BLUES BATTLE FOR A START IS SO TOUGH SAYS PULISIC
CHRISTIAN PULISIC has admitted that competition for places in Chelsea’s team is “intense” ahead of any game, let alone an FA Cup final.
Chelsea warmed up for tomorrow’s showpiece against Liverpool at Wembley as they got their Premier League campaign back on track with a 3-0 win at Leeds. Thomas Tuchel’s team had previously won only one of their five league games before their comprehensive victory at Elland Road, which consolidated their third position in the table, thanks to goals from Mason Mount, Pulisic and Romelu Lukaku, below.
All three look to have firmly booked themselves in for places to face Liverpool at Wembley, with
Mateo Kovacic almost certain to miss the final with the ankle injury sustained from Dan James’ first-half tackle that earned a red card.
But Pulisic insisted nothing can be taken for granted at Chelsea. “It is always intense in this team,” he said. “We have a lot of depth, which is only a good thing. We are going to need everyone in the remaining games, especially in the final. “We are always competing against each other. You always want to play well and perform and give yourself a chance of starting the next match – not just because of the final.”
Pulisic believes Chelsea’s league position is now in their own hands after an uncertain run, with winnable home games against Leicester and Watford to come.
The USA star said: “We dropped a couple of points and we were not happy.
“But we always try to stay positive and look forward to our next game.
“That result puts us in a really good spot. We can control our own destiny, so now we need to continue and go on to get result after result.
“We wanted to finish with as many goals as we could, and we definitely could have been more clinical. But a 3-0 win away – we are happy and happy with the performance all around.”