Pulisic states he has full backing of boss Lampard to succeed at Chelsea after scoring his first hat-trick.
‘He believes in me and he’s told me that,’ Pulisic said of his manager. ‘You have to keep working hard in training and earn your spot, that’s how it is at the highest level.
‘I’m going to continue to do so. This is hopefully just the start. I didn’t come here expecting everything to be easy and have an easy route and start every game.’
The spotlight on Pulisic back in the States has been intense. He is the great hope for chip-on-the-shoulder soccer-lovers across the Atlantic, seen as the man equipped to show the world that Americans can perform on the elite stage.
Not that he feels any extra responsibility. ‘I don’t feel pressure from back home at all,’ Pulisic said. ‘I know who I need to worry about at home and that is my family and my closest friends and those who care about me. And I have their support and that is what matters to me.’
That said, he was honest enough to accept that he felt a burden lifted, something illustrated by his slide and scream after his first goal, a clinical bottom-corner sweep after a 30-yard burst.
‘Of course there is a sense of relief — you could see that in my emotions after the first goal. That relief of getting my first goal and being able to help my team at this level. It’s really good for me.’ It was the first hat-trick of Pulisic’s career.
