i thought he looked a bit timid...dempsey had him wide open for a goal and didnt pass it....he alsmost made a nice run through the middle on the last play of the game.....hes gunna be something special, you can already see it
Was it ever a real doubt? Honestly. Did he ever give a quote like some others that said he would go with whomever called first?
Never, just anxious, twitter-induced speculation. He's said ever since he started playing on YNTs he was always going to play for the US. Croatian media claim we "lost talent" Christian Pulisic to the USA. But he ALWAYS said it was only USA. From 2014: pic.twitter.com/rcvnptENru— CroSports (@CroSports_) March 29, 2016
That was my sense as well. Keep yourself healthy at BVB young man. You've got a bright future ahead of you.
They have much better players than we do, so probably not as much right away but he's good enough that he'd break through eventually.
LOL he is one of only five or six people in the world at his age getting minutes at a top four club. He was going to play international ball for somebody. I am glad it is us/ I am glad to have a reason to watch Bund footy again. I like their FFP rules and how they run their league. I liked Dortmund under Klopp too. The coach has changed but the guiding philosophy of how to play football seems to be very similar.
I'd argue that the team is actually better now; going forward the team is equally deadly on the counter, but can now break teams down with possession football.
Not to wander too far off topic: Players who debuted as teenagers for the #USMNT since Freddy Adu in 2006:
I didn't see any timidity. He got the ball and went at players. He made penetrating runs w/o the ball. Agree, you can see this kid has something special (and I don't say that lightly, as many on BS do).
although he was first capped at age 20 , JOB in my view was always the best young talent to go abroad and really do well - although injuries ended what was an incredibly promising career. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_O'Brien_(soccer) JOB's story would be great for a documentary. Hyndman and Pulisic are the only ones that are went abroad when young (even tho JOB did it at age 14 with Ajax) and are doing well for their clubs.
This is the wrong thread. Check in one of these: http://forums.bigsoccer.com/threads/the-job-standard.614594/ http://forums.bigsoccer.com/threads/john-o-brien-update.187345/
Scotty already vectored this elsewhere (last post there in 2007) ... but to answer your question - yes I saw many of his matches for Ajax and Utrecht (via TV) ... two things stick out that bear resemblance to what I have seen so far from Pulisic - went abroad at a young age (14 for JOB, and 16-17 for Pulisic) and technical skills (touch on the ball at speed and ability to read the game at game speed) ... JOB was a master at that and it seems that Pulisic has it as well - clearly pace and the desire to go forward ... I will put it this way - JOB had pace with the ball in the open field and in tight spaces (kind of like Nagbe) but he also had the ability to make the killer pass. I don't know about Pulisic and the killer pass - but he certainly has the touch and pace to go at people. Another thought - Bobby Wood went after the Guats the other night with speed and aggressiveness but then got knocked down a little .. I have seen Pulisic do the same thing with the ball with Dortmund (with the ball almost glued to his feet) and not get knocked down. If the ball is glued to your feet at speed it really puts doubt in the defender (makes them back off a little) because they are afraid you will go by them .. Yedlin deals with this by backing off and using his pace to defend and cover. This is why tech skills and touch on the ball is so important for us (note the brick touch Zardes had the other night) and particularly for our AMs and strikers.
great question .... I just know that JOB went overseas at a relatively young age (think of leaving home (southern California) at 14) and going to Holland to train/play soccer and continue high school education (or its equivalent) ... Yes I would agree under 18 probably does ...