By- Oma Akatugba
Chelsea captain, Cesare Azpilicueta has explained why Christian Pulisic’s bright start has not been consistent.
Pulisic started like a house on fire at Chelsea but has since dropped in performances, as he continues to play bit-part roles. He was dropped in the Blues’ Champions League game against Lille and skipper, ‘Azpilicueta said he will come good, and is only undergoing a period of adaptation.
‘He is working hard. We are a group, we are all important in this long path and we have a long season ahead,” Azpilicueta said.
”He is working hard and sometimes you know it’s hard to make decisions but I see him working hard in training. I’ll only keep encouraging him to keep working because in a new country and a new team, he needs a bit of time of adaptation. I know he has the character and I can tell he will be important for us for the season if he keeps working hard.”
He also spoke about the starring of Chelsea’s academy products in the Blues’ win over Lille during the week. He hailed the players for giving good accounts of themselves in the game.
Frank Lampard fielded Fikayo Tomori, Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount, Reece James, and Kurt Zouma and brought on Hudson-Odoi later on. The youngsters came to the party as two of them – Tomori and Abraham combined to score the first before Hudson-Odoi assisted Willian with the second in a 2-1 win over Lille.
”For few of them, it was the first UCL game, for some of them, they were in the their first game away from home,” Azpilicueta said. ”It was very positive to see young lads involved in the Champions League. It’s a good experience for all of them and hopefully, we can live that kind of night for a long time.”
