Christian Pulisic diagnosed with quadriceps strain -- similar injuries have already sidelined him four different times in 2018-19. https://t.co/VIpEdjhnq3 @pkedit pic.twitter.com/16M302iEjI— SoccerAmerica (@socceramerica) March 28, 2019
If national teams can't call players in on scheduled dates, you may as well just throw away international soccer altogether. FIFA dates for this stuff are specifically arranged so that players are available. Teams complain because they'd really rather the whole international thing went away. Personally, I disagree.
He is making the money regardless of whether he is playing, hurt, on the bench, etc I am confused. He needs more nats games than anyone ( perhaps unfairly) since we are in a rebuilding phase and a large majority of our success revolves integrating a system and players that maximize his impact. The gold cup is important for us. He was cleared as healthy and apparently a goal celebration tweaked something which was highly unlikely. I understand the concern about the frequency of nagging injuries being a concern, but preparation and the gold cup itself is most definitely worth the risk. Risk is part of being a professional
So his career is best served by ignoring what's going on this year? And no, he doesn't need nats games. He's got plenty of high level performances. Every week in the Bund he performs at a level above national team footie, and he will continue to do that at Chelsea. he can show up at Qs and the WCup and be just dandy. We disagree. The US has enough to make a run in the Gold Cup without him, and there was almost zero reason to call him over for a cup of coffee right now. This isn't "preparation" because it lasted a week and now it's over until summer. The way Pulisic will play will be determined by his club managers. Berhalter gets a couple weeks before the Cups to make his mark.
Yep. Pulisic may be a step above any prior U.S. star, but to surpass them he will still have to put in the miles and caps. And Pulisic may also need to carry inferior players like they did, although I hope the player pool improves in the coming years. The only shortcut for Pulisic would be phenomenal performances in non-Gold Cup tournaments for the U.S.
I don't think Christian Pulisic thinks it's "sad" that he's playing with "so many crap players". He probably relishes his time playing for the USMNT, no matter who he's playing with. It's sad that we missed the WC and that he, along with WM, got hurt.
I'd bet he is pissed about having to play with these inferior players when there are much better options out there. He was very upset missing the WC and it was pretty that happened due to Arena eliminating better players who are also ones he identified with more. I would be very annoyed that it is happening again.
Not a serial killer, but an arrogant a$$! Here is what we played vs T&T. Brooks was injured, but where was Jones, Johnson, Cameron, Chandler, etc? Those first three should easily have started over Nagbe, Gonzo, and Villafana. Jones is just a no brainer after watching CP get kicked by CR. He was just coming back from injury but the team desperately needed his intensity. Howard Yedlin Gonzalez Besler Villafaña (Acosta, 72) Bradley (capt.) Arriola (Dempsey, 46) Pulisic-1 Nagbe (Feilhaber, 84) Wood Altidore
Jones? Bruce Arena failed to look outside his tiny coroporate box by failing to pick a 36 year old who was coming off a truly bad season? I loved Jones, but he wasn't a make a difference player by 2017. Chanlder? Cameron? I think the answer to why the US missed that cup is getting clearer and clearer. I would have liked to see Johnson, or someone other than Howard at that point.
I dont care about his age. Jones has a bigger heart than anyone on the field that day and that is what was needed. First video Check out him tracking back 0:53 of the first video below and then remember the effort from Nagbe, Second vide0 0:30 see Jones distribution from deep, 0:46 breaking up play in midfield 1:28 assist 2:17 almost another assist with ball over the top Since JJ was just coming back from injury probably not at full fitness, he looked many time in those videos to be focused maintaining defensive shape. Our midfield would have been materially better with a 36 yo Jones instead of Nagbe. Cameron is significantly better than Gonzo and FJ is much better than Villafana. After all the mistakes Arena made, we would have qualified by just making those changes vs T&T.
Back to CP. What many seem to miss about how important he is for US soccer is the impact he has had on others going abroad. Some are calling him a trailblazer and his buddies talk about influential he was in having them join him.