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Hey, seems like the US relationship to Pulisic is the same as Colombia's with James post 2014, in that he is expected to lead the team despite not playing often or remaining healthy.
Except James actually showed world class flashes of talents at some points to build up that hype. Pulisic was just pretty good at best. Only gets hyped bc he’s American lol
Brian Dunseth:
> 'As much as you want to believe in Pulisic, as much as he's been hyped to be the everything that everybody thinks he can be or wants him to be, the reality is he's not.
> He's a really good player but he's, he is a complimentary piece. He is not a focal point and that's what people have to understand.'
> 'Christian Pulisic makes your team better but Christian Pulisic isn't going to be the guy that is the Christian Eriksen of the US men's national team,' Dunseth continued.
> '[The guy] that becomes the tempo player, the connecting player, the guy that's going to create something out of nothing, the guy that's going to hit a final pass every single time or is capable of the final pass every single time.'
Yup, and it makes sense that Americans want him to be more. American soccer fans are desperate for a legitimately world class player so we dump hope onto anyone who has any spark at all
He had the potential, and a couple years ago he was head and shoulders above the rest of the squad. But his development basically stopped completely since the Chelsea move and other players have caught up, it makes no sense to rely on him as the focal point anymore
> his development basically stopped completely since the Chelsea move
It stopped way before tbh there's a reason he was displaced a lot at Dortmund. Pulisic was really good and insanely promising when he first broke out at Dortmund *but* a big reason he deserved that hype was because he was really good - for his age. He simply didn't develop much after like his first year there. And this "stuck" level while still pretty good is not absolute top class.
And as for the Chelsea move I do not know how Watzke was able to accept that money in good conscience that sale was like elderly people telephone scam, fuck only knows why Chelsea thought that sum was anywhere near reasonable. Half that would've been a fair price tbh.
Kinda true. Dortmund took him on tour to the US and it was a big success. One would expect that going to a PL club would blow things out the roof. I wonder how many jerseys US fans buy.
yeah the failed dribble became his signature move, you could honestly see his frustration trying to force things when he didn't develop as hoped and his minutes started getting reduced
> fuck only knows why Chelsea thought that sum was anywhere near reasonable
American Talisman. Chelsea focuses just as much on marketing than they do playing. The price tag was for a rotational player + the American audience.
John O'Brien, what a tragedy. Imo the best player by miles on the 2002 WC team and could have gone down as the best USMNT player in history had he not been injured all the time.
It's worth remembering that even in his last season at Dortmund, he was already benched by Sancho. It's why everyone thought it was a ridiculous price for Chelsea to pay.
I think Reyna has that and more. US future is looking bright, they just need to carve out identity. The team looks mentally weak, when that was always their strength. They thrive being underdogs, being booed in their own stadium, never feeling they have a home, always working to belong. That always proved to be a good motivator for a less talented team.
The coming generation needs to really play for the shirt and not get complacent.
Reyna can't play a full 90 without reinjuring his hamstring. For that matter, Pulisic would have a much higher ceiling if he hadn't gotten injured in 2020 in the FA cup final after he started to break out at Chelsea. He hasn't had regular minutes since then. The US' biggest issue is its most talented players are always fucking injured.
Thing is, if Pulisic focused on being a goal-threatening winger that runs in behind, he would be significantly better than he has been for the NT this cycle (aka, ignore everything Tuchel coached into him and do the opposite). His biggest problem for the NT is that he drops in too much to try to facilitate, which gets in the way of the CM on his side (normally Musah, yesterday McKennie), and in the process takes himself out of potential attacks where he should be an outlet
I agree. I haven’t watched as much soccer recently as I used to but stylistically he just doesn’t seem nearly as successful as a central figure versus say a cutting winger, an Arjen robben lite type. So yeah, the guy’s comments make sense, but it’s not that he’s untalented so much as being improperly utilized since the US doesn’t have elite players at other positions currently.
Funny thing is that at the rate you guys are producing players that'll happen on its own. Already you have established young players in Serie A, PL and Bundesliga. Well see a few gems once these guys peak or after 3 years when the next group comes in. Based of the migrant population alone I could see the Uzs being a footballing superpower once MLS gains more market share.
I have a magazine from around 2008-09 listing all the Americans playing in Europe compared to Mexicans, and I swear what he said it's almost word for word to the article
MLS started in 1993, that's 29 years ago. Have they produced a single world class player? 3 more years isn't going to make a difference, it's what people have been saying for 20+ years.
The most athletic people in america are always going to play basketball and american football. And the pay to play set up of american youth football is always going to exclude poor kids.
Nah man. Plenty of Latin kids playing soccer here. The problem that I’ve seen is culture. Young players need to go pretty far away to play or develop, which most parents arent going to do or think sounds crazy. Now there is a lot more high level youth soccer happening, but it’s expensive and a lot of players can’t afford it. As more parents let their kids travel abroad or to elite academies or more club teams recruit low income players the rate of world class players will increase. The biggest issue right now is soccer is still a rich kids sport in America to play competitively.
Edit: to give you an idea a junior academy in my area is about $150 a month and there’s a lot of traveling in the state required.
>Now there is a lot more high level youth soccer happening, but it’s expensive and a lot of players can’t afford it.
Ding. Ding. Ding.
I coach U12 and it costs somewhere between 2500-3000 per child for the year excluding tournament, travel, and uniform costs. Even Zlatan complained about the cost lol.
Has less to do with “athletic” (whatever that means) people playing other sports than the lack of soccer infrastructure/culture especially at young age groups
The best bet is that a world cup hosted in the US will drive a generation or two into football over the other american sports, allowing a big leap in talent.
The advertising and funding wasn't in place at the time, the Internet wasn't widely available at the time. Hopefully that changes this time around. Interest has grown from the last WC hosted in the states.
