Christian Pulisic’s ‘aggressive’ approach has helped him succeed at Chelsea, claims USA manager

Gregg Berhalter believes the 21-year-old’s recent form has seen his teammates show that they trust him

Christian Pulisic’s “aggressive” approach has seen him earn the trust of his Chelsea teammates, according to United States manager Gregg Berhalter.

The 21-year-old has enjoyed a fine debut season since his £58 million move from Borussia Dortmund, scoring nine goals and assisting the same amount.

And Berhalter believes Pulisic has adopted a brave mentality to take a leap

“You see now that [Pulisic] was picking the ball up in space, in pockets and just being really aggressive going at defenders, dribbling defenders,” he said.

“It’s not just only on the sideline. Now he’s getting it towards the middle of the field and he’s had some really positive effects, taking players on.

Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic in action against Sheffield United (Pool via REUTERS)

“If you watch the games, you can see the dramatic shift and how [Pulisic’s] teammates relate to him now.

“They actually look to him. Whereas there were times in the beginning, when you’re thinking, ‘Wait, why aren’t they passing him this ball?’ Now they get the ball, their first glance is to him.

“And you know he’s really grown to be an important part of this group, important part of that team, and it’s been fun to watch.”

Pulisic didn’t feature in the 3-1 victory over Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-final due to a “small injury”, but Frank Lampard could recall the winger to face Liverpool.

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“[There’s] a couple of changes I’ve made,” said Lampard.

“With Christian Pulsiic he’s got a bit of a small injury issue where there’s a risk in starting him and playing a full game.

“Maybe he can come off the bench but other than that I picked a team that I think can win the game.”