Christian Pulisic has suffered another injury setback, and it could delay his long-awaited return to the U.S. Men’s National Team.
Chelsea announced on Saturday that Pulisic was a late scratch from the starting lineup for Saturday’s match at Burnley. Pulisic picked up a hamstring injury during pre-game warmups and had to be replaced in the lineup by forward Timo Werner.
🚨 There's a late change to our starting team. @TimoWerner replaces @CPulisic_10 and young goalkeeper Karlo Ziger is on the bench. #BURCHE https://t.co/xs6tXhLhAm
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) October 31, 2020
Pulisic could be seen slipping on the field during pre-game warmups, suffering what appeared to be an ankle injury at the time. After the match, Frank Lampard confirmed that it was a hamstring injury. He called the injury a “minor feeling” but stated that it was too early to know just how serious an injury Pulisic had suffered.
“He’s played three games, we’ve tried to manage him in the week and it’s a small feeling in his hamstring so we’ll have to see how he is over the next 24 hours.” Lampard told reporters on Saturday. “Hopefully it’s short term, we’re talking weeks.
“It’s a minor feeling that he had but definitely not right to go into 90 minutes of a game with that.”
The U.S. Men’s National Team star was coming off a goal-scoring performance in the UEFA Champions League. He netted the final tally as a substitute in Chelsea’s 4-0 victory over Krasnodar in a group stage game on Wednesday. The goal was Pulisic’s first in all competitions this season.
The latest injury could jeopardize Pulisic’s chances of playing in his first USMNT match in a year, with the United States scheduled to face Wales on November 12 (with a second November friendly being worked on). With less than two weeks to go before the Wales match, Pulisic could wind up missing out on his first USMNT appearance since the team’s Nations League loss to Canada in October of 2019.
bummer. anyone who has torn a hamstring knows. Lampard only with minor pulls in his career, hard for him to understand, let alone a torn hamstring reinjury rehab situation. I agree with the observation that, unfortunately, there seems to be a chronic nature to this for CP, but this management did not help. I watched the clip and that tweak was enough. “But he’s already played in 3 games!!!” blah blah blah…
Just in time for the upcoming friendlies. Always good to see our injury ridden stars on the bench.
It’s official in my book at any rate. Pulisic is injury prone. Have to think there’s a good chance USMNT will be without his services for long stretches over the next decade. I hope not, but he just can’t shake muscle issues, and it’s not just one location / muscle group. Sucks. Good luck CP.
It seems like he could be heading towards needing some sort of ‘load management’. Maybe 3 games in a week is too much for him?
We could all be overreacting, but it’s not great to see him having semi-regular muscle injuries at his age.
Seemed pretty minor, walked off without assistance with barely a limp. Seemed to roll his ankle during a drill.
Frank said it was his hamstring
If he hadn’t walked off and thrown his shirt down in anger you never would have known he hurt himself. I’m hoping it was precautionary and no more than a tweak.Anyone who has pulled a hammy knows that you are usually limping immediately with a pull.
John O’Brien Part Deux?
From a USMNT perspective, John O’Brien played in 2 World Cups and was arguably our best player in one. And he played 90 minutes in 5 games in that one.
At this rate, if Pulisic plays in 2 World Cups we can probably consider it fortunate.
Good memory Clyde Frog! Many forget that John O’Brien actually did feature in the the 2006 squad, even getting 45 mins in the second half of the opener against the Czech Republic. Unfortunately, the game was already beyond us at that point… and even more tragically, that 45 mins was his last action as a professional soccer player.
Yes, but what O’Brien’s career might have been were it not for some many injuries and setbacks is something we’re starting to see and be concerned about with Pulisic. There’s Pulisic playing in a WC (or two), and Pulisic playing in a WC when he’s fully fit and in-form, not coming back from another long layoff with yet another injury.