. 

This grouper is not endangered, it’s threatened — a designation which doesn’t prevent sport fishing and which applies to many large game fish around Florida (where I suspect this was taken). Nothing to see here, just an environmentalist group spotting an opportunity to get some clicks using a celeb. 
 
I did happen to encounter this critter while diving in the Bahamas two years ago. Massive fish. 

Love how Puli is consistently picking up the ball in the middle of the pitch and running straight at them. Should have had 2 assists to add to that goal. We need to keep exploiting that space and speed we have. I'd love to see him use Werner as a decoy once and just try to take it in himself.

Most fouls against a single player in UCL since Messi vs Real Madrid in 2011. Wow. 

Most fouls against a single player in UCL since Messi vs Real Madrid in 2011. Wow. 

Most fouls against a single player in UCL since Messi vs Real Madrid in 2011. Wow. 

MOTM performance today. Would have had at least an assist or two with better finishing from teammates. He was given free reign to roam all over the pitch and he really controlled the game in parts. He's definitely looking like his form is returning with that burst of pace and those tricky dribbles. He added to his highlights reel this week and hopefully be brings that swagger back to Chelsea.