The American team still can not reach a point, allowing them to claim better places in the World Cup or other international competitions. The departure of Landon Donovan, a real myth in the United States, did not help matters. One of the new generation players who could serve as a new leader is 19-years-old attacking midfielder Christian Pulisic.
Born in Pennsylvania in 1998, Christian Pulisic could have played for Croatia, the country of his grandfather. The offensive midfielder finally chose the United States. His country is grateful to him because he acts as a “darling” in a selection where he is the youngest player.
What gives hope to the American football is that Christian Pulisic is now one of best young player in Europe and he can boast of having broken many records.
On 17 March 2016, against Hamburg, he scored his first league goal at the age of 17, six months and 30 days, becoming the youngest foreign scorer in the Bundesliga. A week later, he again shook the net against Stuttgart. He is also the youngest player in the history of the German championship to have managed to score for two consecutive matches.
It is no surprise that Dortmund board fought to attract him into their ranks. He tapped in the eye of the latter, at international tournaments with the local club of Pensylvania Classics. After having floated in the club’s U17 and U19 teams, he logically climbed to the next level.
Now, he is a key player for the black and yellows with 29 caps in 2016-17 and he played all the games since the beginning of 2017-18 edition of Bundesliga.
Position
What is very interesting about Christian Pulisic is his capabilities to play in different places on the field: he has a very good touch with his two feet allowing him to play both on the right or the left wing.
In fact, he is a very free player on the field, even more under Thomas Tuchel and his squad formations playing a lot of attacking players at the same time ( the team was sometimes composed by Ousmane Dembele, Christian Pulisic, Pierre-Eric Aubameyang and Andre Schurrle in attack). In the United States, he is like a “playmaker”, not as such as David Silva or Kevin De Bruyne but more like a Philippe Coutinho in Liverpool, coming from the sides to converge in the center of the field.
Passing and crossing
Playing on the two side of the pitch allowed him to crosses several times in games, often with dangerous action at the end. His impressive versatility and adaptability confirm the way Borussia Dortmund and the United States manage him, he just needs some improves in strength and vision to be able to be strong in the heart of the midfield.
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Dribbling
Christian Pulisic is also a terrific dribbler: with his acceleration, he already showed his capabilities to eliminate player after player, moreover in a high competition such as Champions League and top Bundesliga games, which is very impressive for such young player.
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Nevertheless, his capabilities to dribble is sometimes too present in his game, losing balls that could be pass to teammates. If some compare him to Lionel Messi, he is still lacking vision and he rushes too often in madness dribbles instead of raising his head. He is softer in the United States where he is a leader who must calm down tempo when it’s needed. Borussia Dortmund uses him as a winger who breaks through the defenses, but he could play a different role in another team.
Career path
Nowadays a lot of young players go out of their formation club to join big clubs where they often don’t play and finish in a loan or on the bench. Christian Pulisic is not this kind of player: still very young he climbed the ladder very quickly: from U17 to the first team in Dortmund, Christian Pulisic made the good days of Borussia. But he would have gladly evolved for another club. He has a special affection for Manchester United and his favorite player is none other than Wayne Rooney. His name is regularly quoted on the shelves of major European clubs (PSG, Liverpool …) but he would see himself playing under the orders of Jose Mourinho.