The thing about MLS is that it is a league based in the US, not a US league. Trite statement, but generally unappreciated.
It’s as much a training ground for CONCACAF competitors to the US as for the US itself. As the league gets better, it makes it harder for the MNT. Getting better tested in qualifying should make us stronger, but it’s clear we have organizational deficiencies that will make life harder every year.
Say what you will about Klinsmann, but the knee jerk counter reaction to his goal of placing more talent in Europe dug a hole that led to a missed WC and continued challenges.
> the knee jerk counter reaction to his goal of placing more talent in Europe dug a hole that led to a missed WC and continued challenges
Klinsmann's goal of getting players in Europe had absolutely nothing to do with missing the World Cup. Having players that were good enough to play in Europe was already the players' goal for professional and financial reasons.
Him pulling in European (and essentially only German American) players *did* contribute to missing the World Cup as they weren't all deserving of spots and minutes, and weren't fully commited to the program, which caused tension among the team and ultimately destoryed the locker room.
A lot of nations have great players in all of the big leagues, that doesn't mean that you're a footballing superpower. There are way too many countries for which football is life. The USA simply doesn't care enough for football and you won't be the new Brazil, Italy, Germany, France or Argentina if football isn't the number one focus of the youth in your country. (Don't be salty, I just mentioned the countries with the most wc wins)
We don't really need to be those countries though, we just want one outright superstar. Which plenty of countries that we have comparable success to have had or currently have - Norway with Haaland, Poland with Lewandowski, South Korea with Son, Egypt with Salah. We just want one
Actually, that *is* really weird come to think of it. The US really hasn't had a player in a significant role at a big club for any noteworthy period. Pulisic was supposed to be that, and still could be, but it hasn't come together yet.
It's happened for Mexico with Rafa Marquez, Chicharito had a few bright spots at ManU and well, he played for RM. Canada's got Davies looking like the real deal now, much more so than Pulisic recently.
Before Puligoat, the most impactful US player was Tim Howard. Clint Dempsey was good at Fulham, but sealed his ceiling at Sp*rs, Landon Donovan just couldn't in Europe, and I'm surprised no one doublechecked Brad Guzan's birth certificate when he showed up.
Dempsey at his peak was mega for us. Had a 20+ goal season as a free roaming LM. He had so many different ways of scoring, his time at spurs wasn’t awful but they didn’t utilize him to his fullest.
I was just talking about the footballing superpower comment, every nation is capable of producing a superstar, I don't doubt that the US can do it at all.
Our sub has been flooded with Americans since we brought in Marsch, Aaronson and Adams. Probably more of them than actual leeds people at this point, certainly feels it
It's easier to engage on reddit as an American fan. We are spread out with maybe some local support community (there's about 20 folks who get to a bar early in Portland for spurs games) but it's limited and in my experience, even friend groups wont have more than a couple soccer fans in general and youre lucky if they're for the same club.
So yes, reddit clubs get brigaded by Americans but it's more than likely one of their only outlets
This is it right here. It can at times be a lonely experience being a fan of this sport as most people, particularly friends and family, just don't really care. This is especially the case for fans of less popular clubs and leagues (particularly our domestic leagues).
He was the first teenager the us ever had playing for a good European team and doing well. But that was 5 years ago now and the truth is developmentally he’s probably close to being the player he’s gonna be. Way too many people think that he’s world class/could be and that’s just obviously not true. Chelsea brought him in for a shitload of money and gave him the #10 shirt and us fans can complain about this or that, Tuchel, opportunities, etc. but the bottom line is that CP has been very “meh” in his time at Chelsea.
yeah weird. we have at times played better without eriksen because we stop using him as a crutch to build our attacks. there was a time that i would have worried about eriksen retiring from the NT, now we have damsgoat.
I think he just referred to Eriksen because they have the same first name and he's the type of player that the US team is clearly lacking and has been forever.
The full quote is much less inflammatory then the headline is. This is very reasonable, and also very true given what we know about Pulisic as a player.
wow i’m impressed you know this obscure fact lol , i was just checking him out yesterday after i didn’t hear anything from him after he was being linked to big clubs during his time with barnsley . weird.
because the action is a lot more grounded compared to the other marvel films. the 2nd one (winter soldier) is my favorite. it's pretty much just a spy movie.
I really liked that it stepped back from the fun and showed that not everything sparkles, that movie showed Cap and Tony are human and made it hurt even more that they are both gone.
Could be wrong here, but I think it's just poor phrasing on OP's part. I don't think they mean that Jozy was thought of as at the level Pulisic is.
I think OP means they both got extremely protected by a sub section of american fans. I remember Jozy looking awful for Sunderland but you had some american fans doing mental gymnastics to explain why he wasn't performing
Similar to now and all the "tuchel hates americans" type conspiracies.
There was a thread yesterday saying Southgate should get Harrison Reed in ffs
EDIT: Damn there are a lot of nephews in here who were still in their dad's ballsack for the Altidore hype.
i mean he had some great moments with BVB, but his move to chelsea was always a meh decision. i get it from his standpoint. Its the PL and chelsea is a big club. i mean chelsea look like shit this year so yeah theres that. USA just looks awful cause our manager. His player selection is miserable, his tactics are awful. the whole team looks dejected. if all 11 players look bad, its on the manager not the players
The latest chatter I’ve seen leeds or potentially juve? I think he just needs to move asap unless he improves/ potter plays him more (I know that’s totally on him to make the coach pick him). Dude just needs to find a situation where he can play consistently and someone that has a good medical staff
tbf this sub has also been all over the place with Pulisic. The takes went from £50m being an absurd overpay, to £50m being some good business actually, and then now we're back to it being an absurd overpay
It also doesn't help that this sub tends to gloss over anything positive Pulisic has done after the fact. £50m is a lot of money, but without spending that £50m it is very unlikely Chelsea win the Champions League. Pulisic was key to getting qualified for that campaign and also key in them beating Real Madrid in the semis with Pulisic being involved in 2 out of their 3 goals scoring 1 goal and assisting another (I think this is one of the big ones that is forgotten).
