"The Devil cannot do without his quality": Christian Pulisic at AC Milan

How was the weather an issue? Clear 65 degree evening. I don’t think altitude impacts muscle fatigue, but I could be wrong. Perhaps the shift in climate is a bit hard on the body, but not harder than the transatlantic flights.

 

The most amazing part was that after Pulisic came off, they seemed to target James Sands. Taking Sands out of the match with Morris and Tessmann on the bench might even impede your chances of winning the game. They calmed down a lot, and amazingly, we wound up with way more fouls called on us.

 

Well said. They can't play in a technical way, so they've been coached to make it a non-flowing brawl. The issue is probably not that Pulisic played in a friendly while not being 100%, the issue is that we comepeted vs a team with no interest in actually playing the sport, and were clearly coached to not only manage the USA's best player, but also aggressively take him down each opportunity to contain him. Understandable in competitve matches perhaps, but a damn friendly?

 

Which is why eveyone on the PBP thread was dreaming of finding a Jermaine Jones type player for us again. We need a punisher to eff up other opponents who practice those dark arts.

 

You may not like it - few of us do - but Australia always plays with a physical edge to them .... ever watch them play rugby? Every game with Australia is a brawl. They don't play "friendlies" - they play to win - which we ought to as well. Survival is part of winning. I was glad that at the start of the second half we just started sending their players to the turf. Once we did that they backed off some (except for Geria). The issue is that we continue to tolerate CONCACRAP refereeing .... The fact that Jason Geria was not red carded due to aggregate yellows still shocks me. Did they target Pulisic - yes - and our response (in the first half and not the second) should have been one of our defensive middies (you don't want a CB sitting on a yellow that early) clearing out one of their players - Wes is probably the best one to do that .... but we did not retaliate until after the restart.

Pulisic needed to play regardless because of the situation with him not playing during the summer. Did he play at less than 100% - yes - but he needed to against Ecuador and Australia for many reasons. I hope his recovery in Milan is relatively quick so he can get back to top form in the Serie A.

Next time the US just needs to be ready to retaliate on his behalf - and earlier on - in the run of play.

 

pretty simple - when you lack the quality and skill - you turn it into a brawl ... get your opponent off their game. After Pulisic they went after Sands - they go after any player that holds the ball too long ... ever notice how Luna does not seem to get the punishment - not it is not simply because he can ride off the challenge - it is because he gets the ball off his feet quickly. Both Pulisic and Sands like to turn and run with the ball and use their pace - and that is tantamount to putting a big red bullseye on your knees and ankles. Pulisic is always going to get targeted because an opponent does not want him to turn and burn with the ball (or without it for that matter). And he gets paid a premium for that talent.

 

Well, they lost. And I admire the dedication on their behalf, but it still is just a friendly, however they choose to approach it. I do expect aggression from the lesser quality opponents. But they were specifically targeting 1 player and not just looking to intimidate or throw off a player, but to hurt. but that may happen again in the future, or in a WC, I know, so I guess we need to prepare for that and....

100 percent correct. That was an issue for sure. Should have been more retaliation after the first foul and more of the US players getting in faces much earlier in the game.

This issue is not easily solved and is more complex than we like to think, but we all agree the ref was crap. Nothing the players could do about it, they were in the situation they were in. And you already should know the answer to why red cards were avoided. Yes, there easily could have been 2 last night, but if a team goes down to 10 men, especially early, it sort of defeats the whole purpose and learning experience of the match for both teams, no? not saying it is right, but that is why bad and even good refs are reluctant to send off in these friendlies.

 

He served us well in a WC, with no red card. But yes, I assume you are referencing his Red in the 2016 Copa (which was BS btw)? Anyway, controlled aggression is what we need more of, that's all I am saying - and a player no one wants to mess with.

 

The risk/reward analysis says he should not have started yesterday when considering his ankle, B/C lineup, opponent, and non-competitive match.

It's rather absurd. We'll see what the assessment is. If I were Milan I'd be furious. The US knew he wasn't healthy and arrived injured. Then had him play a friendly while resting other key players(which leads to increased targeting) so he can gain familiarity with Sands and Roldan? Yup, I'd be livid if I was Milan and signing his paychecks.

 

So how long is he out???

 

I was surprised that no one did step up and put some challenges in on #22 after his first non-card red card tackle on Pulisic. The same #22 fouled Pulisic again from behind and that’s when he went out. If the ref isn’t going to control the game then the players unfortunately need to.

 

No confirmation yet. But highly likely he will miss the Fiorentina match this weekend, and maybe they can rest him vs Pisa, if needed.

 

Ya but if you don’t play our top players then targeting him becomes a more likely strategy. Essentially the environment to target him and hack him down was created before the opening whistle. Compounded by he was already dealing with an injury.

Last thing anyone needed was a retaliatory hack fest.

 

He skipped a competitive tournament in the summer, only started one game this window. Milan can’t really complain.

 

I get it's a difficult decision and there's a need for competitive time together, but just judging from the Canada game it was clear the Aussies were not playing the "friend" in friendlies. Hope CP recovers quickly. There were 3 pretty dirty challenges in a row, starting with CP, that should all have been yellows at least to try to keep the game under control.

 

Why? Their top player whoever that was should have been hacked down immediately.

 

I think that's a moment for the coaching staff. Let someone on the sidelines get in Pop's face. The US would have been fine with Poch or someone else watching the rest of the game from the stands, but I do think having some sort of big response is appropriate there. A number of the Aussie tackles were coming across the back of the leg/achilles from behind. Seemed premeditated - or simply their style in general, which is bad.

 

If I am hearing correctly with a torn calf muscle it will be at least a month and probably more...sigh

 

I heard today it could be a month as well, but did not see the torn calf muscle issue. Hindsight is 20/20, but really frustrating to think about the way the Aussies approached that match.

 

I apologize as I made a mistake, he had a prior calf injury earlier this year. Sorry everyone for my mistake.

 

"AC Milan are waiting for Christian Pulisic to land back in Italy to assess his injury, and there will be no reassuring news today." - sempre

Most reports are that he felt tightening in his hammy. That can mean a lot of different things and different potential timelines. I'm gonna be optimistic and hope that, since he'd already taken a hit on the ankle that he was being cautious and came out without too much damage - but I'm really just making that up, as well as hoping I'm right, so I will be your reassuring news today, even if it's fake.

(from same article - Saelmaekaer injury not as bad as feared. Estupinan and Rabiot both need to be looked and neither likely to play v. Florence.)

 

I was reading it was the right hammie

how much of this (him and Tillman) was due to going to cold weather, altitude, and very dry climate … were they properly hydrated?