Is Christian Pulisic already the greatest American attacking player of all-time?
That is a question that needs to be asked. The 21-year-old’s first season in England with Chelsea has been a success and he is arguably on the same level, if not better than Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey were at their prime. Dempsey is best known for his spell with Fulham. His 50 Premier League goals for the Cottagers make him their highest top-flight scorer in history. Donovan is best remembered for being a creative spark in the US National team for more than a decade. He did have two successful loan stints with Everton but has been criticized for spending the vast majority of his career in the MLS.
Pulisic is already nearing the levels of Donovan and Dempsey
Dempsey had a great fighting spirit, though he was by no means the most technically gifted player. After achieving success with Fulham, he did move to Tottenham Hotspur for the 2012-13 season. However, he did not reach the same heights with Spurs as he did with Fulham and joined the Seattle Sounders after just one season with the Lilywhites. Pulisic has arguably been Chelsea’s best player since the Premier League’s re-start. He has great intelligence and is able to pick out fellow players for goals as well as score them himself.
One of the things which Chelsea could not do last summer was lure in a replacement for Eden Hazard who left the club last summer in order to join Real Madrid. They have surprisingly exceeded expectations in spite of that. The young side which Lampard has used has quickly adapted to the demands of the Premier League and could be even better next season.
Could Pulisic end up taking up the mantle that was left by Hazard? Time will tell but if he carries on progressing the way he is, that could happen.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Lampard was reluctant to draw comparisons between Pulisic and Hazard just yet.
“I don’t want to get involved in that one too much, but they can both go by players and they’re both great to watch,”
“Eden did it here – sensational in what he did. I don’t want to make that comparison quite, but I also don’t want to take away from Christian, what he’s showing now is a real natural ability.
“A balance and the speed at which he can dribble with the ball, the next stage for him is more end product, more goals and more assists.
“Since the restart, he’s already showing that and he looks great.
“He had injury problems this year, but he’s a good one, a really good one – I’m really happy with him.”
