Pulisic's first year at Chelsea: The U.S. star's highs and lows since dream move to Premier League

Then Burnley happened.

"It's about patience and timing, man, and once you get that feeling and confidence, then everything changes -- then next game, goal, next game, goal, next game, assist -- you have to stay level-headed and be ready for your time," Pulisic said.

It was the perfect hat trick and showed exactly why Chelsea bought Pulisic. "It was meant to be, it was my day," he'd later tell NBC when looking back on the hat trick. His critics were silenced.

"I know what a good player he is -- I see that first-hand," Lampard said of Pulisic after that hat trick. "There are things he has to learn and improve because he's just turned 21. It's the same with all young players. There are things that he's going to work on, and I think he knows it. He knows that I'm driving that daily in training. The way he's trained in the past few weeks, and the impact he's had when playing, he's said to everyone, 'Here I am' and what talent he does have. I'm really pleased for him.

"It's what we need from all our attacking players; to be a threat, to play like that, have a ruthless edge about how they finish and he showed the full package."

Building -- and rebuilding -- momentum

Pulisic's November was impressive. He made it five goals in three league games with a close-range finish against Watford and he nodded in another vs. Crystal Palace, the anchor of Chelsea's youngest-ever starting XI in their Premier League history. A hip injury saw him miss out on USMNT duty, but he scored against Valencia at the end of the month and was starting to show his lethal, evasive running, drifting in off the wing, turning defenders on their heels and creating space.

December was more a stop-start month, and then on Jan. 4, 2020, Pulisic picked up a thigh injury that was meant to keep him out of action for at most four weeks. It would rule him out for far longer. Chelsea tried to get Pulisic back at the end of January and then again in mid-February, when he was back training with the under-23s, but the thigh injury took longer than expected to heal.

"Of course you miss him," Lampard said in mid-February. "He's a quality player and he was having a really good patch pre-Christmas. Others have to stand up too, but we'll be happy when he's back." And then the world was stopped by COVID-19.

Pulisic used the break as an opportunity to return home to Hershey, Pennsylvania, and recharge surrounded by friends and family. But rather than staying sat on the sofa, he'd wake early for the Chelsea Zoom training sessions and then spend the afternoons delivering food packages for feedingamerica.org or helping the local hospital. The time, as he later told Sky Sports, gave him an opportunity to make sure he was "100 percent fit and ready to go." When he checked back in at Cobham ahead of the restart, Lampard described him as "hungry" and was impressed by the "real desire about him" and "sharpness in his game."

Captain America was ready for liftoff.

On June 21 in Chelsea's first Premier League match since the restart of the season, Pulisic came off the bench to score an equaliser at Aston Villa, drifting in at the far post to knock home Cesar Azpilicueta's cross. Four days later he scored the opener against Manchester City, running through the City defence from his own half and calmly slotting the ball past Ederson. (The goal, and ensuing Chelsea win, cemented the Premier League title for Liverpool.)

Pulisic was named man of the match against Leicester in the FA Cup three days later, and won a penalty and a free kick with nifty footwork in Chelsea's defeat to West Ham at the start of July. The Hazard comparisons were becoming more frequent, and as he twisted and turned Watford on July 4 and won a penalty, he cemented his spot in Chelsea's starting lineup. He grabbed his eighth Chelsea goal against Crystal Palace on July 7, and after a dismal team performance against Sheffield United, he teed up Giroud's winner at home against Norwich on July 14.

Sat in the stands watching Pulisic that night, you saw a calmness about him. As he warmed up prematch, largely on his own, he looked assured, joking occasionally with teammates but resembling an Olympic sprinter loosening up before exploding out of the starting blocks. He looked at home, no longer the nervous newcomer. Norwich manager Daniel Farke, who coached Pulisic at Borussia Dortmund II from 2015 to 2017, described him as "top class" and "worth each and every pound" Chelsea spent on him.

"Christian will have a bright future and will be a world-class player one day and this is the best way to develop in this direction," Farke said.

