Christian Pulisic Thread

2 - Christian Pulisic (1 goal, 1 assist) is the first player to be involved in two consecutive goals for the United States 🇺🇸 in the #FIFAWorldCup since the 2010 edition (two goals from Landon Donovan against Algeria and Ghana). Present.#IRNUSA #USA #Qatar2022 pic.twitter.com/JMeD9ZEIz6

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) November 29, 2022

If you're going to bump this thread to post that, here's the update from Pulisic himself...

 

Pulisic joins the small list of players who have a goal and assist for the national team at the World Cup in the modern era.

Bruce Murray. John O'Brien. Clint Mathis. Jermaine Jones. Michael Bradley. I think that's it.

 

Goalscorers:
5: Landin Donovan
4: Bert Patenaude, Clint Dempsey
3: Brian McBride
1: Tom Florie, Jim Brown, Bart McGhee; Aldo Donelli; Joe Gaetjens, Joe Maca, Gino Pariani, Frank Wallace; Paul Caligiuri, Bruce Murray; Eric Wynalda, Earnie Stewart; Clint Mathis, John O'Brien; Michael Bradley; John Brooks, Jermaine Jones, Julian Green; Tim Weah, Christian Pulisic.

Could not find an assists list anywhere.

 

pic.twitter.com/i23s1tO6aS

— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) November 30, 2022

 

It's a great feeling knowing that some or most of this group could possibly play 3 more WC's together.

 

THIS RIGHT HERE!!!

The next decade with guys like Pulisic, Adams, Weston ,Musah, Weah, Reyna, Aaronson, etc.

 

Hard to imagine that 5 will be the high goal count for the USMNT history after the 2026 WC.

And almost wonder if Balogun is watching and thinking how well he'd fit in with this group for the next few WC's.

 

I hope Christian Pulisic gets well soon!

Without him, I don't think the USA' will be able to score a goal.

 

Any up-n-coming players is going to have a hard time breaking into this team.

 

Do you think Balogun can break into the starting 11?

 

Striker. CB. Reserve LB. Backup CM. Backup RB. GK. Plenty of room.

 

My source is that US Soccer article on jersey numbers from a few weeks ago. It listed every goal and assist by each player.

2 - Ramos, Zusi
1 - Altidore, Beasley, Bradley, Cherundolo, Dest, Jones, Lewis, Mathis, Murray, O'Brien, Preki, Pulisic, Sanneh, Wolff

https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/20...wkRVXgNOxBk_L3dJbCXREf473se6oODrjqLZBxXfP6akk

 

every spot on the roster can be upgraded

 

Yep. I love 'em all, but I wouldn't be surprised to see half the roster turned over and 5 new starters in 2026. It's the nature of things.

 

the team cant score ...theres no offense....and the second string cant hold the ball.

with a stacked u20 team and player pool exploding at the younger ages, there's going to be way more turnover than many think, imo

(at least there should be - which is why Im not a fan of keeping greggg around because I doubt he actually moves on from the players he should)

 

Update

Christian Pulisic answers the question many people want to know: “I didn’t get hit in the balls.” #USMNT

— Doug McIntyre (@ByDougMcIntyre) December 1, 2022

 

So he got hit in only 1 of 2 balls -- got it!

 

It's unfortunate, but we also need to consider injuries. Some players' career trajectories will be impacted by some nagging injuries sustained over the years. Four years is a long time. By 2026, it is very likely half the roster will turn-over, if not more. It's just the nature of things.

 

Down the road to 2026? Sure.

 

USMNT fans can't agree on anything, not even on Pulisic!

Christian Pulisic can hold his head high after his first World Cup 👏

- 2 MOTM awards in 4 games
- 3 goal contributions in 4 games
- Scored or assisted every USMNT goal in the tournament, scored the goal that put the 🇺🇸 into the Round of 16

He left it all out there ❤️ pic.twitter.com/9hhyoVdged

— USMNT Only (@usmntonly) December 3, 2022

Overall Cycle Grades:

Berhalter: B (depending on Gio’s actual fitness/injury status could drop to a C+/C)

Pulisic: C+
Reyna: A-
McKennie: A-
Adams: A-
Musah: A-
Dest: B+
Weah: A
A. Robinson: B+
Aaronson: B+
Zimmerman: B-
Ream: B
Turner: A
Richards: A-
Sargent: B-
M. Robinson: B

— Bob Morocco (@bob_morocco) December 3, 2022

 

Weird take by the usually spot on @Bob Morocco .

 

If it's a full cycle grade, as seemed to be implied, I find it inconsistent.

Why is Zimmerman a B- unless you are heavily weighting the penalty? And if you are heavily weighting that, why isn't Pulisic's strong WC better weighted? Zimmerman was a rock in WCQ.

How is Richards an A-?

I'd put Reyna at an incomplete; the dude didn't play much and was good but not great. Certainly nothing near the impact of a number of the other As who played, many, many more competitive matches.

 

Yeah. Richards was an A-??, I mean he was...fine? When he played which wans;t much.

He gives Sargent the 2nd lowest grade, which I can see maybe, but how would Sargent rate over Pulisic. How? These are some horrible curves based on preconceived notions, or Bob's had too much sauce after a long day.

 

It feels like the grading curve has a lot to do with expectations vs results and back-up quarterback optimism. He generally is one of the better posters about US Soccer stuff around...

 

🇺🇸 Only remaining players Lionel Messi (13) and Antoine Griezmann (11) created more chances than Christian Pulisic (9) currently at the #FIFAWorldCup .

Not bad ay. #USA #CFC #Chelsea pic.twitter.com/1O3x3WECgc

— Mozo Football (@MozoFootball) December 4, 2022