Christian Pulisic at AC Milan

Agree 100%, all you have to do is watch ESPN FC and their Brits pundits.

 

"Best in the world" depends on the criteria one uses. What criteria did you use? Do you consider Puli one of the best forwards in Seria A?

 

I think that ANY player would be better with a supporting cast that was better. How many rings would MJ have if not for Pippen, Rodman, etal. It matters that with Milan they have other players who can produce a moment of brilliance often enough you have to pay attention to them also.

Of course he looks better when the talent level is high enough that teams have to defend touchline to touchline and can't shade to his side to make life difficult. It isn't like he has had some transcendent change in his game, he is just getting more opportunities in a balanced side that has allowed him to stay in top form.

There are less than a handful of teams in the world that he wouldn't make better playing exactly the same position. He would not have the production if he was the only guy those teams had who was a threat, but the same could be said for most players not named Haaland or Messi etc.

For example with the US it is hard to get an assist because our forwards are allergic to putting the ball on frame so you play him to not get dribbled past and force him to pass. OTOH when defending against Milan you have to play him honest and take the chance of getting dribbled because a pass to OG or a Leao or Theo is not exactly a desired outcome.

I doubt seriously if any coach in a top flight league looks at Milan and says lets make this CP guy beat us because that Leao guy is so scary. I think they do decide to play Leao with some physicality to perhaps get him out of the mood for football today which is a frequent occurrence for the guy, but CP is still going to put in a shift on both sides of the ball.

Tldr:

Of course a supporting cast of real footballers capable of a moment of brilliance helps our lad.

 

Milan are a shadow of their former selves... their previously won CLs aren't relevant to their current squad, they haven't been to a final is almost 20 years. That talking point is silly.

 

I'd say he's definitely in the Top 20 for his position right now.

90min had Puli ranked as #23 before the start of the season, as a right-winger:

https://www.90min.com/posts/the-25-best-right-wingers-in-world-football-ranked

He's proved better on the left. Rafa Leao, on the other hand, was constantly ranked among the Top 10 left-wingers and in the 11-13 range overall for wingers. Example:

https://www.givemesport.com/best-wingers-in-world-football-ranked/

That Pulisic has pushed him to the RW is huge. It means he's, at the very least, equivalent to Rafa on the left.

With Milan not performing that well at the start of the season, their rankings drop a bit. So, I'd say overall as a winger Puli should be a Top 20 and very likely a Top 10 as a left-winger. Leao is not a Top 10 on the right though, so he was back on the left against Venezia w/Puli on the right, where he looked fantastic --but it's Venezia.

 

Deep down. Most usmnt fans want puli to have the respect and admiration of ex epl players. As If Gary neville and Micha Richard's opinions mean anything.

 

I just want the English pundits to get over the fact that their national keeper, Robert Green, let Clint's shot go through his legs in a WC match and grant a smidgen of legit respect for all the US players, men and women.

 

Repped for the callback

 

“Best in the world” territory for me is when even the highest level looks consistently easy for a player. Pulisic isn’t there, he has to fight for every contribution on the scoresheet, but that’s still a high level in itself. And elite in terms of club achievement for an American player.

 

Foden is an interesting comparison. I dont watch the EPL much anymore but I am aware he is one of the best wingers there.

It also appears Foden has 4 goals for England's senior team.

How does that compare to CP?

 

I am not questioning Foden's ability or performance.

I was just pointing out that CP has outperformed Foden in international soccer to date.

I personally value what a player does for his country more than his club.

 

Foden been awful for country imo. He was invisible for most of the euros and kept being put in as an auto starter

 

Foden does have the best supporting staff in the game both for club and country. The talent difference between the latter (despite the WC draw) is pretty stark. The fact that CP has performed significantly better for his country is at least one partial strike against your argument.... although I guess you could make the case that England plays a more difficult NL schedule. I guess you would have to do a player performance vs team etc for each and I am too lazy to do so. Also, I think CP already has improved his finishing since joining Milan... by a pretty significant margin. As such, I think he has the ability to improve it that much more... CP vs Foden? I think it is pretty close.

 

My mistake, but Green's error was worse than I incorrectly remembered.

 

Most English players are trash without their superstar foreign teammates, managers, and owners.

 

although I guess you could make the case that England plays a more difficult NL schedule. I guess you would have to do a player performance vs team etc for each and I am too lazy to do so.

To be fair to Foden - CP is also one year older.

[However, CP has 31 goals for USA - to 4 goals for Foden.]

I just wish CP had benefited from coaching from someone like Pep or Klopp - instead of what he had to endure at Chelsea.

It's interesting that two of the world class players mentioned in this thread (Salah and KDB) had to also escape from Chelsea to shine.

 

Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey both scored more goals for the US than Thierry Henry did for France. Yet they aren't close to the same level of players.

With that said, I think Foden is highly overrated and would take many players over him in his preferred position.

 

I think he might have had a smidge of coaching from Klopp before he left Dortmund. Don't think he played a game for him but may be wrong and he got a few minutes.

 

I groaned when Clint took the shot as it was a little speculative and so weakly hit and kept groaning as it slow rolled towards goal and then a gasp when it somehow went through Greene’s hands. Not many like that one.

 

Foden has among the best ears in footie, for sure.