Feeling the Blues at Chelsea, Can the U.S.’s Top Star Rise?

Adam Aminoff was hard to miss. It was a crisp early October afternoon in London, and we were at a massive sports bar directly across from the Victoria underground station, watching the North London Derby between Arsenal and Tottenham. The pub was packed, and Aminoff stood out among the crowd. He was dressed like an old English golfer—knickers with high socks, a waistcoat and tie, a jaunty cap and all of it, head to toe, brown plaid. It was a hell of a look. It was his bachelor party, which might have explained why he was dressed that way. Or maybe he just likes to get a good fit off while having a couple of pints. I didn’t want to ask and ruin the vibe.

We spent a lot of time talking about Chelsea. He’s been a season-ticket holder for 20 years. When I pressed for his take on Christian Pulisic—the embattled American who was buried on the bench for much of the season under former manager Thomas Tuchel, before Tuchel was sacked and replaced by Graham Potter—I heard one of Aminoff’s friends groan. Possibly because I was an American asking about an American, possibly because Pulisic hasn’t exactly distinguished himself during his time at Stamford Bridge. Possibly both.

“For the Premier League, I think he’s a little lightweight,” Aminoff told me, proceeding to rattle off a host of Pulisic’s deficiencies as he saw it. Not big enough. Not strong enough. Not fast enough. Not consistent enough. Aminoff conceded that Pulisic has talent, but as far as playing football “at the elite level,” he thought Americans in general, and that one in specific, were “still a little bit far off the standard of the Premier League.”