Chelsea star Christian Pulisic has shed light on his troubled relationship with Thomas Tuchel which seemingly began in the lead up to the club's Champions League triumph in 2020-21.
The former Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain was said to have told Pulisic he would be rested for a game at Fulham prior to the second leg of their semi-final vs. Real Madrid.
The American had scored in the first game of the tie, in Madrid, before eventually coming on as a substitute in the return leg at Stamford Bridge.
Resultantly, Pulisic was aggrieved at the decision as he elucidated in his upcoming autography 'Christian Pulisic: My Journey So Far', available for purchase on October 18.
'What happened before that game was hugely disappointing for me,' Pulisic said.
'I’d had a really good first leg performance and our following match was against Fulham in the league.
'Tuchel told me that he was resting me for the second leg and as a result I didn’t play a single minute in the Fulham game.
'Then on match day of the second semi, Tuchel tells me he’s changed his mind and he’s going with Kai [Havertz]. I honestly was dumbfounded and very disappointed.
'I thought that I’d earned a start and, most importantly, he had assured me previously I was going to start.
'So by the time he brought me on with about 25 minutes left, I was just so wound up.'
Chelsea won 2-0 in the second leg to progress to the final on a 3-1 aggregate, where a Kai Havertz goal sealed Champions League glory against Manchester City.
Pulisic attests that his decisive first leg goal would not have been possible had he acquiesced to the instructions of Tuchel in Madrid.
'The untold story behind that goal is that when [Antonio] Rüdiger has the ball, I can see he’s looking to play it long over the top and I started my run to get in behind the Madrid backline,' he revealed.
'But as I take off on the run, I hear Thomas Tuchel yelling from the sideline, “Christian, stay in the pocket, don’t make the run!” But I just had the feeling I’d find the space and get on the end of the pass, so I continued the run.
'I cut across the front of Nacho and behind [Raphaël] Varane. When I got the ball I thought I was going to have to shoot straight away, but then I realized that I had far more time than I thought I would have because Nacho had run to cover the goal line and Varane was more concerned about marking the arrival into the box of [Timo] Werner.
'So I thought that I would create a better angle for myself by rounding Courtois and then being able to pick my spot.'
Despite winning the second most recent Champions League, Tuchel was fired on September 7 after a loss to Dinamo Zagreb.
Meanwhile, Pulisic has not fared much better in his quest for game time since the German's departure, playing just six minutes in Chelsea's 1-1 draw with RB Salzburg last week.
'Christian Pulisic: My Journey So Far' can be preordered here.