Frank Lampard's return to Chelsea could benefit Christian Pulisic
Frank Lampard is back on the sideline at Chelsea, and that could be good news for U.S. men's national team star Christian Pulisic.
Lampard, the longtime Blues midfield great who managed the London club from 2019-2021, was officially named Chelsea's caretaker manager Thursday two years after being fired in favor of Thomas Tuchel.
Tuchel is long gone, of course, having been dismissed last September just weeks into this season and replaced by Graham Potter. Potter was let go on Sunday with Chelsea languishing in 11th place in the Premier League. He was Pulisic's fourth coach in four rollercoaster seasons at Stamford Bridge.
Potter was also the coach that used Pulisic the least. Despite giving the American three consecutive starts around the holidays, Pulisic averaged just over 40 minutes per match under the ex-Brighton boss. He played just the final 10 minutes of last Saturday 2-0 home loss against Aston Villa, Potter's final game at the helm.
Now Pulisic has been reunited with the man under whom he played the most. Despite a difficult start to life in England early in the 2019-20 campaign, Pulisic had emerged as one of Lampard's most important players by the time he left in January 2021.
Pulisic slowly but surely won his manager over during his maiden campaign in the Prem. By the time the pandemic-interrupted season resumed in the summer of 2020, Pulisic was perhaps Chelsea's best player. In all, the Pennsylvania native averaged almost 70 minutes a match across 51 total appearances while Lampard was in charge.
"Throughout Lampard's time as my manager, and with the injury setbacks I had, plus the Covid phase, it was probably characterized by me constantly feeling that I had to prove myself over and over again," the winger wrote in his 2022 book, "Pulisic: My Journey So Far."
"Looking back, by the time Frank left I felt that I had finally convinced him of my value to the team. I had started to gain an appreciation for him as a manager," he added.
"I was sad to see him go."
It's true that reunions don't always work out. Despite winning the 2021 Champions League during that first half season under Tuchel, the same coach who five years earlier had given a then 17-year-old Pulisic his senior debut at German titan Borussia Dortmund, Pulisic and Tuchel clashed after being reunited. While he praised Lampard in his book, he also revealed that Tuchel – who was still his coach at the time – removed him from Chelsea's lineup just hours before the decisive 2021 Champions League semifinal second leg against Real Madrid. Pulisic had started the first leg and scored the Blues' lone goal.
"I thought that I'd earned a start and, most importantly, he had assured me previously I was going to start," Pulisic wrote of Tuchel, for whom he averaged just 53 minutes per game at Chelsea. "I honestly was dumbfounded and very disappointed."
Still, under Lampard, there's reason to believe things will be better the second time around. Chelsea's perilous position in the standings – the club's most realistic chance of qualifying for next season's Champions League is probably to win this year's version – means that Lampard must hit the ground running. The 44-year-old leaned on players he'd previously worked with early in his first stint as Blues boss, with the likes of Mason Mount getting the benefit of the doubt over unproven newcomers, Pulisic included.
But on roster that has added high price, high-profile attacking recruits such as João Félix, Mykhailo Mudryk and Raheem Sterling in the 27 months since Lampard departed, Pulisic will be now be among the trusted veterans. At 24, he's more mature and far more experienced than he was when he first met Lampard in 2019. Pulisic now has the confidence of someone who has won the most prestigious trophy in the club game and participated in a World Cup. His résumé means he's now someone even slightly younger teammates like Mudryk and Conor Gallagher, 22 and 23 respectively, look up to.
None of that will matter if Pulisic doesn't take advantage of his opportunity and perform under Lampard. But he should get a fair chance. Chelsea has once again drawn mighty Real Madrid, which last May claimed a record 14th European title, in the knockout stage of the Champions League. Pulisic has been there and done that. His coach knows he won't be fazed by the pressure.
And Pulisic has every reason to believe that if he plays well and helps the Blues start winning, he'll keep his place in Lampard's preferred 11, making it harder for whoever is eventually appointed as Lampard's permanent successor next season to overlook him. It would also put him front and center for potential suitors should he leave Chelsea this summer.
"It was not an easy journey, but at least under him I knew that if I had a couple of good performances, he'd then give me a reasonable run of games," Pulisic wrote of his first experience with Lampard.
"That's all that a player asks from his manager: ‘Give me a run of games to show you what I can do.'"
Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports. Before joining FOX Sports in 2021, he was a staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports and he has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at multiple FIFA World Cups. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.
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