Christian Pulisic scored a great goal for AC Milan in the 3-1 win against Frosinone. Stefano Pioli now can’t do without the American, who certainly is repaying the manager’s trust, and he will be crucial moving forward.
The last few months have been tough for the Rossoneri but there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel now. In yesterday’s win – the second consecutive one in the league – Pulisic’s display was one of the key takeaways as highlighted by our colleagues at SempreMilan.it.
A stunning goal
Let’s start with the goal, a pearl by Pulisic from an aesthetic point of view but also fundamental for the outcome of the game. His run was timed to perfection and even when it looked like he had lost too much angle, he just dinked it over the goalkeeper instead.
Superb vision from @mmseize ➡️ Unreal finish from @pulisic 🎯#MilanFrosinone pic.twitter.com/unxtIQQfdj
— Lega Serie A (@SerieA_EN) December 3, 2023
Not to mention the pass by Mike Maignan, which was brought down in the best way. It was his fifth goal in Serie A, surpassing Rafael Leao (who has four), and he’s now just three goals behind the top goalscorer Olivier Giroud. He also has two assists, which shouldn’t be forgotten.
Pulisic is finding himself
The experience with the Rossoneri, so far, has allowed him to return to his roots. We all know just how well he did with Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga, and some of that is starting to show now. The Chelsea adventure, for various reasons, didn’t work out but now he must look forward.
At Milan, Pulisic has found an environment in which he can thrive, always with high expectations on his shoulders but not with too much pressure. Confidence is a peculiar thing in football and sometimes that’s all it takes.
Fundamental for Pioli
From a technical and tactical point of view, he’s now fundamental for Milan. When he doesn’t play on the right flank, there is a noticeable gap compared to his replacement. Samuel Chukwueze, for example, has not been able to perform with the same consistency.
In Rafael Leao’s absence, there’s not much Pioli can do and at least Pulisic has shown that left-wing is a position he enjoys. But when the Portuguese international is back, it will be nice to see the American on the right flank again, where he has always combined well with his teammates.
For the rest of the season, if he can keep this up, Pulisic will be a key player for Milan in their Scudetto pursuit. It remains to be seen if the injuries can be contained, so that the American can play on the right where he has been so successful.
Best performing Milan player so far this season.
He was always a talented player but his injuries and lack of continuity in playing time derailed his career for couple years at Chelsea. Chelsea being a mess and having a 40 player squad also didn’t help, as Ziyech has said recently.
As long he stays healthy he’ll produce.
Would be nice to see him make difference against better opponents. Otherwise, clearly an upgrade from what we had last year.
you mean like a goal against lazio and an assist against napoli? He is doing very well for his first season at Milan and in Italy
We played better teams as well, those were only two games mentioned. He can and should do better against top teams. Haven’t seen him preform in CL.
who did preform in CL?
This is Pulisic’s thread.
aha
Just a correction but Pulisic’s favorite position is left wing, that’s where he has played most of his career. Him playing on the right is a relatively new thing for him. But that versatility makes him even more important.
His contribution is much greater than mere stats indicate. He seems to be the oil that keeps the team going even when he doesn’t score or assist. The second he was removed from a couple of prior games the team chemistry was lost and immediately you felt they were in trouble. The momentum shifted the second he was removed.
The goal yesterday was beautiful. Now he needs to do these things in BIG games. That’s the one thing he’s lacking this year.
That’s exactly right. Pulisic plays more like an attacking midfielder than a winger most of the time.
If Chuk ever figures out how not to turn the ball over 90% of the time and becomes a real offensive force, Pulisic should move into the attacking midfielder CAM role.
Pulisic HAS been great. He didn’t become good overnight. We’re lucky he plays well on the RT. Chukwueze will have to find form fast because while he needs more time to improve, in Milan there’s a pressure to win NOW. And Pulisic hit the ground running.
Meantime.
“Nicolò Zaniolo has been subbed off for the third time in a row during the halftime break and Aston Villa fans seem to have lost patience with the Italy international, who has yet to score or assist this season.”
Imagine if someone had his way and spent 30 mil on this bum who throughout his career has more yellow and red cards than goal contributions even though he plays as a forward.
Please Pioli Stefano we the fans don’t need tomori because of his mistakes he doesn’t know how to tackle Kjaer should come back at least he has the experience as a defender
come back and say this to all ac Milan fans you does not have any ball knowledge wtf tomori saved us many times that one time when kjær and Malik Thaiw played against inter they destroyed our defense we need new defenders but not a replacement for tomori
I speak for the fans in this we so do need Tomori. He’s in great form
Kjaer is old and slow and gets beat easily by the faster opposition players. That’s why he’s not a starter
Bros is like u smoke expired weed, (Kwale igbo), Tomori is the best defender we have in Milan right n probably one of the best in Italy.
So Impressed by pulisic ,also Loftus cheek ,both are superb if they can remain injury free .Musah is proving also to be a huge asset …Theo Hernandez also is looking good . Jovic also had a reasonable game …
The team we have with them in it is a very good one .
It will be even better when Olivier Giroud and Rafeo leao return ..We might not win the scuddeto this season ,as I said we would at the beginning of the season ,but we will be very close ..We have been very unfortunate with the injuries that we have had .
Now let’s start a good run going and win at Atalanta ,and then beat Newcastle …
Kjaer is old and slow and gets beat easily by the faster opposition players. That’s why he’s not a starter
Tomori is by far the best Milan defender, although he does make occasional bad mistakes
Take a look at the first goal. Pulisic steels a pass, and pushes it forward quickly. Then if you watch closely, it’s his run across goal that frees the space for Jovic who scores off a beautiful header. Pulisic influences the game in a lot of different ways, not just scoring.
I’m very hopeful for a win against Newcastle as they have had lots of injuries as well. Newcastle have two matches before playing Milan, the last one on a Sunday, and it’s an away game against Tottenham. Newcastle are currently in 6th place, Spurs in 5th place.
Howe is almost certain to start what’s left of his best players against Tottenham to try to climb up towards Champions League places. Considering Spurs just tied Man City 3-3, that will be one hard fought battle. Newcastle then have just two days before their Wednesday match at home against Milan.
Milan have a Saturday match against Atalanta and three days before their match with Newcastle.
Giroud will be back, Leao probably also.
Newcastle always play the high backline.
This is where Pioli needs to go more direct downfield. Given more direct tactics, Pulisic thrives in the open spaces behind a high back line, as this one goal shows.
A big reason Pulisic hasn’t scored as much against the top teams has been Pioli’s tactics of the slow offensive buildup. Against strong defenders, it’s tough for anybody to score once the defense is compacted.
In the past, Pulisic has scored in Champions League and against top teams, and invariably it’s been by breaking that high back line with fast and direct passes, just like this one
May be he won’t live up to our expectations, may be he will finally snap out of the injuries and mental issues, though one thing is sure Zaniolo just cam with a loan with buy out option, it will leave you a whole season to judge him weither or not to bring him permanently, or deemed to let him get back to the Turkish side, taking into consideration(It’s my own opinion) the fact that italian talent rarely pull off abroad, whilst Chukuweze is at the same age as him, never sustained a critical series of muscular or articular injuries, costing 30 millions.
If it was up to me known perfectly you don’t share my vision, I rather bet on Niccolo, use the 30 millions for Chuku on a true DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDER to cover our defense.
Not seen him do well in the CL? While that’s true for Milan, his play against Madrid in Chelsea’s semifinal got them through to win the final against Man City. Without him, most likely Chelsea doesn’t get to the final.