Looking back at Christian Pulisic’s time at Borussia Dortmund as he prepares for his final game

Christian Pulisic will wear the black and yellow one final time this Saturday before his move to Chelsea this summer.

Christian Pulisic’s five year tenure at Borussia Dortmund comes to an end after this Saturdays game. Although he hasn’t had the best of seasons, we can all look back at his time with the Black and Yellows with great fondness as he moves on to the Premier League.

The Beginning

Christian Pulisic joined Borussia Dortmund’s youth academy in February of 2015 as a 16 year old. He jumped right into the U17 team and hit the ground running, scoring 5 goals and adding 3 assists in five games. He continued to thrive when moved up to the U19s as a 17 year old, scoring 6 goals and adding 6 assists in 12 games through the first half of the season.

Pulisic along with Passlack and Larsen had made the team their own at this point, and Dortmund seemed to have three very promising prospects rising through the ranks. Thomas Tuchel awarded those three players with a call up to the senior squad during the January break.

First Team Breakthrough

Pulisic joined Dortmund’s first team training in January of 2016 as a 17 year old. After impressing Tuchel during the January break he got his first time with the Dortmund first team, making his Debut on January 30th, 2016. He would stay with Dortmund for the next 3 games coming on as a substitute before being sent back down to the U19s.

Pulisic would rejoin the first team in April to close out the season, setting a new Bundesliga record in the process. He would become the youngest player to score 2 Bundesliga goals, scoring back to back against Hamburger and Stuttgart. Pulisic would also feature in the Europa League to close out a great first half season of first team action.

First Team Regular

By the time the 2016/2017 Bundesliga season rolled around Pulisic was an established first team player and this would be the season that the rest of the world found out abut Christian Pulisic. As an 18 year old he jumped onto the stage with displays of pure pace and dribbling technique that sent Dortmund fans into a frenzy of excitement. Not a player bought for a huge fee, but someone who had climbed through some of the youth system that had superstar potential, and he was Dortmund’s own.

He mainly featured as a super sub in his first full season unless Reus was injured, but it was almost unfair to opponent defenses. In the first 70 minutes opponents would have to deal with Dembele and Reus. Then later in the game, Pulisic would come on to take advantage of their tired legs that stood no chance of keeping up with his pace. He would finish the Bundesliga season with 3 goals and 8 assists in just over 1500 minutes, pretty exceptional return for an 18 year old.

The 2017/2018 season was a turbulent one, and naturally most players struggled to find consistency throughout the year. At the beginning of the year, when Dortmund went on that incredible run to start the season, Pulisic was a driving force behind that success. By the time Stoger took over Pulisic was playing nearly every minute. He would end up playing the 3rd most Bundesliga minutes on the squad by the end of the season. An incredible load to ask a 19 year old to bear.

Final Season

Now we turn to this year, it has been a long road for the young American and not always a smooth one. This season especially, Pulisic struggled for form and minutes for the majority of the season. He hasn’t played even half of the minutes this season in the Bundesliga that he did last season. His move to Chelsea was likely a factor in his play this season, as he was never really at the level we had come to expect of him.

However, he has picked a great time to have a significant uptick in form. Marco Reus was suspended for two games for his red card and Pulisic jumped into the attacking lineup as if he had been starting all season. His last two games have been completely different than the rest of the year. Full of confidence, not forcing his dribbles which allows him to take on defenders when he has a good opportunity, not just any opportunity.

Although he hasn’t had his best season, and I for one have been one of the first to criticize some of his performances, Pulisic is a player Dortmund will miss. He has a very promising career ahead of him and if he is able to consistently play with the confidence we’ve seen at times, he will undoubtedly succeed at Chelsea.

We’ve seen him come as a boy and leave as a young man, Auf Wiedersehen Christian, thanks for the great five years.

HEJA BVB