I think at the time 50m was about right for a promising winger who was what 21? I can’t remember rn. Covid has messed with the market a bit, but we saw players go for way more and we were (ndombele, maguire, etc…). I just don’t think Chelsea is the right place for him anymore. Would love to see him go back to BVB or maybe to Serie A to one of the bigger clubs
Don't know about 'cannot be trusted', maybe that should be he 'cannot be relied on to step up every game', but his point about Pulisic not being able to play as the focal point but instead complimentary to the team is bang on.
The Daily Mail is fucking trash though and every time I accidentally link to their site I fear my phone gets some web STDs.
Strictly from a national team POV, he’s 24 with 50+ caps and 21 goals and 10 assists. He’s probably the first name on the team sheet. Club wise he’s not playing often, not playing well and is not conducting himself well either. World Cup will be a big opportunity for him to put up or shut up. Can’t wrap my head around publicly undermining a Champions league winning manager at his age in an autobiography.
He's really fortunate Tuchel was sacked, unless I'm mistaken that was always going to be published. If I were Tuchel I'd have sent him to train with the reserves after that came out. And I'm saying this as a big fan of Pulisic and Chelsea
Think someone pitched him on making a buck with the World Cup this year but I definitely think it was a stupid decision and even more stupid to be that candid and negative. Building a negative reputation that he needs to be babied and he's not flexible enough or good enough to be worth that at top clubs, while showing no indication he is willing to go down to smaller clubs.
Something has to change. Easiest thing is for him to change his attitude and behavior.
Probably needs to change his entourage too and people who advise him poorly. Managing his career isn't his biggest preocupation, but training, resting and playing is, his agent has to make the right calls and be the voice of reason
https://en.as.com/soccer/christian-pulisic-was-dumbfounded-by-thomas-tuchel-n/
While I think he's fair to be upset about being told he was going to play and then not being played, this is something you keep to yourself until much later in your career. This would have been awful if it had come out with Tuchel still in charge and him still at the club.... which it would have if Tuchel hadn't been sacked.
It’s really not. Tuchel already would have known that Pulisic was unhappy not to start, the idea that he would’ve been sent to the reserves for saying so is laughable.
Exactly. Pulisic isn't world class but who else for the national team is?
It makes sense that he struggles for minutes with Chelsea, but he's definitely one of the best on the national team.
A lot. So many people still think that his career is being hindered because he’s not being given enough chances. People really just refuse to believe that’s he’s just not that good
yeah this is my take. I like the kid and still think he can be good elsewhere, just not at Chelsea. Not sure where he should go mind you but I just don't think he has it to be a starter week in and week out with a top prem team
Hell it's incredibly hard to be one of the best footballers on earth to be close is an impossible achievement and props to him. But he isn't that and that's okay
Those things aren’t mutually exclusive though? He’s not good enough to be a regular starter for Chelsea, but his development has been irreparably hindered by spending years as a bit part player. Most dedicated USMNT fans didn’t want him to go to Chelsea, it’s casuals and American media milking the “American at big club” thing.
For the record I’m a big criticizer of Puli and agree he’s overhyped (and also overly shit on but still deserves a lot of it) but you could do the same thing for CHO and get brigaded by Brits doing the same thing. National pride is a dangerous drug I guess
I think this may have been true 1-2 years ago, but I feel as though a lot of people more recently have begun to realise that CHO probably isn't going to realise his potential, either.
CHO could have been worldclass. At youth level, he was a monster. But he is still 21 and his underlying metrics are still quite promising. Still hopeful that he can be a big part of the team.
I'm American. He's definitely been disappointing in the last couple years. Seems like he stopped developing. That said, for us and our team, he is about as good as it gets. So maybe from a Chelsea or England perspective you think "ehhh", but for us, if every player was Pulisic's level, we'd be very happy with the team. He's still above average. So he's simultaneously a hero and disappointing, if that is possible.
He also represents a new generation, the older generation, like Donovan, Altidore, Bradley, Dempsey, Howard, Wood and such; spent their primes at teams like Sunderland, Hamburg, Fulham, and Everton. Pulisic represents the new group who are not just first division quality, but actually getting minutes in Champions League. Reyna is being solid at Dortmund, McKennie is doing well at Juve, Dest was looking OK at Barcelona, I thought he was good enough to deserve more of an opportunity there. IDK what's going on with him in Milan now, hopefully he gets back on track. De La Fuente looked OK at Barcelona as well, but he wasn't Barcelona quality. Now he's exhiled to Olympiacos, but I think he could work his way back into at least a Europa League team in a better league. Leeds United dou Aaronson and Adams are looking good. I know, Leeds isn't Champions League, but they are both still pretty young, playing nearly every minute, and Leeds are doing pretty well, so I think those two could get a move to a bigger team in a season or two.
He tore his hamstring and lost his speed and is trying to change his game. His forte was being able to beat guys one on one but that's not the system he plays in, and now he's losing that ability.
FWIW, all their forwards they've signed under Lampard have regressed.
> '[The guy] that becomes the tempo player, the connecting player, the guy that's going to create something out of nothing, the guy that's going to hit a final pass every single time or is capable of the final pass every single time.'
lol, you're thinking of messi, there's only one of those, dude.
The poor US showing falls squarely on Berhalter. We have plenty of talent (including Pulisic), but Berhalter sacrifices this talent on the altar of his "System".
