There isn't much to be happy about after the USMNT's last two friendly games. They didn't get a goal. They didn't seem interested in three quarters of the four-part show. They didn't create a lot of chances. There are still questions about the team we had before these games. Can anyone be the top scorer? What's happening with the central defense? Can anyone replace him? Maybe we should stop and pick this up again later in the day because this is getting pretty depressing now.
There is a question that has been around for a long time. If Christian Pulisic isn't the type of player that can pull the team's ass out of a sling, what would that mean?
It has been a strange journey for Pulisic since he joined the Blues. There was a promising first season at Stamford Bridge, but that also came under Frank Lampard, when the club was under a transfer embargo and they didn't have a large enough squad to contain players that might compete for his spot. Everything went under the lamps.
Pulisic hasn't been able to lock down a regular spot in the team because he hasn't been able to get a real manager He has a spotty track record of health. He looked like he wanted to leave this season.
It wasn't the best look for someone who wasn't old enough to rent a car to promote an autobiography where he was only too happy to make fun of the fired manager. Romelu Lukaku was punted back to Italy because of this type of thing. The rep of Lukaku is larger than that of Pulisic.
The reputation of the national team is more important than the accomplishments of the player. Five years have passed since he was the only bright spot on the team. He had to show the way for a team filled with kids who haven't been through this before.
There's a penalty against Mexico in the Nations League Final. The opening goal against Mexico will be played in Cincinnati. The U.S. came back from a deficit in the second half. Most of the time, Pulisic has been hurt.
The U.S. needed to respond after getting hammered by Japan. There wasn't much from Pulisic. Maybe... Except for that.
This has been the case when Pulisic has been in the lineup. If he is also linking with the other forwards and getting chances to score, it is fine. It isn't happening. There is a lack of communication. He tried and hero-balled his way through three defenders. He doesn't try to beat any defenders. He is a lot forChelsea as well. Not quite a direct dribbler breaking down a defense, not quite a link player weaving moves with his teammates, and not quite a late-arriver in the penalty box to score. He hints at all of it, without ever being any of it, which is the same problem he has atChelsea, and he might be handling it in the same petulant way he has handled that.
He didn't give a lot in the post game.
“I think we made a couple adjustments in the second half that maybe weren’t particularly needed,” Pulisic said. “I think we kind of weren’t testing them as much in behind, I thought we had some good runs, some good plays in the first half and there was some good flow, especially down the left side. I didn’t feel that as much in the second half for whatever reason.”
55 days out there isn't going to be a change so it's not a good time to undermine the manager.
So many things were accomplished so early. The first American teenager to play football in Germany. The first player to make a big-money move to the premier league. A regular on one of England's biggest clubs. The winner of the trophy. Soccer is moving fast and those are not far away. If things don't change in seven weeks, it's not unfair to ask if he should be in the USMNT's best 11.
It's not unusual for the best of a player's career to happen before his 23rd birthday. The U.S. is crying out for something that is uplifting when things are not going well. It looks like he's too happy to blame everyone around him instead of forcing it into place through his talent and will.
It didn't take much before. Now it doesn't. He is going to do something about it.
The record that a lot of people have made up as important is missing. Yankees fans are salty about teams ducking him, though they should get used to it, as they did last night, when they won the American League East. The rest of the Yankees' lineup is as spotty as it has been.
It's important to point out Yankees' hypocrisy.
Is karma real?
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