Christian Pulisic’s World Cup was difficult, with his minutes affected by injury. However, this has been the story of his 2026, as AC Milan know all too well.
It’s been a while since Pulisic was impactful for Milan. Unfortunately, he hasn’t scored a goal for the club since 2025 and injuries have taken the headlines more than performances in recent months, even with the national team.
Read SempreMilan ad-free and get access to exclusive news. Click here for a free trial!
However, he can turn that around quickly if he returns with some big performances, starting this weekend.
Pulisic returns with desire
As MilanNews writes, Pulisic will return to the Allianz Stadium with the aim of redeeming himself. Last season, he missed a penalty in Turin and after a 2026 without a goal for the Rossoneri, he aims to turn things around.
An unused substitute in both games this season, the American could be given his first minutes against Juventus, likely as a substitute. Ruben Amorim has maintained the idea that he wants to manage his minutes for now and this will continue.
He’s one of the ‘most important’ players for Amorim, so he doesn’t want to risk him for the long-term by rushing him back. Nevertheless, this weekend’s game offers him a chance to return as a protagonist – a role which he’s not held for the Diavolo for far too long.
Maignan- Gila, Gabbia/De Winter, Pavlovic-
Saelemaekers, Modric, Rabiot (Musah), Moreira-
Chukwueze (Rabiot), Pulisic- Ramos;
Torriani- Tomori, De Winter/Gabbia, Diawara-
Terracciano, Musah, Ardon, Bartesaghi-
Hutchinson/Chukwueze, Cisse/Loftus-Cheek- Camarda;
Terracciano, *Bondo, Comotto,
Estupinan, Loftus-Cheek/Cisse;
You want to play, earn it. That’s refreshing about Amorim.
I think we have a roboast and compact squad, with a starting 11 as good as anyone in the seria a, in Amorim, we have a coach who is both unique and has new ideas, very similar to Cesc in that respect, I’m Allegri we had a coach who did the same as every other coach in seria a, so in Amorim being the way he is could turn out to be a big advantage and as long as the next 2-3 transfer windows bring in quality not quantity, we are in the right path
if allegri brought in quality not quantity, it’d be the same. we have all the right player to win the scudetto. only teams better than us is inter. we are equal to como and everyone else has a worse team. roma have malen and dybala and kone and sviliar. apart from that theyre worse
What is really going on here? His injury was supposed to be 3-6 weeks. that was 9 weeks ago. If he is not fit to play why is he making the gameday rosters? No notes from practice? No real questions asked of Amorim.
I do not know why either Saelemaekers, or Moreira aren’t being considered for the left side, and I do not understand what is wrong with Pulisic.
Because Amorim (rightfully) trusts the current players that are more accustomed to his style of play. He takes his time to integrate the new players. I actually think that is very wise of him. Fonseca’s big mistake after a very succesful pre-season was to immediately re-integrate players that were not ready, instead of trusting the ‘lesser’ players that were. At the end it’s about the team and not the individuals. That’s also why people that keep sh*tting on Musah don’t understand how a team sport works. Musah may not be a top player, but he does exactly what Amorim asks of him and that’s worth a lot right now.
U’r genius
This makes sense….but no one has made this clear. Also, Maignon, Modric and Rabiot, all played the first game after being away from training the longest.
All I am asking for is clarity. If it’s injury, so be it, if it is fitness so be it, if it is fit within the system then….shame on management because he was one of the few players who could have gotten a sizable fee.
I was hoping he didn’t use Pulisic in the first two matches to allow him to switch to number 10 once Leao was gone. If that happens, then you know Pulisic is his boy.
There is an obvious difference between ‘fit to play’ and ‘fit to start’. He is ready to play some mins as a sub while he returns to full fitness. Pretty simple.
Except he hasn’t? So still simple?
yes its called game situation decision making by the manager. sheesh
Injuries can last longer than expected.
Moreira can’t play as a left AMC.
Despite what has been said, he’s just not an Amorin player. That happens. Amorin had a player at Utd that wasn’t his type, once Amorin left the player has been very good. ACM should cash in this January.
Jim you idiot
See this thread? Four totally different answers.
1. He needs time to be coached up in the scheme
2. He isn’t fit
3. He is still injured
4. He isn’t a fit for the team
Why am I hearing so many answers? Because Amorim is not giving any clarity. No reports from training, no questions from the media before or after games. What I am worried about is he has not recovered his explosion from his injury. In which case I am happy he is being held out, but I’d like to know the plan.
Amorim is not obligated to tell the public any privileged team information.
Having watched Pulisic all these years, historically, the most frustrating thing about him isn’t that he gets injured a lot, it’s that it takes him a long time to get back to peak form from an injury.
I think the answer is that Amorim’s system demands high intensity at all times, and Amorim sees in practice that Pulisic isn’t quite there yet.
Amorim’s thinking in the first two game could have been to use Pulisic in an emergency situation only where Milan needed a late goal to prevent a tie. Not using him when a win and/or tie was determined could be seen as saving him for the Juve game. If he is unused against Juve then the question about being an Amorim player or not should be asked. Not only is he Milan’s biggest scoring threat but his defense is solid.
Player coming back from injury that was chronic last season, playing in the WC, getting hurt in the summer.
Coach doesn’t need him for the first two games and gets the wins. Allows him to more fully heal and reduce risk later in the season that includes European soccer.
Coach says, “important player”
Maybe it’s a long season and we have a coach who knows how to trust all 25 players on the roster.
Maybe it’s clear but folks putting forward only a single thread of the a complex thought are muddying the water?