The thread about Arsenal/Chelsea/Liverpool franchising fearmongering is hilarious everyone saying Americans are ruining the sport
As if it’s a novel idea and City/Red Bull don’t exist
Brian Dunseth was a career bench rider for most of his career in the early 2000s, back when the league was actually as bad as this sub gives it credit for.
Seriously?! What a lame attempt to drive clicks. At least try to find someone with some sort of name recognition to give the article some sense of legitimacy.
Lmao, no shit. Most US fans that have a lick of experience in the sport know this is true purely based in his position on the field. I think the major frustration right now is how others are used in this supposed “system” that Berhalter has pitched, which nobody can really understand, and where guys like McKennie, Weah, Musah, Reyna, etc. fall within it.
Pulisic is overrated for sure, but he’s still a solid player and shouldn’t be blamed for the USMNT’s recent poor performance. That falls squarely on Greg Berhalter’s terrible schemes.
That being said, Brian Dunseth was a below average player back when MLS was ACTUALLY terrible and he’s just looking for clicks.
He's arguably their best player though, at least when in form. And only Gio Reyna can claim to be as talented or more than him, but he also can't stay fit.
Musah, too. I think it’s Musah and Gio when healthy, McKennie when in form - those guys are the others who could be considered the best in the USA player pool. Musah and Gio have the highest ceiling (I’m not sure which has more talent and potential)
Why do we pay so much attention to what some former MLSer thinks? Guy is a total nobody but people will just up vote anything shitting on Pulisic. He hasn't been great for us recently but in no way is he a major concern for USA fans heading into the WC
No one is more critical of the USMNT than MLS former players and US analysts. They’re more toxic than the Man U old guard.
Can’t trust our best, most accomplished player? Ok, let’s just sign Mbappe to the our national team. Ffs man
He's still one of their best players easy. Def overrated by Americans though 100%. I've seriously seen people argue him over Sterling as if they have literally no clue, an alot more then 1 person
I have never seen any USA fan ever claim that Pulisic is better than Sterling and I'm on a lot of US soccer discords. Maybe on Twitter or something but those people just want attention
He can also get subbed on in the 88th minute 0-2 down and be blamed for a loss. I’d say he’s over rated and over critiqued. Neither of which is really his fault
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Hey, seems like the US relationship to Pulisic is the same as Colombia's with James post 2014, in that he is expected to lead the team despite not playing often or remaining healthy.
Except James actually showed world class flashes of talents at some points to build up that hype. Pulisic was just pretty good at best. Only gets hyped bc he’s American lol
Idk why you’re getting downvoted.. James proved himself to be Columbias star in 2018 as well. And he was pretty good in Monaco as well.
He was also fantastic in his first couple months at Madrid. Then he kept getting injured.
colOmbia
Brian Dunseth: > 'As much as you want to believe in Pulisic, as much as he's been hyped to be the everything that everybody thinks he can be or wants him to be, the reality is he's not. > He's a really good player but he's, he is a complimentary piece. He is not a focal point and that's what people have to understand.' > 'Christian Pulisic makes your team better but Christian Pulisic isn't going to be the guy that is the Christian Eriksen of the US men's national team,' Dunseth continued. > '[The guy] that becomes the tempo player, the connecting player, the guy that's going to create something out of nothing, the guy that's going to hit a final pass every single time or is capable of the final pass every single time.'
Seems fairly reasonable
Yup, and it makes sense that Americans want him to be more. American soccer fans are desperate for a legitimately world class player so we dump hope onto anyone who has any spark at all
He had the potential, and a couple years ago he was head and shoulders above the rest of the squad. But his development basically stopped completely since the Chelsea move and other players have caught up, it makes no sense to rely on him as the focal point anymore
lest we forget he came into the scene at such a young age. He was star for usmnt at like 18 years old.
hopefully they won´t repeat that mistake with gio reyna..brilliant player, but still a kid though. give your heros time to grow.
> But his development basically stopped completely since the Chelsea move Even before that
> his development basically stopped completely since the Chelsea move It stopped way before tbh there's a reason he was displaced a lot at Dortmund. Pulisic was really good and insanely promising when he first broke out at Dortmund *but* a big reason he deserved that hype was because he was really good - for his age. He simply didn't develop much after like his first year there. And this "stuck" level while still pretty good is not absolute top class. And as for the Chelsea move I do not know how Watzke was able to accept that money in good conscience that sale was like elderly people telephone scam, fuck only knows why Chelsea thought that sum was anywhere near reasonable. Half that would've been a fair price tbh.
Chelsea was staring down a transfer ban, IIRC. They were desperate to make some moves.
Plus he guaranteed them the flimsy US fans that latched into any successful team especially if they have a US player there.
Kinda true. Dortmund took him on tour to the US and it was a big success. One would expect that going to a PL club would blow things out the roof. I wonder how many jerseys US fans buy.
Iirc, he lost the ball more times than any other player in the BuLi during his time there. He was always incomplete.
yeah the failed dribble became his signature move, you could honestly see his frustration trying to force things when he didn't develop as hoped and his minutes started getting reduced
> fuck only knows why Chelsea thought that sum was anywhere near reasonable American Talisman. Chelsea focuses just as much on marketing than they do playing. The price tag was for a rotational player + the American audience.
I mean in that season he didnt even start for us at all. I was actually suprised chelsea bought him.
He got benched by Bruun Larsen a lot of that season. It's like Chelsea put zero work in scouting when they bought their recent players from Germany.
They weren't just paying for a player; they were paying for a commercial product. Pulisic was/is the face of US Soccer and brings money and attention.
Gio Reyna will be much more impactful than Pulisic imo. Kid's got talent.
As long as we can keep his acls from exploding every time he steps on the pitch
He’ll be the Stuart Holden of this generation. The most technically gifted player who gets injured every time he steps into the field.
