Thierry Henry has urged Christian Pulisic to improve his displays against defensive sides in order to match Eden Hazard’s level for Chelsea.
Pulisic scored Chelsea’s second goal in their 2-0 win over Lille in the UEFA Champions League last 16 on Tuesday evening.
But the United States international, who was signed for £58m in 2019, has struggled to make an impact this campaign, largely due to injury.
But, Henry believes Pulisic can raise his game by ‘unlocking’ tight defences in the same way Hazard used to do for the London club.
‘When I look at Pulisic and you see the clips, all of the clips [of his skills] are in transition,’ Henry told CBS Sports. ‘If you want to be big at this club, Eden Hazard could unlock something when the [opposing] team was low. ‘And I haven’t seen that with him yet. He can do transitions, yes.
‘But can he unlock it with a [Mohamed] Salah movement or, back in the day, Eden Hazard movement? I’ve not seen that yet.’
Meanwhile, former Liverpool central defender Jamie Carragher believes Pulisic has more quality than Mason Mount, Hakim Ziyech and Kai Havertz but needs to be consistent.
‘I tell you why I get frustrated because there’s four or five players for Chelsea who can play in the two positions behind the striker,’ said Carragher.
‘He’s [Pulisic] got the most quality. I think he’s got more quality than Mason Mount, he’s got more quality than Ziyech, I think he’s got more quality than Havertz, who is a player who likes to get in the box and score goals.
‘Technically, and moving with the ball, he’s the best player I’ve seen quality-wise. I just don’t see it enough.
‘And a lot of that, to be fair, is to do with his injury record. That is something that has to improve. I think he should be almost a certain starter in that position behind the main striker.’
