United States and Chelsea midfielder Christian Pulisic said he’s looking forward to a fresh start under new Chelsea manager Graham Potter.
Pulisic played 76 minutes of the Americans’ 0-0 draw against Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, his longest outing of the season for either club or country. Now he heads back to Chelsea and will attempt to make an impression on Potter, who was named the club’s manager on Sept. 9 after Thomas Tuchel was sacked.
Pulisic has logged just 176 minutes this season for the Blues in all competitions so far this season, with all but one appearance as a substitute.
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“I’m feeling good going back, honestly,” Pulisic said about his return to Chelsea. “I have a fresh start now, and I’m excited to play for the new manager. So really just looking forward to it. I just have to prove myself, as everyone does, and as I’ve done before.”
After sitting out the Americans’ 2-0 friendly defeat to Japan last Friday, Pulisic showed some flashes of his attacking ability against the Saudis, including a few forays down the wing. But like most of his teammates, he wasn’t able to provide the kind of passes that would result in a clear look at goal.
“There’s a lot of different ways to score goals, and I think there’s times where we can put more crosses in the box,” he said. “We can just be more aggressive, more relentless going forward and then just test them even more. So I think today, we had glimpses of it, just didn’t see [it] enough.”
