It’s hard to do much better than that in a debut. Pulisic needs to learn how to play with this guy ASAP.
Its also going to be a difficult season at Leverkusen. They've lost and had to replace so much........................(most notably the coach). To not win that game yesterday was crazy. But hey, that's soccer I guess. The combination of TIllman and Patrick Schick looks tasty, though. Something to build on.
Well, that didn't last long. Tillman has a new coach as ten Hag has been fired after only three games.
Bayer is rumored to have reached out to Marco Rose and Terzic, both ex Dortmund. Rose has turned them down. There are also reports that Xavi has also said no.
Rumors today in Germany that Raul is in the mix. Real Madrid legend on Bayer Leverkusen's list of potential Erik ten Hag replacements alongside two ex-Borussia Dortmund coaches He's been coaching in the Real Madrid academy and reserve system since 2019 but left this past May. By all accounts, he's done a good job with their Castilla team. Your old Schalke friend. So he does have knowledge of the Bundesliga. That would at least make some headlines!!!
Bayer did not go with the favorite Dortmund retreads! https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_...rkusen-appoint-hjulmand-coach-ten-hag-sacking
After Tillman’s excellent summer with the USMNT and his subsequent introduction with Leverkusen, he looks to be one of the top couple of USMNT players in the world, if not the top. He also brings with him experience in the Champions League in which he has shown to be a clutch contributor against top competition. His career has gone a bit under the radar, as he has to been on the teams that USMNT observers typically follow. His path from Bayern youth to Rangers and then PSV takes a bit of the hype out of the fanbase, but at each location he has been considered the top player and one of the top players in the league by the time he transferred out to a bigger club. Now, we see him transfer into Leverkusen as the #10 coming in with a big transfer fee. He is not meant to be a fringe contributor, he is one of the top players as part of their young core. This is a significant role in an historically decent club. They are invested in his success. He’s out of the gates relatively quickly at Leverkusen, with two goals in three games and a man-of-the-match performance against Reyna’s Gladbach. It should be a fun year for Tillman as he plays Champions League soccer and builds toward the World Cup, which by all indications could be a real superstar performance for him with the USMNT.
Tillman’s 1-0 goal vs Gladbach can be seen here: https://www.espn.com/soccer/match/_/gameId/746745/borussia-monchengladbach-bayer-leverkusen
Tillman's career has NOT "gone under the radar" there are 1000 posts here https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/malik-tillman.2121117/page-38 and another 1000 posts here https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/malik-tillman-has-reportedly-picked-the-usmnt.2120945/page-38
I think one of Poch's biggest challenges will be most effectively using CP and Tillman together on this team. So far they have, what 2 games - 70 mins v. Jam, 23 mins v NZ - under Poch, about a year ago, and another 62 v Canada, 1 v Uruguay, 76 v Jam, 45 v Oman, 9 v Uzbekistan before that. Not that 7 games and a decent number of practices is nothing, but if Poch can get CP and Tillman to work with a real understanding - similar to, say, how Reijnders and Pulisic worked last season for Milan, it could create some exciting footie.
The Gold Cup was a huge missed opportunity. It cannot be overstated. Their partnership will be the most important to develop over the coming months. That may be made difficult by their personality types, however. Neither is a demonstrative guy, neither is a connector personality on the field. Hopefully they can start having an interpersonal relationship to where they plot together away from team activities. Pulisic has a bunch of friends out there, but none of them will be able to take the team to the next level like he and Tillman will be able to. Tillman is good at receiving the ball like a #9 and putting a wing into space. He and Pulisic can make a living off of that. Tillman is also good at making intelligent runs in the box, finding space, and being clinical. Theoretically the two can have a really good partnership. That partnership is given even more potential because Tillman is a fantastic recovery defender who can help cover for Pulisic when he inevitably turns the ball over. On paper these two guys have near-perfect complementary skill sets. They just need to be put on the field together and forced to solve problems with one another. These two guys should be able to form a really dynamic combination if the US are playing a team that they choose to take a defensive posture against. You stagger Pulisic high on the left as almost a withdrawn forward and play Weah (or Musah) on the right wing. You have your midfielders try to cycle the ball through Tillman as a de facto #9, who absorbs fouls, turns and swings the ball into space. You also play someone with Tyler (like Tessman or Berhalter) who can hit a ball over the top to either wing (Ream can do this as well).
The only "silver lining" from no CP was that Tillman was really forced to step up, and did. I'd say always better to have your best together, but CP certainly came out of the summer playing very well with a lot of energy. It's up to Poch, Malik, CP and the staff to get all the pieces working, particularly those two. They have the possibility of being very dangerous if thing mesh properly.
Theoretically they are a nice complementary pair. Tillman is also good running with the ball and playing through lines in the final third, which is where Pulisic can really become the unique weapon that he is. Tillman is great at finding space after putting a guy through, so those two guys may be able to cause some damage if they can be put in situations where they can work to their strengths.
Tillman is most g/a dangerous when playing in the center channels 343: Tillman at CM or false-9: Pulisic at LW 3412: Tillman at CAM: Pulisic at LW 3142: Tillman at the 8: Pulisic at 2nd forward. 433: Tillman at the 8 Pulisic at LW