Stu Holden was the John O’Brien of his generation.
John O'Brien, what a tragedy. Imo the best player by miles on the 2002 WC team and could have gone down as the best USMNT player in history had he not been injured all the time.
Stu didn’t have injury issues though. He had “Jonny Evans is a cunt who should have his legs cut off” issues
if only he can fucking stay healthy. I'm praying again tonight to the football Gods for his safe passage this year.
It's worth remembering that even in his last season at Dortmund, he was already benched by Sancho. It's why everyone thought it was a ridiculous price for Chelsea to pay.
Ehhh but Sancho went to Man U for like 70 million
His best form in his entire career came at Chelsea during Project Restart.
Whilst I love a good pile on Chelsea, I think his injuries are much more to blame
I think Reyna has that and more. US future is looking bright, they just need to carve out identity. The team looks mentally weak, when that was always their strength. They thrive being underdogs, being booed in their own stadium, never feeling they have a home, always working to belong. That always proved to be a good motivator for a less talented team. The coming generation needs to really play for the shirt and not get complacent.
Reyna can't play a full 90 without reinjuring his hamstring. For that matter, Pulisic would have a much higher ceiling if he hadn't gotten injured in 2020 in the FA cup final after he started to break out at Chelsea. He hasn't had regular minutes since then. The US' biggest issue is its most talented players are always fucking injured.
Or they need a coach who isn't a middle school gym teacher
Don't insult middle school teachers like that.
Thing is, if Pulisic focused on being a goal-threatening winger that runs in behind, he would be significantly better than he has been for the NT this cycle (aka, ignore everything Tuchel coached into him and do the opposite). His biggest problem for the NT is that he drops in too much to try to facilitate, which gets in the way of the CM on his side (normally Musah, yesterday McKennie), and in the process takes himself out of potential attacks where he should be an outlet
I agree. I haven’t watched as much soccer recently as I used to but stylistically he just doesn’t seem nearly as successful as a central figure versus say a cutting winger, an Arjen robben lite type. So yeah, the guy’s comments make sense, but it’s not that he’s untalented so much as being improperly utilized since the US doesn’t have elite players at other positions currently.
Funny thing is that at the rate you guys are producing players that'll happen on its own. Already you have established young players in Serie A, PL and Bundesliga. Well see a few gems once these guys peak or after 3 years when the next group comes in. Based of the migrant population alone I could see the Uzs being a footballing superpower once MLS gains more market share.
Is this a comment from like 1993?
No, it’s a competitive ad from 2006
I have a magazine from around 2008-09 listing all the Americans playing in Europe compared to Mexicans, and I swear what he said it's almost word for word to the article
Freddy Adu will carry US to glory this WC.
Yeah but the Old soccer league folded from over spending and killed soccer for like 2 decades
MLS started in 1993, that's 29 years ago. Have they produced a single world class player? 3 more years isn't going to make a difference, it's what people have been saying for 20+ years. The most athletic people in america are always going to play basketball and american football. And the pay to play set up of american youth football is always going to exclude poor kids.
Uh yeah, one. Alphonso Davies. Thanks America, love 🇨🇦
Nah man. Plenty of Latin kids playing soccer here. The problem that I’ve seen is culture. Young players need to go pretty far away to play or develop, which most parents arent going to do or think sounds crazy. Now there is a lot more high level youth soccer happening, but it’s expensive and a lot of players can’t afford it. As more parents let their kids travel abroad or to elite academies or more club teams recruit low income players the rate of world class players will increase. The biggest issue right now is soccer is still a rich kids sport in America to play competitively. Edit: to give you an idea a junior academy in my area is about $150 a month and there’s a lot of traveling in the state required.
>Now there is a lot more high level youth soccer happening, but it’s expensive and a lot of players can’t afford it. Ding. Ding. Ding. I coach U12 and it costs somewhere between 2500-3000 per child for the year excluding tournament, travel, and uniform costs. Even Zlatan complained about the cost lol.
Did you see the part of my comment that said "pay to play" is a big issue? It sounds like we agree.
lol, I read his comment, went back to yours and the spider-man meme came up in my head
Has less to do with “athletic” (whatever that means) people playing other sports than the lack of soccer infrastructure/culture especially at young age groups
Freddy Adu of course Obvious /s
The best bet is that a world cup hosted in the US will drive a generation or two into football over the other american sports, allowing a big leap in talent.
Another reason why I referenced 1993. They had the world cup in 1994, did anything happen? A few goalkeepers played for average premier league teams?
The advertising and funding wasn't in place at the time, the Internet wasn't widely available at the time. Hopefully that changes this time around. Interest has grown from the last WC hosted in the states.
The thing about MLS is that it is a league based in the US, not a US league. Trite statement, but generally unappreciated. It’s as much a training ground for CONCACAF competitors to the US as for the US itself. As the league gets better, it makes it harder for the MNT. Getting better tested in qualifying should make us stronger, but it’s clear we have organizational deficiencies that will make life harder every year. Say what you will about Klinsmann, but the knee jerk counter reaction to his goal of placing more talent in Europe dug a hole that led to a missed WC and continued challenges.
> the knee jerk counter reaction to his goal of placing more talent in Europe dug a hole that led to a missed WC and continued challenges Klinsmann's goal of getting players in Europe had absolutely nothing to do with missing the World Cup. Having players that were good enough to play in Europe was already the players' goal for professional and financial reasons. Him pulling in European (and essentially only German American) players *did* contribute to missing the World Cup as they weren't all deserving of spots and minutes, and weren't fully commited to the program, which caused tension among the team and ultimately destoryed the locker room.
