Christian Pulisic believes he has learned valuable lessons from the various injuries sustained during his time at Chelsea – and the American star is hopeful of making a telling impact for the Blues after returning from a knee problem earlier this month.
Signed from Borussia Dortmund in January 2019, Pulisic's Chelsea career has been punctuated by fitness issues. The latest occurred in January against Manchester City; the USMNT international injured his medial collateral ligament in a challenge with John Stones was sidelined for two months.
Pulisic, who is out of contract in 2024, made his return against Dortmund in the Champions League on March 7 and started for Chelsea prior to the international break. The winger played 62 minutes of the 2-2 draw against Everton at Stamford Bridge and was unfortunate to have a fine strike from distance ruled out for offside.
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The upcoming CONCACAF Nations League fixtures will provide Pulisic with further opportunities to regain match sharpness. The USMNT will take on Grenada this evening and will then face El Salvador. And ahead of those games, Pulisic has discussed his latest comeback.
"This injury has taught me a lot – and not just this one," he explained. "I think some of my best moments have been just after coming back from a long-term injury. You know there will always be the people that say, 'he's injured all the time' but in the last year or so I've been extremely healthy.
"I haven't just had these little injuries here and there where I've been out for a week, or this and that. I've been unfortunate to have a couple of serious injuries and it's, unfortunately, part of the sport, but I'm doing everything I can to avoid injury and be available as much as I can."
Throughout his time at Stamford Bridge, Pulisic has played a range of positions; the American has even been used as a wing-back by both Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter. However, Pulisic is most comfortable in the frontline and outlined ahead of the season run-in which role best suits him.
He said: "I think it's a tough one for me. I think I've demonstrated qualities in a few different attacking positions. I feel like my best position on the field is something like being in behind a striker, potentially off of the left side, and having a bit of freedom to manoeuvre, understanding where I need to be to create and helping my team score goals.
"I definitely feel stronger when I can come in inside onto my right foot – and dribbling or running in behind is another strength of mine. So that area behind the striker, potentially from the left side is my best position"
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