Christian Pulisic has been decisive for AC Milan since arriving in 2023, but he is not going through the best patch of form at the moment.
As Calciomercato.com recall, Milan’s 24-game unbeaten run went up in smoke last night as they not only lost against Parma, but failed to score. Even fielding the first choice attacking duo of Rafael Leao and Pulisic for the fourth time this season (from minute one) wasn’t enough.
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Leao took to the field with the right attitude despite being unable to offer his full repertoire due to the adductor problem that has plagued him since the start of the season, while his American team-mate continues to struggle to find the target.
A drought develops
Since arriving, Pulisic has accustomed everyone to his goals, assists, technical prowess and leadership. However, while also battling iliopsoas bursitis, his last league goal dates back to December 28 when he netted the first against Verona in a 3-0 win.
Two months without a goal for a forward like the former Chelsea man is surprising. What is more worrying is that Pulisic failed to convert two great goal-scoring opportunities on Sunday, in a performance akin to the draw away against Fiorentina. He was in the right place and the right time, but couldn’t finish.
Putting him on trial would be unfair given how consistent Pulisic has been since joining, but it’s fair to say that Allegri lacks the best version of Captain America, who needs to refocus his aim to the level he had at the start of the season.
Pulisic has proven himself to be a top-level professional, but like all players, he can’t remain indifferent to certain factors. The home World Cup with the USA, the rumours of Premier League interest (Liverpool very interested, per the report) and a precarious physical condition.
To finish the season in the right way, Pulisic will need to be back at his best physically and mentally. The club could quell all talk about his future with that contract renewal so eagerly awaited by Rossoneri fans.
I’ve said it before some of these guys are clearly saving themselves for the world cup, they’re operating at 60% and watching the game against Parma it very much looked that way.
How many Milan players will actually play at the world cup that you say some are saving themselves for the summer?
If you are referring to Pulisic since this is an article about him, he ran the most of any player while he was on the pitch, so how is he saving himself for the world cup?
Missing chances isn’t saving himself.
Modric and Rabiot have been Milan’s best players this season, so I know they are not saving themselves for the world cup.
Who else is left that could go to the world cup? Maignan, Leao, Saelemaekers.
The team just isn’t good enough. Stop looking for excuses. What you saw vs Parma has been happening all season long, it was just masked by the results.
“The team just isn’t good enough. Stop looking for excuses. What you saw vs Parma has been happening all season long, it was just masked by the results.”
Does Parma have better players? Is Parma a better team? Well, the first one is pretty obvious but the second…? With the material Allegri has, Milan should absolutely win cremoneses, parmas, pisas etc without a sweat. But it is Allegri’s choice to play the way we have played them this season which is “sit back for 60-70 minutes and then hope and pray we’ll get that one chance and convert it”. That’s not how titles are won. Sure, it can be a decent tactic against teams like PSG, ManCity, Real, Inter but we’re talking about bottomtable teams here.
This is so misleading…the two month drought where he sat out injured most of the time? Or when he was fit dumb Allegri plays him for 10 mins…is that the drought your talking about? Maybe we should look at the coach who starts an injured Leao who’s only real gift is speed and the plays him 90 min. Terrible article Oliver, go back to the drawing board and start writing real articles!
Scattergun criticism there, how defensive. It was only missing you accusing Oliver of being the fake news media.
But Oliver is right on this one, there is goal drought, and Pulisic has been missing chances upon chances and the last one cost us. That’s not to say he is not a good player, learn to accept fair and constructive criticism
Oh this is rich coming from you.
How about you Learn to accept fair and constructive criticism of Leao.
How about Pulisic besides playing less, and besides missing chances still being more useful and more productive than Leao?
Amen. Why is it that only Pulisic gets criticized and blamed for losing games when others miss their shots on goal too (i.e., Leao, Rabiot,
Saelemaekers, RLC, etc.)? All of them have missed goals that should’ve been made, but they only get a mild rebuke.
It’s misleading for Pulisic as it is for Leao. Often I find myself having to add context . But because it was Leao it’s easy to hate on him. Both Leao and Puli have had so called lulls (for various reasons..injuries, form). But both are good and needed for the team
Exactly! 2 months but how many minutes has he actually played? And it’s not like Leao converted his chances either. A miss is a miss.
The attack is clearly an afterthought to Max following defensive priority. The problem is our defense doesn’t often hold up and the attack can’t score as much as we need it to.
Endless combos up front don’t do anyone any favors since the players need time to gel and develop an understanding. And throwing Fulkrug or Nkunku in for some minutes here and there doesn’t help anyone.
2 man front is an issue, so until Max has quality CB’s to trust them in a 433 I don’t know that he fully reverts to a 3 man front.
Pulisic spent most of his time on the bench over the last two months. Fans expect Pulisic to come off the bench, play the last ten minutes of the game and score. What Milan player can do that?? He needs more playing time to get back to his best version. Leao has been getting much more playing time lately and he cannot run, is poor on defense and is not exactly lighting up the scoreboard every game. Allegri cannot depend on Leao.
Allegri needs Pulisic to perform well to keep Milan in the top four. It’s Allegri’s job to help Pulisic to get back to his best. If Pulisic does not perform well in the final games, Milan may end up out of the top four. That could cause Modric and Pulisic to say goodbye to Milan. Modric wants trophy’s. Time is running out very quickly. Allegri’s job is on the line
in regard to staying in the top four.
2 months mostly sitting on the bench – learn to calculate GPM as goals per minute rather than goals per month LOL
😀 😀 😀 😀
The problem with this team is that there is no offensive flow where an offensive player can make a diagonal run into space and get his shot away. Our play sends too many players into the box, dragging defenders with them. The box becomes too congested and our offensive play dependent on scrambling for second balls. Our centerbacks have no business making runs into the box and leaving more talented offensive players covering for them in the back. In a zone marking system, they’re not fooling anyone. It’s like the old Chicago Bulls, letting Michael Jordan hold back while Dennis Rodman increases his number of shots taken. We need an assistant coach whose skillset is offensive play.