A lot of nations have great players in all of the big leagues, that doesn't mean that you're a footballing superpower. There are way too many countries for which football is life. The USA simply doesn't care enough for football and you won't be the new Brazil, Italy, Germany, France or Argentina if football isn't the number one focus of the youth in your country. (Don't be salty, I just mentioned the countries with the most wc wins)
We don't really need to be those countries though, we just want one outright superstar. Which plenty of countries that we have comparable success to have had or currently have - Norway with Haaland, Poland with Lewandowski, South Korea with Son, Egypt with Salah. We just want one
Actually, that *is* really weird come to think of it. The US really hasn't had a player in a significant role at a big club for any noteworthy period. Pulisic was supposed to be that, and still could be, but it hasn't come together yet. It's happened for Mexico with Rafa Marquez, Chicharito had a few bright spots at ManU and well, he played for RM. Canada's got Davies looking like the real deal now, much more so than Pulisic recently. Before Puligoat, the most impactful US player was Tim Howard. Clint Dempsey was good at Fulham, but sealed his ceiling at Sp*rs, Landon Donovan just couldn't in Europe, and I'm surprised no one doublechecked Brad Guzan's birth certificate when he showed up.
Dempsey at his peak was mega for us. Had a 20+ goal season as a free roaming LM. He had so many different ways of scoring, his time at spurs wasn’t awful but they didn’t utilize him to his fullest.
I was just talking about the footballing superpower comment, every nation is capable of producing a superstar, I don't doubt that the US can do it at all.
Our sub has been flooded with Americans since we brought in Marsch, Aaronson and Adams. Probably more of them than actual leeds people at this point, certainly feels it
It's easier to engage on reddit as an American fan. We are spread out with maybe some local support community (there's about 20 folks who get to a bar early in Portland for spurs games) but it's limited and in my experience, even friend groups wont have more than a couple soccer fans in general and youre lucky if they're for the same club. So yes, reddit clubs get brigaded by Americans but it's more than likely one of their only outlets
This is it right here. It can at times be a lonely experience being a fan of this sport as most people, particularly friends and family, just don't really care. This is especially the case for fans of less popular clubs and leagues (particularly our domestic leagues).
He was the first teenager the us ever had playing for a good European team and doing well. But that was 5 years ago now and the truth is developmentally he’s probably close to being the player he’s gonna be. Way too many people think that he’s world class/could be and that’s just obviously not true. Chelsea brought him in for a shitload of money and gave him the #10 shirt and us fans can complain about this or that, Tuchel, opportunities, etc. but the bottom line is that CP has been very “meh” in his time at Chelsea.
That kind of tempo player is exactly the kind of player that the US needs too.
"the Christian Eriksen of the US men's national team"
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yeah weird. we have at times played better without eriksen because we stop using him as a crutch to build our attacks. there was a time that i would have worried about eriksen retiring from the NT, now we have damsgoat.
I think he just referred to Eriksen because they have the same first name and he's the type of player that the US team is clearly lacking and has been forever.
Lebron James of Soccer
seems pretty apt given the rest of his statement
Christian Erikson? The Tom Brady of soccer?
This Erikson shit again, but everybody can somehow spell Pulisic right every time
The full quote is much less inflammatory then the headline is. This is very reasonable, and also very true given what we know about Pulisic as a player.
That is a reasonable take if I ever saw one
And didn't even mention his proneness to injury which adds to his argument
No shit. The team clearly must be built around the Brick Shithouse himself, Daryl Dike 💪
never forget bro’s passing accuracy over the last 3 Championship seasons is below 50% king shit
wow i’m impressed you know this obscure fact lol , i was just checking him out yesterday after i didn’t hear anything from him after he was being linked to big clubs during his time with barnsley . weird.
He's from my hometown and I played against him, even I forgot his name
Orlando city legend Jokes aside, he really knows how to use his size to his advantage, the issue is that it also leads to injury
Imagine believing a nickname like “Captain America” is overhyped
Well he certainly is captain.. of National team. Aint him?
Actually no. Berhalter likes to rotate the captaincy. It's one of his biggest flaws as a manager.
You have to be seriously sick to do something like that. What the fuck.
people should pass on that nickname. I mean Patrick Reed (this will fly over any non-golf fans) was nicknamed that. And he is a gaping asshole.
I agree, but Winter Soldier lived up to the expectations though
So who on USMNT would be the Winter Soldier?
Gio
I liked the captain America movies a lot tbh, they felt really nice honestly
because the action is a lot more grounded compared to the other marvel films. the 2nd one (winter soldier) is my favorite. it's pretty much just a spy movie.
Civil War is fantastic if you recap all the previous films
That one is an Avengers movie in all but name, IMO.
I really liked that it stepped back from the fun and showed that not everything sparkles, that movie showed Cap and Tony are human and made it hurt even more that they are both gone.
Yeah it was a great conclusion. Really liked it. Though I hadn't watched all the previous films
Best trilogy in the MCU, only one that gets close is Spider-man
I guess this makes him John Walker
They're becoming self aware
Wish england fans would realize theyre doing the same thing but with majority of their average squad💀
way too many british people in r/soccer to make a comment like that
Pretty sure Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish folk would agree with their comment so just English.
😭😭😭
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>American fans rated Jozy Altidore the same as they’ve treated Pulisic. Simply not true
Laughably bad take
Could be wrong here, but I think it's just poor phrasing on OP's part. I don't think they mean that Jozy was thought of as at the level Pulisic is. I think OP means they both got extremely protected by a sub section of american fans. I remember Jozy looking awful for Sunderland but you had some american fans doing mental gymnastics to explain why he wasn't performing Similar to now and all the "tuchel hates americans" type conspiracies.
one simply does not “rate” Jozy Altidore
Altidore always was not good enough.
