Understandably, given the injury to Christian Pulisic, AC Milan are frustrated with the handling of the player during the international break.
In the lead-up to last night’s game, it seemed Pulisic was a risk to start the game, with Mauricio Pochettino stating that they were ‘hoping’ to have him available. So, it was a bit of a shock when he started that game, considering his ankle had flared up.
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Then, 30 minutes in, that risk was proven not to pay off. Pulisic was forcibly substituted with an injury, which was believed to be a hamstring issue.
Month and miffed
As Garante_Il relays on X, Gazzetta dello Sport report that Milan are not happy with the Argentine or the American National Team, feeling that their star has been poorly managed over the course of the international window.
The game against Australia was not an important one, so his usage is baffling to the club. In fact, they thought that he would not be risked for the game. So, to see him starting and then be injured has left a bitter taste in the mouth.
On a brighter note, the report claims that he may only face a month on the sidelines, but it is still a big loss at an important time for the team, and the feeling remains a sour one.
We have to hope that he will be back in time for Inter on November 23, as he’s going to miss the big matches against Atalanta and Roma.
Absurd for AC Milan to be upset with Poch about this after giving Pulisic the summer off. And Pulisic’s ankle is fine. It looks to be a hamstring, which as we know is not related to the ankle. Moreover, this game is important for the US who have no WC qualification games and very few opportunities to build chemistry with the US’s best player in the lead up to a WC on home soil.
It is just a national team, who cares how they prepare. Their football will suck anyway, they are such a waste of time. Club football is the only thing worthy
Some nations and nationals actually care
Pochettina did it on purpose, or hes just that dumb.
To be fair, these are important matches for the US even if they’re friendlies. They’re friendlies bc the us auto qualifies for the WC since they’re the host nation. Therefore, they don’t have qualifier matches but these are still critical matches to get the team prepared to play host in the world’s biggest tournament. Having said that, you Def don’t want your star player to have a lingering hamstring problem all year but I understand the pressure to have good results for these matches and to get pulisic integrated with some of the newer players like luna.
Hmm not sure I agree – if the USA wanted an important friendly to test themselves they should’ve chosen a tougher team – they were bossing Australia as expected and there was no need to play Pulisic – who has nothing to prove and was already half-injured… now we have to suffer the consequences….
Not saying this to justify the US team selecting Pulisic. But….
Australia are not minnows. They are currently ranked 25th in the Fifa rankings. Typically sit within the top 30 and have qualified for every WC since 2006 in Germany.
They are exactly the kind of team a country could draw in the WC and need to get past to get out of the group stage. They made the last 16 in Qatar and were knocked out by eventual winners Argentina in a tight match.
What? Australia is a joke. They qualify because they don’t have a serious opponent in their qualifications. They are 25th in rankings for the same reason. Do you even understand how ranking works? I doubt it.
Since 2018 Fifa has used a ranking system that uses a coefficient to equal out the grading points awarded based on the level of the two opponents. So that teams that play a lot of easy games then you can’t gain a lot of points.
So please tell me genius why teams playing in AFC are ranked too high?
And compared to whom?
Australia was on a 12 game unbeaten streak. Their delusional fans were starting think they had a chance to win the WC.
No, if USSF understood anything about soccer or cared about the wellbeing of their best player in their history they wouldn’t have risked him just to help market the national team and sell tickets for an otherwise meaningless game. Why is the US team hosting friendlies in two completely different climates only a couple days apart? Any sport medicine expert will tell you that’s a recipe for muscle injuries. All of this is ridiculous
That’s spot on. Whoever booked these locations for the games should be fired. Its ridiculous. Also Pulisic is established and is a guaranteed starter for the WC and didn’t need to play since he already had a knock on his ankle. Yes he should play in the final 4 to 6 months of friendlies to prep for the WC but no need to play him with an ankle problem in either of these 2 friendlies.
I was at the game. He looked good up to the injury. The good thing was that the player is now smart enough to recognize something in the hamstring and stop rather than keeping running. I hope he’s not out for long.
I was also at the game – assumed it was an ankle thing based on the tackle, so was rather surprised it was a hamstring issue. No limp or grimacing as he walked by our seats on the way to the locker room, so hopefully recovery isn’t too long.
I watched on TV and I think the injury came after the Australia player knocked him over and the ref didn’t blow the whistle so Pulisic extended his leg to kick the ball up field and that may have been what triggered the hamstring.
Oh that’s wild if that’s what triggered it
Pochetino is a big fool. Always keeping his face like a molested minor.
the reason he was doubtful for the game had nothing to do with the injury he picked up. the reason he was doubtful was the same reason that he’s played limited minutes for milan recently, his ankle. so if the usnt were remiss for playing him with tbat injury then so have milan been remiss for playing him with that injury.
How many friendly games did he play for Milan with the injury?
Looked to me like the Aussies were a bunch of hackers. From the start of the game they seemed to target Pulisic.
Agree.
I’d prefer to live in a world where:
– players play for their country and get injured
v
– ‘assets’ are restricted from being used by a third party in case they’re damaged or otherwise incapacitated.
I’d prefer to live in a world where:
– Players get to perform for their country, keep their fitness levels high for the club, and then return from international duty without injury.
vs
– Players get injured while playing for their country.
It’s pretty simple. And I didn’t need to turn the comments section into a soapbox about it.
Are you special? You obviously can’t know if someone will get injured. Why are you writing super stupid comments? Maldinis heir is dramatic but at least he has a brain.
I recommend EA FC or board games then
Living in Australia has clouded your judgement.
Could you remind me again who’s paying his wages? He shouldn’t even have been called up for a bunch of nonsense friendlies – btw same thing goes for half injured players being called up by the Azzurri or any other national team. I understand the privilege to represent your country, but we end up with a bunch of injured players every single national teams break.
PS: Pulisic played a lot for Milan because Leao was injured(not that I missed him) and Nkunku wasn’t properly fit either – so we did what we could to preserve him, while Pochettino still holds a grudge for him not playing the gold cup
If every player had that attitude, the international break games would be meaningless.
He tweaked his hamstring. Unrelated to the ankle knock he had a few weeks back. A bit of a freak injury. These things happen.
No it wouldn’t. Friendly games.
Apparently when you go from warm weather to cold weather your body doesn’t adapt as well and these type of injuries can pop up.
The usmnt needs to start playing together as a team. That what these games are for. Injuries happened. He only played 20 mins the previous game.
Still a friendly.. not impacting qualifications. If he was at risk due to the ankle he should have not started….badly handled by pochentino
So stupid to risk him, in a meaningless friendly with an existing ankle injury _especially_ against an Australian team that is known for playing very physically, bordering on dirty at times. I only hope he’s not actually out a month.
Stupid decisions like this is why US football will continue to go nowhere
Some of these comments make me laugh, debating about an American player!…a few yrs ago most european fans and coaches thought that American soccer players weren t good enough,(only good for baseball or baketball)..and some still do…look at Tudor at Juve,lol