Tim Howard claims Chelsea coaches were biased against Pulisic

Former United States men’s national team star Tim Howard has asserted that Christian Pulisic did not get a fair chance at Chelsea. Pulisic recently departed the Blues after spending four seasons with the Premier League side. Chelsea previously paid Borussia Dortmund around $73 million for the playmaker. However, the club then sold the American to AC Milan in July for $22 million.

Howard made the claims of Chelsea’s bias while on the Offside with Taylor Twellman podcast. “For as much as people want to say that the landscape has changed for Americans, it has not,” proclaimed Howard.

“I think Christian Pulisic did a brilliant job. When he was called upon in that Chelsea team, if he was Dutch or Italian or anything else, he’d still be in the team. He wouldn’t be the first one pulled off the pitch, he wouldn’t be a substitute.”

Howard says Pulisic played well in limited minutes at Chelsea

Pulisic started his Chelsea career with a fairly successful freshman campaign. The American managed to grab 13 combined goals and assists in 25 league appearances. Pulisic was in the starting lineup in 19 of these 25 matches. However, the USMNT star’s playing time soon began to dwindle.

He received a similar amount of total playing time in 2020/21. However, Pulisic earned fewer Premier League starts. His total minutes then continued to drop during his final two campaigns with the club. The American played just 823 total minutes in Premier League play last season.

Pulisic’s goal involvement in the league with Chelsea also plummeted as well. The playmaker averaged a goal or assist every 132 minutes in the Premier League during his first season with the club. Nevertheless, this statistic dropped to an unimpressive goal involvement every 406 minutes during his final English campaign.

Matt Turner also hints at a bias during time with Arsenal

Howard’s comments came just days after current USMNT goalkeeper Matt Turner made similar remarks about himself. Turner departed Arsenal this summer after spending just one season as Aaron Ramsdale’s backup.

“Towards the end of the season, I felt like there were games that I could have been playing that I wasn’t even getting really a sniff of them,” stated Turner. “I was training really well. I felt like I was doing everything in my power to get myself minutes on the team and that just wasn’t happening for me.”

Turner’s move to Nottingham Forest afforded him an instant starting role. He has two wins in his four starts, including a clean sheet at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea.

“I knew that if I waited another year, it would probably have been more challenging for me to make a lateral move within the Premier League. So I knew that time was of the essence at that point. If I went another season without playing, I would have probably had to take a step back and once you’re out of it, it’s hard to get back into it, especially when you’re not English.”

Turner has performed fairly well with Nottingham Forest so far this season. This includes keeping a clean sheet against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Pulisic has also fared well in Italy. The American has already netted two goals in three Serie A games with Milan.

PHOTO: IMAGO / ZUMA Wire