Christian
Pulisic has been challenged by Chelsea head coach Frank Lampard to produce
the level of output to rival players like Raheem Sterling, Sadio Mane and
Mohamed Salah.
The 21-year-old has made a big impact since the season resumed, scoring in
Chelsea's wins against Aston Villa and Manchester City.
The USA international is Chelsea's second top scorer in the Premier League
with seven goals despite being limited to 13 starts.
Lampard says he understands the importance of keeping his age under
consideration but believes Pulisic has the talent and must aspire to reach
the level of the league's top wide attackers.
"I think he can be a really big player, because he broke through at such a
young age in Germany and he made a big move, obviously expectations rise but
you have to keep the age in consideration," Lampard said.
"There is no doubt about his quality, we can see that and he is very keen to
improve. He's particularly hungry at the minute because he missed some time
with an injury.
"If he looks at players around him that have made that sort of a jump, he
has the ability like Raheem Sterling to produce numbers from wide areas,
like [Mo] Salah and [Sadio] Mane. He understands the work that needs to be
done to do that. He definitely has the talent, he needs to get to that
level.
"I'm delighted to have him at the minute, he works hard everyday, he has to
set his sights as high as he possibly can."
Lampard: First trophy can push us on
Lampard goes into Sunday's FA Cup quarter-final against Leicester knowing he
is potentially just three wins away from his first trophy as a manager.
He recalls how Chelsea's first trophy under Jose Mourinho, a League Cup
triumph in 2005, set the precedent for success in the Premier League.
"[Winning the first trophy] was very important to us at the time because we
were a team of not many winners, we didn't have too many titles between us,
we were a relatively young team. Jose brought that mentality to us and
winning the first one obviously helps you to push on.
"In our team I feel we have a mixture of players who have been here and won
a lot and some younger players who haven't done that, in my managerial
career I haven't. I recognise the importance of that, that's what we are
here for, to win things at a club like Chelsea.
"It doesn't fall short on me, the FA Cup is something we are going to give
everything to [try and win]. We have a difficult game against Leicester of
course, we know the quality they have but we have to focus on trying to go
as far as we can, it would be a big boost if we got further."
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