Christian Pulisic has had trouble adjusting to the Premier League, but Gareth Southgate has told ESPN that he still sees him as a threat when England takes on the United States on November 25 at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Since joining Chelsea for £58m from Borussia Dortmund in 2019, Pulisic has had a mixed record, scoring just 26 goals in 131 games.
Under former head coach Thomas Tuchel, the 24-year-old won the Champions League in 2021, but due to ongoing injury issues, more than half of his appearances for Chelsea have come off the bench.
What Did Southgate Say About Pulisic?
In exclusive interview, Southgate said: “I obviously watched him [Pulisic] a fair bit at Dortmund as we had Jadon Sancho there at the time and then moving into Chelsea, I think that adaptation from the Bundesliga to the Premier League isn’t straightforward for a start.
“The level of the biggest games is similar if you’re playing Bayern Munich or [Red Bull] Leipzig but then when you drop down the league, there’s a big difference between the spending power in the bottom half of the Premier League where they can basically take players from some of the biggest clubs in Europe and the bottom half of most of the other leagues in Europe where that depth isn’t there.
“So, I think that takes some adjusting to not only the physical nature of our league but the intensity of every match.
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“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.
“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.”
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