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Tuchel explains 'unfair' decision to keep Pulisic on Chelsea bench
The American attacker has struggled to push his way into the line-up since Frank Lampard's departure
Thomas Tuchel says that Christian Pulisic has been "unlucky" not to start for Chelsea as the Blues boss has full trust in his former Borussia Dortmund player.
Chelsea have dominated since Tuchel took over for Frank Lampard in January, with the most recent triumph coming in a 2-0 win over Everton.
Under Tuchel, Chelsea are now unbeaten in nine games, but Pulisic has contributed little, having been left out of every one of Tuchel's Premier League starting line-ups since his hiring.
Tuchel on Pulisic
"I can say nothing else but good things about him. Maybe his biggest problem is that I know him from Dortmund and I think he started only in the cup games," Tuchel said at his postgame press conference.
"It is my responsibility and it is a bit unfair but I know what impact he can have in the last 20 or 30 minutes.
"He was a bit unlucky in the last few games. It isn't a lack of trust or quality, it is just that he will have to be patient.
"I have another guy who I would love to mention in Emerson [Palmieri] who suffers from bad decisions by me. He does not play but he is an amazing guy who trains at the highest level and he never lets the team down with his mentality. It was a super hard decision today to have him out of the squad, the same with Tammy [Abraham].
"It is like this, we have a strong group. The guys have to keep on fighting. There's no other way."
Pulisic this season
After emerging as one of Chelsea's stars after the restart last season, Pulisic has struggled to replicate that form this campaign.
The U.S. men's national team star battled injuries to start this season and has never truly reached the heights of his 11-goal debut season in London.
Pulisic has only found the back of the net twice in 24 appearances this season and has now fallen out of the starting XI since Tuchel's introduction.
Tuchel, who previously managed Pulisic from 2016-17 while the two were both at Borussia Dortmund, has said that he believes that Pulisic deserves to start for Chelsea but has yet to select him as a starter in the Premier League.
