AC Milan are hoping to have Christian Pulisic back sooner than first thought, and they want to keep him over the November break.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) write this morning, Pulisic has been Milan’s best player this season, with four goals and two assists to his name in Serie A so far. However, he has been forced to watch from the sidelines in the last two games with an injury issue.
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Having acknowledged that he had a sore ankle ahead of the first USA game in the October break, Mauricio Pochettino nevertheless started him in the second match against Australia. The MRI scan he underwent showed a hamstring issue, with a diagnosis initially of a month out.
The plan for Pulisic
Meanwhile, Christian has been training to recover from his injury, following a personalised program. It’s a plan that has paid off: Pulisic won’t be back tomorrow against Atalanta and is unlikely to be available against Roma on November 2nd. However, this possibility can’t be completely ruled out.
Before the November break, Milan will also play in Parma, and Pulisic is aiming to be available for that game. If he’s available for Allegri and the Rossoneri, he’ll also be available for Pochettino and the United States. At least in theory.
A friendly against Uruguay is scheduled for November 19th but with no points or qualification at stake, Milan would like to avoid another possible intercontinental trip for the striker. A ‘vacation’ at Milanello would be much better, where Pulisic would then be fully over his muscle injury.
After the break, the Serie A schedule features the most intense of matches: the Milan derby. The club wants to avoid Christian returning tired from New Jersey (the United States-Uruguay match will be played at the MetLife Stadium), and being available to the coach only a few days before the restart.
This wouldn’t be compensation for what happened last time, but simply a matter of common sense, in the eyes of Milan at least. The CEO Giorgio Furlani is in talks with representatives of the US Federation to discuss the idea of the forward remaining in Italy.
Even if Pulisic were to return to action before the break, he would use the break to rest and regain top form. This would be a win-win situation for everyone, for Milan and for his national team. We’ll see if the USA agree.
Just don’t let him go for the stupid friendly match. Psg stopped dembele and doue. Real Madrid recalled mbape. And those were for official qualification matches. His salary is paid by Milan, so Milan has to come first
‘His salary is paid by Milan, so Milan has to come first”
This is a fair point. Milan should have a say in the matter. ESPECIALLY when he was injured while making him play for his National team when he wasn’t 100% fit!
The complaints from ACM about him playing during the last international break made them look foolish. He was used sparingly. Two other players were injured during the break. It happens. This time it’s different. Even if he is on the bench for the Parma game, he has not fully recovered or is at full fitness. Leave him at ACM to recover and get his fitness levels back. Also, the US soccer Federation is staffed by idiots. Playing games in different climates with one being at altitude. Also, let’s move the last game further from the east coast to increase travel time for players in Europe. They are buffoons.
Changing climates and altitude in the October break was silly and dangerous.
USA Soccer needs to recognize the burden they place on European players. Perhaps schedule some friendlies in Europe? At least use East Coast sites during the club season – especially ones in warm weather.
Yep, US Soccer is a bunch of idiots! I’m American, and can’t stand them. They are a joke. LEAVE CP IN MILAN!
Exactly, Milan needs to be ruthless and protect her players by all means possible, there’s a lot at stake since they were silly enough to have only 19 outfield players 🤦.
Selfish Milan, doesn’t have UCL
I agree that Pulisic should stay in Milan- even though I have tickets for the game v Uraguay.