Christian Pulisic of Chelsea has launched an angry tirade at former head coach Thomas Tuchel for the manner the German handled him.
Graham Potter has now taken over for Tuchel, who was fired by the Blues earlier this month after they lost to Dinamo Zagreb in their Champions League opener.
During his brief tenure at Stamford Bridge, he was quite successful, winning the Champions League, Super Cup, and Club World Cup. He also led Chelsea to two FA Cup runners-up places and a League Cup final.
United States international Pulisic, a 24-year-old attacking midfielder, freely admitted he was not Tuchel’s biggest admirer, therefore he was one player he was unable to convert.
Christian Pulisic had a disagreement with Tuchel on the Champions League semi-final matchup against Real Madrid in his most recent book, Christian Pulisic: My Journey So Far.
Pulisic admitted that “what transpired before that [second leg] was quite disappointing for me.”
We played Fulham in the league the next game after a pretty strong first leg performance.
100 – Thomas Tuchel took charge of exactly 100 games during his time as Chelsea boss; in his first 50 the Blues kept 31 clean sheets, but his second 50 saw them keep just 18. Diminished. pic.twitter.com/8CfvZBh7pu
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 7, 2022
‘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… 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.
4 – Despite being in charge of Chelsea for just 589 days, no manager has ever reached more major domestic/European finals with the Blues than Thomas Tuchel (4). Memorable. pic.twitter.com/3OwFdv1cOi
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 7, 2022
‘So by the time he brought me on with about 25 minutes left, I was just so wound up.’
Thierry Henry has said he was left surprised by the fact that Pulisic did not leave Chelsea this summer.
Pulisic was linked with a move away in the summer transfer window amid interest from Manchester United and Newcastle.
Italian clubs AC Milan and Juventus were also thought to be keen and he was even on Liverpool’s radar.
Meanwhile, USA boss Greg Berhalter believes that Tuchel’s sacking can be a positive for former Borussia Dortmund star Pulisic.
‘I’m not happy a guy lost his job, but if this means more opportunity for Christian, then it’s positive,’ he said.