Tammy Abraham spent much of his 14 minutes on the Stamford Bridge pitch against Watford growing increasingly exasperated with Christian Pulisic.
Keen to impress Frank Lampard with a goal off the bench, Abraham sprang into action whenever Chelsea poured forward in numbers in search of the third goal Ross Barkley would eventually find in injury time. Pulisic, however, was eager to cap a man-of-the-match performance with a goal of his own, and his eyes lit up as soon as he caught sight of Ben Foster’s goal.
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When the American had a shot blocked in the final minute with Abraham in space through the middle, the young Chelsea striker threw his head skyward in frustration, stretching his arms out in front of him to signal where he had wanted the pass played.
The moment, easy to miss in the final minutes of a match relatively light on drama, was memorable not because Abraham’s frustration was anything hugely significant; attacking team-mates remonstrate with each other all the time when a promising move is undone by the wrong decision. It was memorable because of the man with whom Pulisic, blossoming with every Premier League game he plays, is being compared.
In his seven years at Chelsea, nobody ever had a go at Eden Hazard for not passing to them.
“They can both go by players and are great to watch,” Lampard said in response to a question that mentioned Hazard and Pulisic in the same breath. “Eden did it here and was sensational. I don’t want to quite get on that comparison, but at the same time, I don’t want to take anything away from Christian. What he’s showing is a real natural ability, a balance, speed to dribble with the ball.
“The next step for him is a better end product, more goals, more assists. But since the restart, he’s already shown that, which is great. He’s had injury problems this season but he’s a good one, a really good one. I’m very happy with him.”
It’s easy to understand where the comparisons come from. Pulisic has taken Hazard’s old position on the left of Chelsea’s attack and is similarly tasked with using his speed and dribbling to panic defenders into mistakes and create space for team-mates. They contribute to the game in many of the same areas. Just look at Pulisic’s touch map from the Watford game…
…and compare it to Hazard’s touch map from last season’s corresponding fixture, which also ended in a 3-0 Chelsea victory.
Some of Pulisic’s movements are even slightly reminiscent of the Belgian and he is quickly becoming every bit as adept at winning penalties. Etienne Capoue’s foul for the spot-kick that doubled Chelsea’s lead before half-time was one of the clumsiest of the season, running full speed into Pulisic like a FIFA glitch.
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Part of the reason it looked so hapless was Pulisic’s spectacular control of pace and direction, first to dart towards the byline and then to craftily flick the ball inside when he sensed Capoue rushing towards him. West Ham defender Issa Diop, fooled by another lightning feint and a sharp turn in the penalty area at the London Stadium on Wednesday, would surely sympathise.
The ability to commit multiple defenders with speed or guile, or a combination of the two, is a rare gift that made Hazard invaluable to Chelsea in matches against teams like Watford – opponents happy to sit deep, compact the spaces between their defensive lines and challenge their opponents to conjure some magic.
Pulisic is the only man in the current squad to consistently exhibit this ability and it makes him the most important player Lampard has for the games that have tripped Chelsea up so often this season.
“Eden was incredible for Chelsea and is a world-class player, so I’m not going to try to compare myself to him,” Pulisic said afterwards. “I’m just going to try to be my own player and hopefully the fans like that guy. I feel confident in my game right now and I’m happy to be on the field to help my team. I’m just going to continue and keep my confidence high.”
Pulisic shouldn’t be expected to say anything else, but he also happens to be right. For all the similarities between he and Hazard, the differences are just as evident. He does not yet have the Belgian’s muscular frame, ensuring that each of the four fouls he won from Watford defenders on Saturday prompted a wince.
Their respective running styles are also different: Hazard tended to glide as he slalomed between defenders, but Pulisic surges past them with an industrious sprint. Chelsea’s former talisman played Premier League football at the pace of his choosing, slowing down and standing up opponents before leaving them in his wake, while their current one approaches every contribution to the game with a relentless intensity drilled into all players made at Borussia Dortmund.
Ultimately, the fundamental distinction between Hazard and Pulisic is one of mentality. Hazard goes on to the pitch with the mindset of a showman, eager to entertain the people watching by demonstrating just how much better he is than everyone else. Pulisic is a pure assassin.
In his seven years at Chelsea, nobody ever had a go at Hazard for not passing for two reasons. First, he was so clearly the best player. Second, he always did pass.
Hazard’s natural unselfishness exasperated every manager he had at Chelsea to varying degrees. He had to be pushed year-on-year into becoming a more assertive presence at the heart of the team’s attack. Pulisic has no such conflict: he is already averaging more shots on goal (3.5) per 90 minutes in the Premier League than Hazard (2.9) managed in his final, and most prolific, scoring season at Stamford Bridge.
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Pulisic’s attacking role at Chelsea is much more focused in its scope. He averages around 20 fewer touches (59.7 compared to 82.4) per 90 minutes this season than Hazard did in 2018-19, yet makes more touches in the opposition box per 90 minutes (7.9 for Pulisic, 7.4 for Hazard). He also attempts 35.2 passes per 90 minutes to Hazard’s 56.
In the latter years of his Chelsea career, giving Hazard the ball essentially became Chelsea’s entire attacking system. There is no need for Pulisic to assume such playmaking responsibility in Lampard’s team. He has plenty of talented midfielders capable of feeding him the ball in positions where he can immediately turn and drive at goal. It’s understandable, therefore, that he averages half as many key passes (1.5) as Hazard (3) did per 90 minutes in 2018-19.
Pulisic is an intelligent passer in the final third, but Lampard has encouraged him to be aggressive in seeking out goalscoring opportunities and hunting for his own shots. He ranks fourth in the Premier League for shots per 90 minutes (3.5) among players with more than 1,000 minutes to their names, behind only Sergio Aguero, Gabriel Jesus and Mohamed Salah.
Abraham averages 3.4 shots per 90 minutes, while Timo Werner has averaged 3.9 per 90 in the Bundesliga this season and Hakim Ziyech has averaged 4.9 in the Eredivisie. It will be fascinating to see what kind of balance Lampard’s attackers strike next season, but there seems no reason why Pulisic should willingly take a back seat.
The numbers suggest he is a good finisher. His expected goals on target (xGOT) rating, which takes shot quality into account, is 9.56, which suggests he has been slightly unlucky only to score seven goals in the Premier League this season. He has converted 36 per cent of his 11 big chances and has a healthy overall shot conversion rate of 18 per cent.
Pulisic still has a way to go to reach the level of Hazard, who was exceptionally efficient last season. His 16 Premier League goals had an expected goals (xG) value of 10.53, boosted by his spectacularly accurate finishing up to an xGOT rating of 15.24. He converted 27 per cent of his shots and a remarkable 55.6 per cent of his 18 big chances. He may not have shot as often as he could have or even should have, but when he did, good things happened for Chelsea.
Good things are happening for Lampard now that Pulisic is back fit, back in his team and back to his best. He is not the same as Hazard and he will not follow the same path, but there are already very promising signs that he can be every bit as valuable to Chelsea in the long term.
(Photo: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
