He's a winger, mostly. I think people have pencilled him in centrally sometimes, but I don't think anyone thinks he's a 10... As to the bolded, I would disagree. I think he's most definitely a team player. He looks to attack space and then get others involved, moreso than attack space and look for his shot.
I am very surprised that Pulisic was not injured like Lletget when playing against CONCACAF in qualifying. Hard to depend on any playmaker when playing against thugs, and referees who wouldn't be tolerated anywhere in western Europe. Motherf*ckers.
He is team player, and a team leader. It's just that people compare 19 years old Pulisic to 25+ yo Donovan. 19 years old Landon was very different from mature Landon, and more similar to Pulisic.
I expect Pulisic to start leading the team more and more as this cycle really gets going after we hire our manager. He'll be the team's best player, and likely its most experienced. All the old guard, and their leadership, will be gone. Into that vacuum I think Pulisic will step. If not him alone, a group of him, Miazga, Yedlin, and others.
Puli has not been very effective finishing his chances with BvB, sometimes he passes when he should shoot, and I think that's more because he's afraid of missing, not out of team spirit. That means we're still going to need someone to benefit from his great dribbling + dangerous balls in the area. Sargent is another guy I hope develops into a good striker. As for the title, IMO we have to build the NT around Pulisic because that's the best way to get the best out of him. While he's our best player, I don't think he's particularly adaptable.
His vision and passing are more than fine, but he requires teammates that are on the same page; he operates at a different speed and yes his first instincts are to push it toward goal. To say he's not adaptable is to suggest he's uncoachable. Because he's got all the tools and smarts for the game to adapt, easily.
I see where you are coming from. National teams only get together for around 4 - 6 weeks per year. There's not a whole lot of development to be gained in those 4 - 6 weeks, where they are often playing two games per camp. Players get their development from their professional clubs. The purpose of camps is to bring as many talented players into the pool as ;possible and see how they work best together. That's it. At the youth level, there is more development happening, as those teams tend to spend more time together. At the senior team level, coaches are looking for players that are close to a finished product or are playing at a high level for their age group. This isn't the late 80's, early 90's era men's national team program where the federation paid the players and treated the program like a professional club team out of necessity.
I think he's clearly the best player but it's a massive mistake to build around just one player. We need to find our spine and build around them.
A 6-headed monster would be cool. I think most soccer organizations agree with you after watching France & Croatia at the World Cup. It'd be really stupid of Earnie Stewart to make Pulisic the focal point. Especially after watching Argentina. (Side Thoughts: at least Brazil showed us picturesque, ready-for-Broadway, flops and Ronaldo got a hat trick against Spain.) >France had Griezmann, Mbappe, Pogba, Kante, Giroud, and Matuidi. >Croatia had Modric, Mandzukic, Perisic, Rakitic, Lovren, and Brozovic. Two 6-headed monsters met in the final. We need five guys to really step it up, then we can go toe-to-toe with the likes of Germany, Spain, France, and Belgium.
I agree we should build around a bunch of players, not just Pulisic. Since we missed the World Cup we have a chance to totally rebuild. There are a whole group of guys who played together at U17 and U20's that can be that nucleus. Pulisic is ahead of many of his contemporary players, but not light years ahead.
Weah is good news. I'm concerned about Parks though. I had hoped for a better outcome for him. We need a creative guy with solid passing skills in midfield. Still, as fans we're rather quick to get over-enthusiastic.
I'm a little more concerned over the management of Pulisic's career. We have to be two deep. I think for Parks we have two deep with Delgado who turned 23 in May. The other position that isn't 2 deep is Trapp's since Durkin is just too young to put faith in. Then there's hold up 9 - we have Jozy and Sargent and we don't know if Sargent can hang with the cool kids yet. I guess I'm trying to say that I'm least worried about Weah/Pulisic and more worried about supporting cast. Gabon doesn't go to WC just because they have Aubameyang.
But if you are using those examples, you'll see they (Belgium, too) had a target forward, a striker(winger forward) and a "free 8". Giroud, Mbpape, Griezman or Manduzik, Perisic, Modric or Lukaku, Hazard, DeBruyne. We will go England Gerard/Lampard duplication route because we have the same petty corruptions in the system as England. You already see it with people aghast that one of Weah or Pulisic would sit when we should play both. At the end of the day, fans/public/ticket-buyers/gate collectors win out because the expectation is that we can't win anyway so why disappoint the public when that is who picks up the check. Hope that wasn't too disillusion-ing. We can still have fun. Besides, in four years everything will have changed tactically.
I debated including Belgium in my post as another 6-headed monster. I somewhat wanted to highlight that people were underestimating a very talented Croatian side. Modric had some amazing games in the WC and a big part of that was that the coach did not build the team around him, unlike Messi and Argentina. Short term the Gerard/Lampard route could be a possibility, but I think this is where Earnie Stewart will come into play. He's expected to iron out a plan based on our player pool and then hopefully hire a coach to implement. Granted we will have to go through a phase of being a 2-headed monster again, before we can become a 6-headed monster. (Think back to Dempsey and Donovan at the 2010 WC.) Maybe we can be a 3-headed monster in time for Qatar...
I get what you are saying but our supporting cast is miles ahead of Gabon. Plus they have a harder path to the WC, slightly deeper pool but the qual process is the worst in Fifa.
While I know that I am nobody, surely my belief that Pulisic would make a very good ten is not an exclusive viewpoint. I would play a 4-2-3-1 or 442. CP would play the middle of the three line or with limited defensive responsibilities, free to find the game on offense. I wouldn't necessarily "build the team around him," but I want him to play where he makes us best, and he is the most dangerous player in our pool and you have to score goals to win. I want him in a position to create that often, even if it is inadvertently by forcing the defense to focus on him.