A huge season at Stamford Bridge awaits Christian Pulisic and former US national team legend Brad Freidel has already has set targets for the young winger. The former custodian believes that double digits goals and assists are possible for Pulisic this season in the Premier League.
This is the young winger’s third season in Chelsea and therefore, everyone is expecting him to shine this time. A breakthrough season is due and people feel that it is coming especially after his preseason heroics.
The 22-year-old has carried that preseason form into the Premier League. He has already opened the scoring in Chelsea’s 3-0 win over Crystal Palace on the opening day of a new season. He only scored six goals last season and was suffering from persistent injury concerns. However, Friedel feels that this can be his season as he wants Pulisic to add more consistency to his game.
The former US national team custodian told Goal, “It’s hard for any player to come into the Premier League and then it’s more difficult to come into the Premier League with one of the top sides in the league.
“There’s a settling in period that’s always going to take place because football’s very different from other countries that Christian has played in.
“I thought he had a very good start to his Chelsea career, and he performed very, very well for the United States over the summer.
“Now that he knows what to expect fully in England, he’s a tremendous talent and I think double digits in goals and possibly assists is achievable for him.
“With the amount of chances Chelsea create, I expect him to be quite an important part of Chelsea’s team this season.”
Friedel has set a pretty realistic target for the 22-year-old for whom it is now or never. The Blues have a lot of quality in all departments of the field and now with Romelu Lukaku’s addition chances in front of the goal will only increase for the American.
However, the competition at Stamford Bridge is also fierce with players like Kai Havertz, Hakim Ziyech, Callum Hudson-Odoi and others also fighting for a place in the wide areas. Now with Lukaku’s arrival, the Blues may push Timo Werner out wide which will only increase more competition for Pulisic. However, Thomas Tuchel really likes the American forward and looks like he will get plenty of chances to reach the target set by Friedel.
