Drive isn't the right word but mental toughness or mental consistency is def lacking. That said, in their own way, Clint and Landon both had incredible mental ability, well beyond average even for great athletes. Pulisic is probably only average, but of course he has technical ability Landon and Clint could only dream on.
Disagree. Some of you guys are so f'n dramatic. No USNT player has ever played at the heights Pulisic has. I think Dempsey could've. I think Landon showed us he couldn't. And I love both CD and LD.
Dude Landon got up on national tv last month and said Puli should have gone to LAG instead of Milan and should’ve been concerned about not playing enough 3 years before the WC. Landon essentially told us what he would have done if in Puli’s shoes coming out of the Chelsea situation. And it was not taking AC Milan head on.
Landon delivered big time for the Nats. I don't really care about his club career. Pulisic, for the most part, has also delivered but it's clear at times that Pulisic gets frustrated easily for club and country. Landon wasn't a terrible skilled player, he was mostly just a runner, and I say that with no ill will. I'm not convinced given the stigma against Americans (that still exists, although not to that degree he faced) and his limited skill set that he would have stuck in Europe even if he had "tried harder". Given that, and that he clearly was more comfie as a person and player in America, it worked out fine for him. Apples to oranges all around. My OP was misinterpreted. Pulisic has plenty of drive, what he doesn't have is consistency. IMO (of course) given his skill set, his ups and downs in form are almost entirely down to mentality.
ahem: I could also link to a compilation of Dempsey's many great headers for Fulham, proving CD was one of the very best headers in the PL during his time, but only one media link per post.
I'm going off-topic talking about LD, but what is this revisionist history of his club career? After both loan spells, Everton wanted to buy out Donovan's Galaxy contract because he was the only one on their club could actually pass the ball.
I don't buy into this oversea friendlies taking out the form of our Euro players. Are all other Euro players' form dropped off the cliff after oversea friendlies. Do Jedi, Ream, Musah, Weston, and co all look sh*t right now? Or is it just CP?
Ahem what? Yay, Landon got an assist. Did you not read what I wrote about Dempsey? Pulisic has still played at a much greater level than both. I was responding to someone questioning Pulisic's drive. Show me the evidence LD's drive was better than Pulisic's.
Holy overeactions Batman. I thought Puli was fine in his minutes. He played some defense, he got in a couple of dangerous positions, tarrying on the ball too long and hit a very poor cross. If you didn't notice the entire side was wasteful in or around the box. It was like the offside runs were too much to the near post and not wide enough. When the ball was hit for that run, the runner was looking for the lofted ball, instead of making the run. I want to reiterate, he played some defense like he really wanted to play defense. Let that soak in, Pioli publicly said Puli needs to defend and he has defended. Chuk didn't do enough to take the spot, and I suspect CP will get the next start. I liked how they played early on in the season, but the early goals masked the problems they have in midfield. That beat down by Inter really exposed this team against a good side.
No argument here that Donovan had anything close to Pulisic's club ambitions. LD was content to be a big fish in a little MLS pond, while Pulisic's professional career is apparently all about playing in the CL. LD had the skills to compete at the CL level, but wasn't inclined at all to make it happen. CP does have to be given credit for going through the torture of having to compete for spots every single week against great players just to get on the field. LD obviously never had that in him, even if he had some skills CP doesn't have. Though I do think Pulisic is an underrated passer, an overlooked part of his game. There's no good reason for Pulisic's recent drop in form other than maybe yet another injury which he hasn't let on.
Recent drop in form is one game. A game where his entire team was outplayed. People, and you, need to relax a bit. One game is not a drop in form.
There are other possibilities. Routine streakiness, strength of opposition, physical or even early metal fatigue. Still adapting to a new country.
Man I don’t even see Milan fans suggesting he was poor. If anything I’ve seen suggestions he should start at LW this weekend across Chuky and Leao should be benched. Milan fans are getting fed up with both Leao’s poor form and laziness.
Tell them to hyperfocus on CP and then we can confirm our suspicions that he's out of form, has no drive. etc...
A lot of negative takes for a match where the guy who replaced CP got a whopping match rating of "3" on Goal.com. Not that I think Chukweze was THAT bad, but he wasn't too good. And the other forwards didn't have great games either.
CP/Milan before break: Bologna (2-0) #11 Serie A (1-2-1) Torino (4-1 ) #7 Serie A 2-1-1 Roma (1-0) #12 Serie A (1-1-2) after break: Inter (1-5) #1 Serie A (4-0-0 +12) Newcastle (0-0) #12 EPL (2-0-3) Newcastle could certainly be considered a let-down, and the Torino result was quite good, but for the most part, Milan started off with relatively easy competition and Inter showed their flaws (And Roma and Newcastle a bit too.) CP does not often look great when the team overall doesn't look good. And Milan has a few things to work out against top teams, I think. Oct 22 is shaping up to be a lot of fun. There's a big conference in Europe I can almost justify going to right around then... hmmmm...
I agree - and not just about CP. To my eyes Milan dominated this match and were unlucky (some of this was their fault, sure) not to score. Sometimes that's how soccer goes. I wouldn't be at all surprised if they take points in their coming matches. I also thought CP played "fine". He wasn't at his best, had a tough moment of indecision in the box and overhit a cross, but also had some nice interchanges, kept possession under pressure, played some defense, and had 2(?) decent-looking shots that got blocked in the box. It's not good enough to permanently lock down the starting spot, but also not bad enough to lose it permanently either. Seems like people are constantly looking for CP to take his man on and beat him. I don't think that's his game anymore (if it ever was). He needs to combine with his teammates on quick movements - remember how he's scored his goals this year. If you want that 1v1 action you go with Rafa and Chuk, but I think that's why Pioli likes CP - he offers something different on the right side that helps open up the defense in a different way. Anyway, I actually wouldn't be surprised if CP starts for Rafa this weekend and Chuk starts on the right. If not, it will be interesting to see if CP or Chuk starts on the right.
Unnecessary travel and leg mileage for two useless national team exhibitions sapped his energy. Also two games against top opponents.
Not to mention he hasnt had a big drop in form. He is playing exactly the same for milan last two games as previously IMO.
I’m going to the match. Such a rare event. Just hope to get lucky with starters. Doing Spurs Fulham on the way back Monday.