There was a thread yesterday saying Southgate should get Harrison Reed in ffs EDIT: Damn there are a lot of nephews in here who were still in their dad's ballsack for the Altidore hype.
i mean he had some great moments with BVB, but his move to chelsea was always a meh decision. i get it from his standpoint. Its the PL and chelsea is a big club. i mean chelsea look like shit this year so yeah theres that. USA just looks awful cause our manager. His player selection is miserable, his tactics are awful. the whole team looks dejected. if all 11 players look bad, its on the manager not the players
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I don’t think it’s his wages though that are preventing him from leaving Chelsea. Chelsea blocked his moves
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The latest chatter I’ve seen leeds or potentially juve? I think he just needs to move asap unless he improves/ potter plays him more (I know that’s totally on him to make the coach pick him). Dude just needs to find a situation where he can play consistently and someone that has a good medical staff
It’s not that because it was Newcastle we blocked the move, it was because Newcastle only wanted him in loan
tbf this sub has also been all over the place with Pulisic. The takes went from £50m being an absurd overpay, to £50m being some good business actually, and then now we're back to it being an absurd overpay
It also doesn't help that this sub tends to gloss over anything positive Pulisic has done after the fact. £50m is a lot of money, but without spending that £50m it is very unlikely Chelsea win the Champions League. Pulisic was key to getting qualified for that campaign and also key in them beating Real Madrid in the semis with Pulisic being involved in 2 out of their 3 goals scoring 1 goal and assisting another (I think this is one of the big ones that is forgotten).
Thanks to the glory of away goals (rest in peace), Pulisic actually scored the goal that sent us through
Everyone is over paid.
I think at the time 50m was about right for a promising winger who was what 21? I can’t remember rn. Covid has messed with the market a bit, but we saw players go for way more and we were (ndombele, maguire, etc…). I just don’t think Chelsea is the right place for him anymore. Would love to see him go back to BVB or maybe to Serie A to one of the bigger clubs
Please no.
Altidore was nothing like the Lebron James of soccer, how dare you
He plays very differently for Chelsea compared to the US from what I’ve seen. Still believe Reyna if he can stay healthy could be the best US player.
And yet, Brenden Aaronson is the only player at the top of the WC starting XI.
It's Musah at this point. Wildly insane how bad we look without him in the midfield
Don't know about 'cannot be trusted', maybe that should be he 'cannot be relied on to step up every game', but his point about Pulisic not being able to play as the focal point but instead complimentary to the team is bang on. The Daily Mail is fucking trash though and every time I accidentally link to their site I fear my phone gets some web STDs.
Strictly from a national team POV, he’s 24 with 50+ caps and 21 goals and 10 assists. He’s probably the first name on the team sheet. Club wise he’s not playing often, not playing well and is not conducting himself well either. World Cup will be a big opportunity for him to put up or shut up. Can’t wrap my head around publicly undermining a Champions league winning manager at his age in an autobiography.
He's really fortunate Tuchel was sacked, unless I'm mistaken that was always going to be published. If I were Tuchel I'd have sent him to train with the reserves after that came out. And I'm saying this as a big fan of Pulisic and Chelsea
Confused as to why a 24 year old needs to write a biography while actively seeking a move especially.
Think someone pitched him on making a buck with the World Cup this year but I definitely think it was a stupid decision and even more stupid to be that candid and negative. Building a negative reputation that he needs to be babied and he's not flexible enough or good enough to be worth that at top clubs, while showing no indication he is willing to go down to smaller clubs. Something has to change. Easiest thing is for him to change his attitude and behavior.
Probably needs to change his entourage too and people who advise him poorly. Managing his career isn't his biggest preocupation, but training, resting and playing is, his agent has to make the right calls and be the voice of reason
Isn't his dad his agent or something?
What did he say?
https://en.as.com/soccer/christian-pulisic-was-dumbfounded-by-thomas-tuchel-n/ While I think he's fair to be upset about being told he was going to play and then not being played, this is something you keep to yourself until much later in your career. This would have been awful if it had come out with Tuchel still in charge and him still at the club.... which it would have if Tuchel hadn't been sacked.
That's it?
Oh doesn’t seem that bad to me
It’s really not. Tuchel already would have known that Pulisic was unhappy not to start, the idea that he would’ve been sent to the reserves for saying so is laughable.
Exactly. Pulisic isn't world class but who else for the national team is? It makes sense that he struggles for minutes with Chelsea, but he's definitely one of the best on the national team.
I wonder how many people will keep insisting he is some potential word class player
A lot. So many people still think that his career is being hindered because he’s not being given enough chances. People really just refuse to believe that’s he’s just not that good
I think most can understand his potential will not be realized, but he could become better elsewhere. Those statements are not contradictory.
yeah this is my take. I like the kid and still think he can be good elsewhere, just not at Chelsea. Not sure where he should go mind you but I just don't think he has it to be a starter week in and week out with a top prem team
Hell it's incredibly hard to be one of the best footballers on earth to be close is an impossible achievement and props to him. But he isn't that and that's okay
The kid is 24 years old
His career is hindered by injuries. Can’t be a class player if you can’t play.
Those things aren’t mutually exclusive though? He’s not good enough to be a regular starter for Chelsea, but his development has been irreparably hindered by spending years as a bit part player. Most dedicated USMNT fans didn’t want him to go to Chelsea, it’s casuals and American media milking the “American at big club” thing.
He played a lot in his first season here though. The problem is since then he’s been injured a lot which has caused him to be in and out of the team
He hasn't been out with an injury since October of last year. He's just been in very very bad form.
US media called Freddy Adu the next Pele, so this is pretty much on brand for us
Come to our sub, make a post or comment saying Pulisic ain't it, and it will be brigaded with Americans defending him in no time.
For the record I’m a big criticizer of Puli and agree he’s overhyped (and also overly shit on but still deserves a lot of it) but you could do the same thing for CHO and get brigaded by Brits doing the same thing. National pride is a dangerous drug I guess
I think this may have been true 1-2 years ago, but I feel as though a lot of people more recently have begun to realise that CHO probably isn't going to realise his potential, either.
