Pulisic must prove he deserves Chelsea place – Lampard

Christian Pulisic needs to work daily to show he deserves to play regularly for Chelsea, manager Frank Lampard has said.The United States international did not even make the bench for Wednesdays Champions League match at Lille and has struggled to make his mark since moving to Stamford Bridge in the summer.Pulisics 58 million transfer from Borussia Dortmund was agreed in January when Lampard was not manager but he has not played in the Premier League since August 31 and may not even be selected as a substitute for the Blues fixture at Southampton on Sunday.Frank Lampards side travel to Southampton on Sunday (Joe Giddens/PA).After joining the club for a significant amount of money, more was expected of the American, who turned in an underwhelming display in his recent start against Grimsby in the Carabao Cup.On Pulisic, Lampard said: Hes level. I spoke to him two days before the Grimsby game and was very clear about the standards and we have to give him the fact hes moved country and moved leagues.Hes as young as all the young players we keep talking about. Hes just turned 21, so I think, if anyone is getting too excited about this, they should calm down because hes started five games for us.What he needs to do is work, work daily, work to show within the group that he deserves to play as all the players do, so thats what the focus on everyone is.Like Christian Pulisic, Ross Barkley was not involved against Lille (Steven Paston/PA).Pulisic was not the only high-profile player not involved at Lille, with Ross Barkley not in the 18.And Lampard added: This is one of my difficult problems in this job. I have good players and everyone has a story.Pulisic has a price tag, Barkley is an international player, Mason Mount is an international player, Callum Hudson-Odoi just signed a new contract,Bayern Munich wanted to buy him last summer and hes an international player.Ruben Loftus-Cheek will come back and be an international player. I cant pick them all. All I have to demand of them is that they show me in training and show me they are worthy of the place.Callum Hudson-Odoi has impressed off the bench in recent games (Joe Giddens/PA).Its just my job. Next week you might be asking me about two other names. Its the competition that we have.The return to fitness of Hudson-Odoi has further pushed Pulisic down the pecking order, although the England youngster was recently warned by Lampard.After the 7-1 win over Grimsby, the Chelsea boss admitted the 21-year-old had areas where he needs to learn if he wants to become a regular.Since then, Hudson-Odoi has been an impact substitute on two occasions for the Blues, setting up goals in the wins over Brighton and Lille.Im really pleased and that has to continue. We can all focus on Pulisic from the other day but Callums the same and I have to speak in the real world when I speak to them and sometimes as a manager you want more, Lampard said. You have to be honest and the players have to react and Callum has now come on with two assists in the games hes come on and thats what you want to keep pushing.Olivier Giroud is another who has struggled for game-time since Lampard took over at Stamford Bridge, but the Frenchman was praised by the ex-Derby boss.Lampard added: My relationship is really good with him. Hes a great professional, trains at a level everyday, great in the dressing room and in the game passes on experience.Everyone wants to play. I understand that and accept that. I was one of the worst. I hated not playing. I was terrible so on this side of the fence I get it, but all I want to see is positivity, how they are daily in the place and Im seeing that.All good teams need a big squad in these modern days to try and be a successful team and it will need everyone pulling through the season in the same direction whether playing or not and, to be fair to Oli, hes been fantastic and well need him.(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
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