United States star Christian Pulisic has criticized his former Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel, saying he was left “dumbfounded and very disappointed” by the decision not to start him in the Champions League semifinal second leg against Real Madrid in 2021.
Pulisic started and scored Chelsea’s goal in a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Madrid. However, he began on the substitute’s bench for the return leg at Stamford Bridge despite, according to Pulisic, being assured he would be in the starting lineup.
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“What happened before that game was hugely disappointing for me,” Pulisic wrote in his upcoming book “Christian Pulisic: My Journey So Far,” according to an excerpt published on Tuesday.
“l’d had a really good first leg performance and our following match was against Fulham in the league. Tuchel told me that he was resting me for the second leg and as a result I didn’t play a single minute in the Fulham game.
“Then on match day of the second semi, Tuchel tells me he’s changed his mind and he’s going with Kai [Havertz]. I honestly was dumbfounded and very disappointed. I thought that I’d earned a start and, most importantly, he had assured me previously I was going to start.”
