Well, now I know whom to tag when I want to solicit a post that offers no support beyond conclusory statements of opinion masquerading as fact. You got that shizz on lockdown.
If the numbers I'm seeing are accurate, Pulisic is ranked 4th among Dortmund players for Bundesliga appearances this season, and 11th in number of starts. For a team that probably is top 10 in the world. And he's only 18. Unless he sees a decrease in playing time next season, I'm pretty satisfied with him staying at Dortmund.
Low expectations are such a drag. Minutes are great. Certainly, prerequisite of anything else. But it's not about total minutes to the exclusion of everything else. I won't even touch the idea of Dortmund being a top ten team other than to say that's far from a settled fact, and I'd be curious to hear the criteria of that ranking system.
Ahhhhh...and now we may be making progress. But as I have been trying to learn, it's often far more influential to lead people to conclude something for themselves than it is to give it to them.
Of course there's never going to be any agreed upon criteria for that ranking. But the fact that they've made it to the quarter-finals (i.e. final 8) of the Champions League for 3 of the past 5 seasons or that they're currently ranked 7th in Europe according to the ranking system UEFA uses to determine seeding in club competitions certainly provides support for that statement.
That's as good a reason as any. And frankly, it's not really a criteria that matters in the context of this discussion for me. If they were the best team, is feel the same way.
The kid played more than Iniesta did at his age. He has played more than Messi has at his age. The only way he gets more playing time is if he plays for a worse team.
Particularly impressive if we consider he's played mostly as a RM or RWB. Those numbers would be good for a #10 or a forward; for a RM/RWB, they're excellent.
Frankly I can't see Pulisic getting more minutes in more attacking positions in a better system than at Dortmund. Where could he more for better development? Certainly no EPL team, they have all sorts of 'name' players that would play over him.
Could it be that CP, Tuchel, both BVB and Pulisic fans aren't the ones with "low" expectations but real expectations while it is you that has the ridiculously high expectations? This isn't a Disney Movie. I don't care about those metrics. As long as the club is financially stable, constantly competing in the BuLi and the CL I don't care of they are viewed by Liverpool fans as a top 50 club. You are allowed to bitch and moan all you want just like I am allowed to bitch and moan about your bitching and moaning. Friends?
Never not so. I won't go in circles about any of your points. I've been banging on my drum about wishing he didn't so often play that WM/WB/whatever you want to call it role for at least 3-4 months, and I'm shocked it hasn't changed things yet. I just think if it hasn't happened already, at some point soon CP will tire of not playing as more of an attacking focal point, and he's well within his rights to feel that way. Is any of this harmful to him in the near term? Unlikely. I just hope to see it change soon, either there or elsewhere. Does CP feel the same? No idea.
A few terrible lineup decisions aside, i'm generally satisfied with the opportunities tuchel has given pulisic this year. he's made cp earn things, but he's also shown more trust than many managers would. with that said, we all hope for further development in his game, and i personally think that he has earned a bigger role heading into next year. i have no real problem with him being behind pea, od, and reus, but tuchel considers himself to be a tactical genius, and i believe it would be in the best interest of the team to get a talent such as cp more time on the ball in the final third. while under contract, it's his responsibility to do what is best for the team/what the coach wants. but when it's time to renegotiate his contract, he has every right to look for a place where he could spend more time in his preferred role. people leave good jobs all the time if they think they would be happier or more satisfied at another, whether it's because they think the new role would utilized their skills more, allow more enjoyment, better pay, or whatever.
Thank you for saying this. It's getting annoying reading posts ripping Dembele just so we can prop up Pulisic. It's unseemly, and just flat out bogus. Let Pulisic's accomplishments stand on their own merit.
I would like to suggest a couple of other options. 1. You contribute something substantive to the discussion rather than vacuous snark and condescension. Some of us like to engage in talking about the future of a player's career from time to time, and that involves things like supposition, hypotheticals, and opinions, and the understanding that offering an opinion that stimulates discussion does not equate to being dramatic, even if others disagree. 2. Alternatively, you could be funnier with your snark. Can't speak for everyone on this or any other topic, but I would be down with that.
Wow, you really are dramatic if you took my two posts as vacuous snark and condescension (to which I'll note you replied with snark).
Dembele is a far less selfish player at 19 than Clint Dempsey was at 22. I once tracked all of Dempsey's touches in an MLS match in 2006 as a winger for NE, one where he got a lot of plaudits. He passed it FOUR times the entire match. FOUR. Dembele shows a similar confidence in self - he has an incredible skill on the ball. He should be using it. I mean, this sounds a lot like what people were saying about Christiano Ronaldo when he was 18 and at Utd. They were wrong about him, and I'm pretty sure they'll be wrong about Dembele. However, if we're gonna compare ceilings, then I choose Christian Pulisic every day of the week, and twice on Sundays. He's vision and passing is on a completely different level than Dembele, and he's not far off Dembele in terms of dribbling and 1v1 play. He's also got at least as good of a touch, and I think a better first touch. Dembele's ceilings is someone like Eden Hazard. A pure dribbler and scorer. Pulisic's ceiling is something like Francesco Totti.
I watch Dembele and think CR7 in his first year at Man U. His ceiling is unlimited. I think criticism of CR7 as a selfish player is warranted, it's just that he seems to have decided his top priority was winning while scoring and has made himself great at the things it takes to win as much as to score. (It sure looks like he enjoys winning less when he doesn't star) Dembele seems to have no problem looking to other players, as long as that player is Aubamayeng. Dembele's priorities will determine how great he is.