Later that week, Lampard was asked by ESPN about Pulisic's form, and he revealed they had done work on the training pitch to improve the winger's physicality. "I've seen real improvement in his all-round game," Lampard said. "Coming to the Premier League is very difficult because of the physical nature of the league. We have to remember how young Christian is and also the summer that he had.

"I think he found those physical demands pretty strong in the beginning and now you're seeing him deal with those better. A lot of that is a credit to himself and how he's approached it -- he's worked with our strength and conditioning coach Adam Burrows, who's fantastic, but they've worked together -- so it's Christian who has to take on that responsibility, and he has.

"Physically that's helped him, but it's also just his talent is coming through. Looking forward, I want to see more of what he's shown in recent times, which is goals and assists, because that's what the best in the world do in that position. I feel he has the capability to do that as he improves and that can be the edge as his game moves on levels."

Pulisic's form also made good viewing for USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter.

"You see now that he's picking the ball up in space, in pockets and just being really aggressive going at defenders, dribbling defenders," Berhalter said on July 24. "It's not just only on the sidelines, now he's getting it towards the middle of the field and he's had some really positive effects taking players on.

"And then getting used to his teammates and his teammates gaining trust in him. If you watch the games, you can see the dramatic shift and how his teammates relate to him, that they actually look to him. Whereas times in the beginning, you're thinking, 'Wait, why don't they pass him this ball?' Now, they get the ball and their first glance is to him. And you know he's really grown to be an important part of that team, and it's been fun to watch."

When Pulisic arrived at Chelsea, winning the respect of his teammates and Chelsea's supporters was all he wanted.

The turning point vs. Liverpool

The game that made even casual fans sit up and take notice came at Anfield against the recently crowned champions, Liverpool. Pulisic didn't start, but he changed the game after coming on as a 59th-minute substitute. In the space of 14 minutes, he helped Chelsea battle back from 4-1 down to 4-3. To set up Abraham for an easy finish, he danced past Trent Alexander-Arnold, Fabinho and Joe Gomez before squaring for Abraham, and then grabbed a superb goal for himself. The U.S. star drifted into the penalty box off the right flank, collected a beautifully weighted cross from Hudson-Odoi, cushioned the ball on his chest, took two tiny touches to dodge past Alexander-Arnold and then rifled a shot past Alisson.

It gave a sign of his immediate talent, but equally showed what he could offer next season and beyond for Chelsea and the USMNT.

Though Pulisic said he was uneasy about any comparisons with Hazard, aware of the incredible legacy he'd left at Stamford Bridge over seven sparkling seasons (including two league titles and two Europa Leagues), Lampard was seeing similarities between the two.

"I was here for Eden's first year and it is not easy coming to the Premier League, and for Eden in that first year it was [all about] adapting to the Premier League," Lampard said after the Liverpool game. "Christian has had his moments of that, but in midseason he had a really good patch and then since the restart, he has been in incredible form. Only the injury he picked up in the Norwich game has kept him out of the semifinal when he's flying.

"He is so young and he has such natural talent and he creates goals and scores goals. He is a big player for us so I'm delighted to see him come through fit. Clearly he will be a big player in these next few games for us and going forward as well."

And then came the FA Cup final, where Pulisic started brilliantly, scoring a lovely worked goal and then as he attacked again in the second half, his hamstring went. He was helped off the field, distraught and watched on as Arsenal went on to lift the trophy.

But once he recovers, it'll be back into training and continuing that process of nailing down a first-team spot. He's already training with new teammates Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner; with rumours continuing around Chelsea's pursuit of Germany's next big thing, Kai Havertz, it won't get any easier for Pulisic. But Lampard's preseason challenge to Pulisic will be to improve his number of goals and assists -- that's what eventually set Hazard apart, and Pulisic has the capability to achieve similar numbers.

Pulisic is a reluctant trend-setter and wary of the weight on his shoulders as the record-breaking American in the Premier League, but he's comfortable in his own shoes and showing the world why Chelsea paid $73m for him. The pundits who questioned the purchase at the start of the season are now putting him in the world-class bracket, but above all, Pulisic's biggest achievement, on a personal level, is that he now feels at home at Chelsea and has earned the respect of his teammates.

The next Hazard? No, Pulisic is making a name for himself in his own right.