World Cup 2022: Christian Pulisic's Lack of Game Time is Now Becoming a Concern

Christian Pulisic is now in his fourth season at Chelsea and despite winning the Champions League and playing a total of 119 games, he is struggling now more than ever to get on to the pitch. Ahead of the World Cup, we take a look at Pulisic's four seasons at Chelsea and how his lack of playing could be a serious concern for the United States men’s national team.

What has Pulisic Achieved so Far?

After 19 goals in 127 matches for Borussia Dortmund, Pulisic made the move to the Premier League with Chelsea. In fact, it was in his first season with the Blues that Pulisic established himself as one of the top youngsters on the European continent with 11 goals in 34 matches in all competitions.

This included nine goals in the Premier League, as he opened his Premier League goal scoring account with a "perfect" hat-trick at Burnley, as he scored with his head, left foot and right foot.

Pulisic has scored memorable goals through the years at Chelsea. Forcing Pulisic into the hearts of the Chelsea faithful are: an equalizer at Real Madrid in the semifinals of the triumphant Champions League season in 2021, a winner against Manchester City to end its title hopes, and an opening goal in the FA Cup final in 2020. 

What’s more, in his time in the Premier League, Pulisic has won the U.S. Soccer Male Athlete of the Year two more times by winning the award in 2019 and 2021.

The American has been very successful with Chelsea ever since the move. A Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup all came in 2021, but with four runners-up medals in English cup competitions, Pulisic has also been on the losing side in four finals. 

However, in three full Premier League seasons, he has failed to start more than 20 of the 38 scheduled league games in a season, which is already proving to be a great concern. 

Now, with new players like Raheem Sterling at Chelsea this season, despite a bunch of trophies and the goals already with the club, from an individual standpoint, Pulisic does not have that much to boast about from his time in the Premier League. Now it seems the club has already tried to replace him.

Will he Get Back in the Team?

During his time at Chelsea, Pulisic has played under two managers: Thomas Tuchel and Frank Lampard. 

It has seen him get used differently in two separate systems, with Lampard choosing to put him in the starting XI much more often.

Tuchel, however, seems to be happy to leave Pulisic on the bench and use him when needed at some stage in the game. This does not bode well at a club like Chelsea where breaking into the team is harder to do than almost every other club out there.

At 23 years old, Pulisic is going to need to consider his future. It doesn’t look like he’ll be starting every game once again this season, and with just 72 minutes on the pitch out of the 360 minutes in the Premier League so far, there’s a chance he heads into the World Cup with barely anything to shout about from the 2022/23 season.

Reports in England have been circulating in the past few months about a possible loan move away from the Blues in order to play regular soccer. However, with the transfer window closing, it looks like Pulisic might have to stay in London, and USMNT fans should not be happy with this.