Christian Pulisic's international breaks have often provided a stalling point in the USA ace's Chelsea season. Long trips back to North America to play three games within a week often aren't the best preparation for playing a Premier League fixture.
The first break of the season saw Pulisic return with an ankle injury that left him unavailable to Thomas Tuchel until November. The international break that month came after Pulisic had played just five minutes against Burnley, and he made just two substitute appearances for Gregg Berhalter's side. His return was another chance from the bench as he showed some predatory instincts as a centre forward to score against Leicester thanks to some tricky movement.
After going goalless against Mexico last week, the 23-year-old found the net three times against Panama on Sunday, with his second strike seeing a special celebration as Pulisic produced a worm that was dedicated to a young fan. While the winger's opening two goals showed his composure from the penalty slot, his third effort produced the talent he's hinted at in Chelsea colours.
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While the American's first touch showed both a hint of fortune and Dennis Bergkamp, Pulisic showed plenty of composure to guard the ball past two defenders before slotting past Panama's Luis Mejia for the third time. The opposition may have been comfortably dispatched but Pulisic's talents in and around the area are becoming more regular over the course of the season.
Since the arrival of 2022, Pulisic has found the net against Liverpool, Burnley and Lille twice - matching Eden Hazard's Champions League goal tally as he went.. While the former Borussia Dortmund forward appears to have found his clinical edge, his competition have also produced since the turn of the year, meaning he still has to fight for his starting position against the talents of Hakim Ziyech and Mason Mount.
In the past, mainly due to injuries, Pulisic has fulfilled a number of roles for Tuchel, even being used as a wing-back. His performances were commendable in those moments, but his impact in the opposition box may be too much to ignore before long.
"It's true, we moved him around a little bit," said Tuchel in January. "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.
"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.”
When on international duty in January, Pulisic said his Chelsea situation was: "Not exactly where I want to be and how I want things to be right now, I'm just going to keep going." In the Blues' most crucial moments of late, he has found himself in the right position in the starting XI, and in the right place to ensure Chelsea progressed in the Champions league.
On his return from international duty, Pulisic may once again have settle for a place on the bench against Brentford, but Tuchel will know that utilising him outside of a forward role will lose some of Chelsea's greatest threat.