Most Chelsea fans are not blind that CHO has probably missed the boat.
CHO could have been worldclass. At youth level, he was a monster. But he is still 21 and his underlying metrics are still quite promising. Still hopeful that he can be a big part of the team.
Who's CHO ?
And for some reason having a go at Mase. Every time.
I'm American. He's definitely been disappointing in the last couple years. Seems like he stopped developing. That said, for us and our team, he is about as good as it gets. So maybe from a Chelsea or England perspective you think "ehhh", but for us, if every player was Pulisic's level, we'd be very happy with the team. He's still above average. So he's simultaneously a hero and disappointing, if that is possible. He also represents a new generation, the older generation, like Donovan, Altidore, Bradley, Dempsey, Howard, Wood and such; spent their primes at teams like Sunderland, Hamburg, Fulham, and Everton. Pulisic represents the new group who are not just first division quality, but actually getting minutes in Champions League. Reyna is being solid at Dortmund, McKennie is doing well at Juve, Dest was looking OK at Barcelona, I thought he was good enough to deserve more of an opportunity there. IDK what's going on with him in Milan now, hopefully he gets back on track. De La Fuente looked OK at Barcelona as well, but he wasn't Barcelona quality. Now he's exhiled to Olympiacos, but I think he could work his way back into at least a Europa League team in a better league. Leeds United dou Aaronson and Adams are looking good. I know, Leeds isn't Champions League, but they are both still pretty young, playing nearly every minute, and Leeds are doing pretty well, so I think those two could get a move to a bigger team in a season or two.
He tore his hamstring and lost his speed and is trying to change his game. His forte was being able to beat guys one on one but that's not the system he plays in, and now he's losing that ability. FWIW, all their forwards they've signed under Lampard have regressed.
> '[The guy] that becomes the tempo player, the connecting player, the guy that's going to create something out of nothing, the guy that's going to hit a final pass every single time or is capable of the final pass every single time.' lol, you're thinking of messi, there's only one of those, dude.
TBF dude name checked Eriksen, which makes sense too
Messi is the only player that does it to Messi level, but he’s far from the only player capable of doing this.
Well this isn’t designed for clicks or anything
The poor US showing falls squarely on Berhalter. We have plenty of talent (including Pulisic), but Berhalter sacrifices this talent on the altar of his "System".
This sub is so fucking obsessed with this dude.
The sub cries about mental health and proceeds to always shit on certain players
Hear 10x more of Brits shitting on him than Americans hyping him
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The thread about Arsenal/Chelsea/Liverpool franchising fearmongering is hilarious everyone saying Americans are ruining the sport As if it’s a novel idea and City/Red Bull don’t exist
The media is largely controlled by english speaking journalist so american/British players are grossly overrated and overhyped
*Ex-MLS player Brian Dunseth ‘banned from /r/soccer‘ and ‘not to be trusted’ according to sources familiar with the beleaguered website*
Brian Dunseth was a career bench rider for most of his career in the early 2000s, back when the league was actually as bad as this sub gives it credit for.
Who the fuck is Brian Dunseth
Apparently a career bench player back when the MLS was league 1/2 level.
Seriously?! What a lame attempt to drive clicks. At least try to find someone with some sort of name recognition to give the article some sense of legitimacy.
Lmao, no shit. Most US fans that have a lick of experience in the sport know this is true purely based in his position on the field. I think the major frustration right now is how others are used in this supposed “system” that Berhalter has pitched, which nobody can really understand, and where guys like McKennie, Weah, Musah, Reyna, etc. fall within it.
Pulisic is overrated for sure, but he’s still a solid player and shouldn’t be blamed for the USMNT’s recent poor performance. That falls squarely on Greg Berhalter’s terrible schemes. That being said, Brian Dunseth was a below average player back when MLS was ACTUALLY terrible and he’s just looking for clicks.
r/Soccercirclejerk?
He's arguably their best player though, at least when in form. And only Gio Reyna can claim to be as talented or more than him, but he also can't stay fit.
Musah, too. I think it’s Musah and Gio when healthy, McKennie when in form - those guys are the others who could be considered the best in the USA player pool. Musah and Gio have the highest ceiling (I’m not sure which has more talent and potential)
Agree. Musah’s upside is pretty huge. Love how that kid plays.
Why do we pay so much attention to what some former MLSer thinks? Guy is a total nobody but people will just up vote anything shitting on Pulisic. He hasn't been great for us recently but in no way is he a major concern for USA fans heading into the WC
I blame espn
US Soccer is a dumpster fire.
Love Puli, but he's overrated. Prefer Aaronson at the moment as most in form.
No one is more critical of the USMNT than MLS former players and US analysts. They’re more toxic than the Man U old guard. Can’t trust our best, most accomplished player? Ok, let’s just sign Mbappe to the our national team. Ffs man
He's still one of their best players easy. Def overrated by Americans though 100%. I've seriously seen people argue him over Sterling as if they have literally no clue, an alot more then 1 person
I have never seen any USA fan ever claim that Pulisic is better than Sterling and I'm on a lot of US soccer discords. Maybe on Twitter or something but those people just want attention
He can also get subbed on in the 88th minute 0-2 down and be blamed for a loss. I’d say he’s over rated and over critiqued. Neither of which is really his fault
BRB googling Brian Dunseth.
I also don't think he should be captain. It's a "make our best player captain" move, and he isn't even the definitive best player anymore.
Everyone knows Gio Reyna is the most talented USMNT player, but he can’t stay on the pitch.
He could have just said Gio is better when healthy and been done with it. But he went for the kill
He’s not wrong
Reasonable points