Massimiliano Allegri waited a long time to have Rafael Leao and Christian Pulisic available together for more than one game, and he won’t give up on them.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) recall, the Pulisic-Leao pairing was the one that Allegri wanted to rely on from day one of preseason. Instead, due to various alternating injuries, they have played 455 minutes in tandem, with one goal each.
One of them, though, came in the 1-0 derby win a few months ago. Allegri is studying the strategy to counter Inter, and his idea is quick counter-attacks to cut through Chivu’s midfield and defence. It is from this basis he is making his attacking choices.
Doubts and dilemmas
Pulisic hasn’t scored since the end of 2025 and his overall performances haven’t been great either. Against Cremonese he missed a 1v1, a symbol of his difficult moment and perhaps some physical and mental fog.
Allegri’s plan to revive him? To give him high-intensity minutes, to allow the American to regain peak condition. It is also part of the plan to build some chemistry between Pulisic and Leao, otherwise his chosen duo may never get off the ground.
The battle sees him as the favourite over Christopher Nkunku, even if nothing is decided and the pecking order can always be overturned. Nkunku was the author of the assist for Rafa’s second goal in Cremona, a nice square ball for the Portuguese.
Leao moved onto nine goals in the league for the season, overtaking Pulisic. Nkunku also experienced his moment of glory, having netted five times between the end of December and the beginning of February. Since then another four games without celebrating, except for the assist for Rafa.
The numbers tell a story: Nkunku played 963 minutes in the league, with five goals, at one every 192 minutes. Pulisic has 1,041′ on the pitch with eight goals scored, an average of one goal every 130′. So, he remains more effective, despite recent struggles.
Keep playing Puli. Struggling strikers just need the next goal to restore their confidence. Puli has always been clutch in the derbies. His goal will come sooner or later.
Agreed. Plus, we have created chances; we have been very wasteful. ( ALL of them). They are bound to snap. I’d be more concern if we werent creating chances.
He would be a world class player if not for his mentality. Did you notice he stopped scoring after there were reports of him and that actress. Just can’t hit it anymore. Hope he gets to his best soon, but he needs to work on that part
Gen Z footballers are built differently. They get mentally broken so easily.
How many of Nkuka’s goals were penalty shots. Cmon!!!
Mentally broken … SUCH BULL@#!IT ! Oh by the way Fisher who “s the player that scored several months ago ?