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

IIRC he out does his XG.

I think he is maturing into a consistently very good player. Call me not worried about Pulisic. Milan had chances to put the game away. The dropped two points hurt. If Milan have any hope to win the Scudetto or even finish comfortable top four they really don't need to be conceding two goals to feckless Parma with 7 goals in 11 with TWO of those goals against Milan.

 

I saw the Grande Giostra Del Gol last night on Rai International TV and they showed the highlights of all this weeks Serie A’s games.

Pulisic’s breakaway , even though his shot went wide, it was a thing a beauty.

 

How many years and matches has he played at the top level? How many years has he been captain of his national side? How many international games has he played?

He is past the experience of "maturing" as a professional soccer player. He is in his prime, so to speak. All the more disappointing when he fails to convert game-changing chances.

 

The thing that has made me like him since forever is that he works on his weaknesses. I think it just makes him work that much harder to get in those positions to have those kind of chances.

 

Interview that was filmed in the past week or so.


Pulisic, god bless him, is still not one of the more entertaining interviewers - but at this point he is who he is, just a reserved guy. Still there was some good responses and interesting things here and there, and Kate Scott (Abdo) is a great presenter and interviewer, imo.

 

Most important piece is that he is not full of himself. Good for him. Being grounded is so important and he seems like it. Not to be a homer but is kind of the way Hershey is. Non pretentious and for the most part humble.

"I trust in God's timing"

 

Rep for the video, but what more do you want from him? It's not like he used a bunch of athlete cliches. He's open, but admits he's reserved. He's not a comedian. It's not like the questions allowed him to be super entertaining anyway. But let's just keep saying he has no personality.

 

can clearly see he is a guy who does not like the spotlight or want to be in it and theres nothing wrong with that. being in the public eye nowadays can be absolutely brutal and public discourse around players can be quite toxic and devolved. being misunderstood and unfairly judged comes with the territory nowadays (unfortunately).

can see how much he wants to be liked and make good on all his talent. and also how much of an internal struggle he seems to deal with through it all.

persoanlly I agree with him that he is at his peak right now. but I feel like his spped when he was at dortmund was just on another level. he used to rip by defenders on the reg. and was the most fouled player in the champions league early on in his career. i am curious how much injuries have taken their toll. his latest injury was the result of multiple hacks by australians who couldnt keep up with him. wonder if he sees it the same. is that why he seems to have lost a bit of burst?

100% agree with his take on gio. the vitriol he has faced has been brutal and unfair. gio got brutally injured by a vicious tackle with usmnt during a summer tourney and it basically totally ruined his career but no one seems to connect the dots there. and the sacrifice he made.

underneath it all, though, I wish he would be more brash and more arrogant almost....the best goalscorers and players play with fierceness and bravado....he has it. but he clearly struggles with being so self aware and i his own head basically. you can see with the national team how he sometimes spirals out of control when games arent going well and tries to take it on himself.

wpuldve been curios to ask too to what he would attribute how much his form in different teams has fluctuated and why....he seems a much differet player with ac milan vs usmnt vs chelsea, for instance.....curious what his take on why that is or if he agrees with that

 

Big fan of his, not trying to bash him, just pointing out there was no real grounbreaking stuff here, and that is ok. I thought I was being nice in the original post? Would not have posted it if I did not think it was a good interview. Not every athlete can be Charles Barkley in the personality department as far as entertainment.

 

AC Milan (a mix of Youth players and a few Senior players) played a friendly this morning vs Virtus Entella - Pulisic Started and was Captain.
I believe he did play the entire match. He had a goal in the first half and a "hockey assist" in the 2nd half.
Final result was 3-2 to Virtus Entella in a match that was mostly about buidling fitness.

EDIT: He took a cleat to the foot in the dying minutes of the match, and was limping a little, but I think he'll be fine.

 

Yeah, he'll be ready for Inter next Sunday!!

 

100% agree. CP always gets this undeserved shade (not saying the OP did but its a common reaction to his interviews I see all over social media) because he isn't a super out going person. I'm not sure what people are expecting as most people are not like Weston McKennie. Maybe people assume, since he is an American, that he should have an outgoing and arrogant personality.... idk.

 

He reminds me of Troy Aikman when he was with the Cowboys - sort of a robotic guy with simple, boring statements. Once he retired he was chosen to be an announcer and I wondered how is that even possible. He then revealed he had a personality after all once he wasn't a player who could put up bulletin board material. Maybe or maybe not Pulisic is hiding some of his personality but smart players don't give out stuff that can be used against them.

 

In other news, rumor is Milan looking to do a swap deal for Santi in Jan.

Looks like Milan is ready to take the loss and move on.

 

We were promised circus with our bread, sir!

And, technically, he is an entertainer of sorts, but it is kinda silly to expect every gifted athlete to also be an entertaining chucklehead.

 

Yeah, the one time he lets us in and we all get outraged he's dancing on top of an endangered fish in the middle of the ocean.

 

Rumor out now is that Pulisic is waiting to see if Milan qualify for champions League before renewing his contract with the club. Also, word is there are plenty of suitors (makes sense with his current stats), including some Premiership ones (allegedly man Utd is one). Again, just gossip talk, possibly rubbish.

But if true, I am hoping Milan thrives this season and he re-ups there. Seems like a great place for him.

 

He should Def hold out if they don't make champions league and move on

 

This would makes sense. He said repeatedly that he wanted to play in the CL, so if Milan failed to qualify for CL again; he's probably as good as gone.

 

yeah, I don't doubt he'll leave if they don't qualfiy a 2nd consecutive year. And I would in his shoes. UCL is clearly important to him.
But I suspect Milan will make top 4 this year with room to spare, so it will be interesting if he can still be tempted to go elsewhere. If Milan succeed, I'd be surprised if he did not stay. It seems he has found a good fit there and a fanbase that admires him.

 

I am pretty sure that was the biggest obstacle in him resigning. There was agreement to terms announced and then no sign, because it looked pretty clear Milan was not going to make the CL shortly after January, and that seems the same time he backed away from signing.

I really like watching him at Milan, and if Max gets the best out of Rafa that would be quite an accomplishment. Now that would be a real nightmare for a defense. I think they make it this year, and I think Max has to stay with the three at the back. Rabiot getting healthy would make a huge difference. We need Modric to stay healthy and keep playing like a youngster.

 

He’s proven and in his prime. Surely a marker for him but at the same time Milan can’t guarantee a UCL finish.

 

I assume that if even if Champions League is that important to him he'll still want to be at a big club in a top league, which rules out making a move to a club like PSV that is basically guaranteed to be in the ECL every season. But he psychologically also needs to be a starter or he will start pressing too much and become a lesser player like his last few seasons at Chelsea.

So which club would be the best fit?

We've already seen he's not athletic enough to be a starter in the EPL, so those clubs are out. PSG, Barca, Real Madrid no. In the 1.Bl he's not starting for Bayern and even on a free Dortmund and Leipzig probably take a pass because they like to find young talent they can flip to the EPL for big money.

I think the only club that would be a clear upgrade for him would be Atletico Madrid:

In LaLiga they are well behind R.M. and Barca but way ahead of every other club in spending so they are basically guaranteed an ECL spot every season. I don't think LaLiga is appreciably more athletic than Serie A so I think his current game would translate well. And he's become a good two-way player so I could see him playing under Simeone.

So for me if he can get a move to A.M. that would be a clear upgrade that I think would match his talents. Otherwise I think he would be better off staying at Milan.

 

He's plenty athletic enough to be a starter in the EPL.