Thomas Tuchel’s double substitution on Saturday at Leicester helped seal a vital three points and provide a positive answer to recent doubts on attacking duo.
When Christian Pulisic darted into the box to latch onto Hakim Ziyech’s pass, most supporters would have seen it as a vital goal to secure Chelsea’s dominant 3-0 victory at the King Power.
But for both players, it might turn out to mean something much more in the coming months, given the questions being posed over the duo’s future in west London.
For the scorer Pulisic, whose strike was his second Premier League goal of the season in only three league appearances, this was a refreshing reminder of the quality the winger can provide when available after being sidelined for nearly two months due to an ankle injury.
For the creator Ziyech, it was a moment of the invention that the Moroccan has rarely provided so far this term after recovering from a shoulder injury in August.
Naturally, with the level of competition in this squad so fierce, thoughts lead to both fringe figures being on the Blues future departure list given Pulisic’s persistent lack of availability since signing in 2019 and Ziyech’s inability to reproduce the scintillating form he showed for Ajax.
Given the greater expenditure on Pulisic in 2019, they may be more hesitancy from Marina Granovskaia to cut her losses so prematurely on the £60m talent given the regret of allowing players like Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah to exit before they had a chance to blossom.
The club website released an article on Friday night titled “Update on future of Hakim Ziyech”, it included quotes from Tuchel’s pre-match press conference and could be viewed as a response to rumours days before linking the 28-year-old with a mid-season move to one of Tuchel’s former clubs Borussia Dortmund.
In the piece Tuchel unsurprisingly backed his winger, detailing how he is still a part of his plans.
“In the moment, here in Cobham there are no thoughts about his future or a potential change, a swap deal or whatever in winter, I have talked to nobody about it here in Cobham.
“Hakim was not in my office to express a wish like this. Right now, he is an important guy. He is very talented, very ambitious and he is a full part of the squad.
“He was last season and is this season. We expect the very best of him all the time, but it is tough competition. I cannot let everybody play all the time for 90 minutes. It is simply not possible.”
The pair replaced Tuchel’s more favoured duo of Kai Havertz and Mason Mount whose clever movement had been instrumental in the Blues ability to disrupt Leicester’s shape, but neither had truly left a defining imprint on the afternoon, giving their replacements the chance to stake a claim for more minutes.
“It’s one of Christian’s key qualities, to arrive exactly like that, not only in the box but also in the six-yard box. This is top-quality from him.” Tuchel said after the win.
“He gives something of course in terms of sprints, repetitive sprints, intensity on and off the ball, but at the end of the attacks he is hungry to score, he arrives in the box and this is where we need players also, to be dangerous and to score.
“I’m very happy that, after a long time when he suffered from Coronavirus and injury, that he is back and decisive straight away and I’m very happy also for Hakim, who deserved to start, that he was again involved with an assist.”
Tuchel has spoken about the level of intensity from his players in training preceding the trip to the Midlands and it was notable how that lead to Chelsea’s most complete performance of the season so far.
It is well documented how much Tuchel values the big squad he is privileged to have, also consistently advocating for the introduction of five substitutes which he is only able to use in the Champions League and League Cup.
The fact both players are stylistically very different to the likes of Havertz, Mount and Callum Hudson-Odoi showcases why many view Chelsea as a serious title contender, the luxury of being able to throw on two attacking wildcards worth a combined fee of £93m to seal the win.
Ziyech’s more freestyle nature, aiming to orchestrate space to utilise his wand of a left foot seems to connect well with Pulisic’s anticipation inside the box, on two occasions making similar runs across Leicester defenders.
This was the first time this season the pair had been on the pitch together at the same time. Pulisic replaced the injured Ziyech in the UEFA Super Cup against Villarreal back in August and came off for the American again after his winning goal at Malmo earlier this month.
With a number of games coming thick and fast for Tuchel, it will be intriguing to witness if this combination can grow into something more substantial rather than a short flicker.
And that sentiment feels apt for the future of both of their careers at Stamford Bridge so far, becoming more reliable and longer-lasting.
Pulisic and Ziyech have flirted with brilliance and Saturday was a positive moment to briefly silence recent doubts, now it is time to see if they can be more than exciting cameos for Tuchel.
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