Christian Pulisic insight: Scouting report, stats, transfer rating and more

Oliver Fisher
Pulisic

Christian Pulisic became AC Milan’s fourth signing of the summer earlier this week, joining from Chelsea on a four-year contract.

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The USA international spent four seasons at Stamford Bridge having had four years at Borussia Dortmund before that, so he has made the decision to try a new adventure in a new league.

He joins Milan with winners medals for the Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup plus the ability to play virtually anywhere across the forward line.

During his press conference on Thursday night, Pulisic spoke at length about his decision to join the club, the targets he has set and the position he prefers.

Back story

Has a rather interesting background compared to a lot of players given his origins in Hershey, Pennsylvania. He played in the academy of Brackley Town in England in 2005-06, before returning to his home country to play for Michigan Rush and PA Classics.

Pulisic began his professional career at German club Borussia Dortmund, where he raced through the system having played just 15 games before being promoted to the first team at the age of 17.

He became the youngest foreign player to score in the Bundesliga and it was in the 2017-18 season that he really broke through. His lively style of play and his eye for goal began to draw the eye of admirers in Europe.

In his four seasons with BVB, he scored 2 goals in 9 Bundesliga games in 2015-16, 3 goals and 6 assists in 29 games the following season, 4 goals and 5 assists in 32 games in 2017-18 and 4 goals and 4 assists in his final campaign.

In January 2019, Pulisic moved to Chelsea in a transfer worth over €60m, making him the most expensive North American player of all time.

He became the youngest Chelsea player to score a hat-trick at the age of 21 and it was a perfect hat-trick too (right foot, left foot and a header).

He won the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League, the 2021 UEFA Super Cup and 2021 FIFA Club World Cup with the Blues, but his playing time decreased over time and the injury breaks increased.

At international level, Pulisic played for the United States at U15 and U17 level and he made his senior debut at age 17. He was named best young player of the tournament at the Gold Cup in 2019, by which point he was the captain.

Since then, he has been labelled as the face of American ‘soccer’ and has even earned the nickname ‘Captain America’, something he is not a big admirer off.

Playing style

It is to be noted that Pulisic has played under three different managers at Chelsea and therefore his playing style varied under the different coaches. His best season came under Frank Lampard when Lampard preferred a 3-4-2-1 which sometimes worked as a 3-5-2.

Lampard preferred a 3-4-2-1 formation where he preferred his team to keep their off the ball structure and break on counter using their speed.

Usually Pulisic would function alongside Giroud played as the furthest two men upfield trying to break and exploit the space left by the full-backs.

Blessed with incredible close control and acceleration, Pulisic is extremely hard to knock off the ball and this meant he would often get fouled a lot.

Even though he wasn’t a great visionary passer, Pulisic would often create one-two passing combinations with Giroud for rapid ball progression.

His skill set is a potent weapon for teams that play during transition. During Lampard’s tenure, Pulisic played more inside than the wide areas sometime facing the areas between the half space and the touchline always looking to dribble inside rather than a cross.

Under Potter, he played as a left winger in a 4-3-3 formation. Often staying wide, he dragged the full back towards the wide areas to make space for Mason Mount who played as the mezzala in the midfield three.

In a more traditional winger role, Pulisic would hug the touchline and try to cross. the ball but his initial instinct is to always scan the environment and dribble the ball with progression.

In this game Nottingham Forest have settled into a mid-block, therefore Pulisic comes out of his position to receive the ball and spread the play.

Although he wasn’t a great passer/crosser with time he has inculcated this into his skillset making very accurate crosses.

Pulisic has always been very aware of his surroundings. He did not try to dribble past players all the time, and if the option was not there he would look to make a safe pass and keep possession instead of risking a turnover.

When playing for Lampard’s Chelsea, Pulisic was mostly expected to keep shape and as the first line of defence, so as not give space between the line and to cover passing lanes.

However, under Potter who played a more expansive style of play, Pulisic had to cover for Cucurella/Chillwell whenever they would join the attack and then become vulnerable to counters. Pulisic would track back and help out in defence as well.

Strengths

Technical ability: First touch and close control. For any player that players in the forward areas, it is imperative that they have these two qualities because they have to move quickly before defenders close down the space.

Acceleration: In terms of top speed, Pulisic may not be the quickest, but to reach his top speed it dosent take long and his ability to turn defenders and accelerate leaving space between him and the defender is extremely hard to defend especially in terms of transitions.

Ability to receive in tight areas (press resistance): With his excellent first touch, Pulisic is resistant to being pressed as he cannot be dispossessed easily.

Isolation: Pioli in his recent press conference spoke of how he needed wingers to be good in 1v1 ability. With acceleration and good touch, Pulisic can beat his man and take defenders out of the game.

Areas to improve

Injury prone: It’s not a secret. Christian Pulisic’s injuries are extremely demoralising. He has missed as many as 14 games last season and with an extremely competitive squad at Chelsea he has seen game time come and go.

Aerial ability: Standing at 5ft 10, Pulisic isn’t the most aerially dominant player and not a very big asset for set pieces. Although he has a good leap he rarely participates in serial duels.

Statistical comparison

To get a better evaluation of Pulisic’s number we take a dive into his 19/20 season with Frank Lampard. A season where he had nine goals and fiur assists in the season.

With an xG (Expected Goals) of 9 and with 9 goals scored, it means he was clinical that particular season. Whenever he got a chance he took it. His expected assists were 2.7 from which he got 4 assists.

When looking at Shot Creating Actions, Pulisic had almost 4.55 shots per 90 while he had 0.84 Goal Creating Action per game which is a very healthy number. It is worth nothing that he average almost one Goal Creating Action per game.

The best way to measure 1v1 dribble is to measure Successful Dribbles per 90. And Pulisic average 2.88 successful take-ons per 90. Lastly, Pulisic draws 1.57 fouls per game and has an aerial duel success of 30.8%.

In the graph below:

Y Axis = Shot Creating Actions + Goal creating actions
X Axis = Take ons completed per 90

Pulisic in his best season has stats that match that of Rafa Leao, our best attacker. He has a high amount of Shot and Goal creating actions and he has extremely superior 1v1 ability. A certainly good upgrade on Diaz if he stays fit

Where Pioli could use him

Something still in its molten form, Pioli’s ideas are yet to take shape for the new seasons. Rumours about changing to a 4-3-3 or keeping a 4-2-3-1 are still flying around with Milan still making their moves on the market.

As somebody who likes to progress the ball with carries (dribble) more than passing it will massively help Pioli in his transitional style of play. Averaging almost 5.6 carries per 90, Pulisic has shown that he can provide the impetus needed to go forward.

With his ability to receive the ball in tight areas in opposition half he can use his dribbling ability to either draw defenders towards himself or dribble past defenders to create chaos in the opposition half. He receives the ball nearly 9 times per 90 minutes from the defensive half.

Conclusion

As they have often done before, Milan have once again placed their bet on another under-appreciated and perhaps under-valued talent in world football.

One aspect of this deal that does not get spoken about is the marketing one. RedBird Capital would like to make the Milan brand grow in the USA and they feel that Pulisic deal certainly wont harm.

If Milan can keep Pulisic injury-free and Pioli can manage his work load then Milan have a very potent weapon on their hands who will be relishing the chance to show his ability in a

Transfer rating: 8/10

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