this is a big deal ... I think most of us assumed Pulisic was brought in as the heir apparent to Willian or Pedro - when they retired ... this implies that Lampard wants him to compete with Mount to replace Hazard. Whoa - that is a horse of a different color.
There is no replacing Hazard in this Chelsea squad... plus he didn't play as a "10" through the middle anyways.
It wasnt a bad GC for him... I wonder how many assists he would have had with attackers better than Arriola, Zardes, and Morris.
Donovan racked up the assists, despite frequently not being surrounded by killer talent. Pulisic has 0 goals and 0 assists in 426 minutes of competitive action against Mexico and Costa Rica. His decision making in the Mexico match was not the best. Perhaps too much is being placed on him. Let him play up high and wide. Get more playmakers in the team to help him. Pomykal. Nagbe. Holmes. Nguyen. Get better defenders in central midfield and at left back. Matriculate a young forward who is actually getting club minutes. Bring in a mobile, in form senior forward, like Sapong--5 goals in 7 starts at striker. Build around the boy.
be careful here ... I would opine that we build the team around 3 players specifically - CP, McKennie and Adams ....
I think Pulisic has done more than Donovan did by 20 years old for the USMNT. However, his decision making needs to improve for sure!
CP is not an elite trigger puller. An elite trigger puller has a more consistent final ball. CP is an elite dribbler, and at club level is elite in terms of his ability to get on the ball in the box. The rest -- actually setting up teammates & scoring goals -- he's got a ways to go.
You build it around one and it makes it clear if you are an opponent which player you target. Build it around three and make the future of USMNT success a very strong midfield and it naturally counters what Tata did to GGG in the GC final.
Within the context of US Soccer, Pulisic is an elite trigger puller. He can get near the lane then shoot or pass. His mid-range and long-range passing need a lot of work, though.
Mexico targeted Pulisic and we had 5 prime scoring opportunities. Gotta get the supporting cast right. An elite attacking player should open opportunities for others, which Pulisic's presence did.
Hence my point about how important the three amigos are to the future of this squad .... CP - Adams - McKennie ... when you have those three playing together in the center I wish Mexico luck in figuring who to double or triple team ... I am so ready for MB to retire from international ball and for those three to take charge of this team .... put Cannon at RB and put all three amigos in the midfield and let them play havoc with opponents.
Prefer Pulisic closer to goal where his strengths can have more impact. Teams wouldn't key on Adams or McKennie as neither represents that kind of attacking threat.
Awards can be quite arbitrary... pretty sure he's talking about actual on-field individual performance/accomplishments.
Some people just have a need to to try to make it about LD. CP has played 31 games. He has scored 13 goals and has 10 assists. After 31 games, LD had scored 7 goals. Does anybody have assists? Everything I have found is missing games, but suggests it is less than 10. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_international_goals_scored_by_Landon_Donovan
How is that confusing. Modric won the Ballon d'Or, which is great, but does that mean he accomplished more that season than Cristiano Ronaldo? Maybe I'm assuming wrong, and he meant things like awards instead of actual performance. @Schul350 what did you mean?
that is fine - AM .... have a nice triangle of Pulisic in front and McKennie and Adams behind him ...
Dingdingdingdingding. It's not just a problem when Pulisic is on the ball either. Lost track, during GC, of how many times a winger would get down the line and have maybe one option to cross it in to. Part of that because Bradley/McKennie pairing was a disaster in terms of movement. But part also because for all the talk of creative build-up play and possession, USMNT still too often resorts to hopeful long balls and target 9 play.
Would rather have a true CM there to run the game, as neither Adams nor McKennie is a deeplying playmaker. Let Pulisic run off him for now. In a 4231, Pomykal or Nagbe. Maybe Weah has the game.