Injury expert issues ‘massive’ Pulisic claim as Tuchel ‘frightened’ at Chelsea
Christian Pulisic has been managed well during his period away from Chelsea with the United States national team.
So says injury expert Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in medicine and data analysis.
Pulisic has played just 21 minutes for Thomas Tuchel’s side since sustaining an ankle injury on the opening day of the season.
But the winger was called up by Gregg Berhalter for the US’s World Cup qualifiers against Mexico and Jamaica in the November international break.
As quoted by The Athletic on 17 November, Tuchel admitted he was “frightened” when watching his players represent their countries.
But Pulisic played just 45 minutes cumulatively across the two fixtures and did not exacerbate his injury problems.
Dinnery insists that Tuchel will be happy with the way the 23-year-old’s situation was handled by Berhalter.
“I think he has been managed sensibly,” he told Football Insider correspondent Adam Williams.
“That initially ankle injury has kept him out for far longer than expected. He suffered a series of setbacks while he was out.
“It is always a concern when your players are going away, so you’re relying on squad management from the international staff.
“But it is in the interests of both parties to keep him fit because he is massive for his club and he’s one of the star men for that national team.
“His performances on the training pitches will ultimately determine how ready he is and how many minutes he’ll get.
“The last thing you want is to overuse the player and then he gets injured again.”
In other news, Chelsea star Ross Barkley tipped to shine at Leeds United as “loan-to-buy” deal mooted.