Christian Pulisic is Milan’s captain marvel & ready to fire Pochettino’s USMNT to home glory

They get a bad rap all around the world and especially in football, but they’re alright, those Americans, no matter what your dad might say while shouting at the telly.

Sure, their insistence on making their football teams ‘franchises’ is infuriating.

Sure, they definitely serve fizzy drinks in extremely unnecessarily large cups.

And sure, their obsession with firearms is a little alarming, but we politely request that you look past all that and hear us out.

If you don’t, you’ll blink and miss Christian Pulisic firing the USMNT to the promised land at the World Cup in a few years’ time.

Pulisic is one of countless great Americans. Tony Hawk, Jeff Hardy, Beyonce all come to mind. Homer Simpson is great. Dare we say we even find Jesse Marsch a little charming? We could go on.

Point is, they’re actually pretty sound. Crucially, they’ve turned a corner with football, too. A big one.

And with a home World Cup on the horizon, things are finally looking good just at the right time for the men’s team, following the disappointment of Qatar 2022 and not even reaching Russia in 2018.

While the USWNT can boast extraordinary achievements, they’ve struggled tremendously to produce male footballers of the same calibre. Until now.

Quietly, the Americans have been amassing a range of male talent, from some of the game’s next biggest stars, to Champions League winners in Europe who are now tearing it up at some of football’s most storied clubs.

Pulisic is ticking both of those boxes. Since swapping London for Milan after an impressive stint in Dortmund, the winger has found his stride once again after a stuttering few years and is living out the dream of football fans around the world.

Donning the iconic red and black of one of football’s most successful sides, the Rossoneri’s number 11 has made a habit out of sending the Curva Sud into frenzy with his antics on the pitch, from golazos to game-defining dribbles and carries.

He introduced himself to Italian football with an impressive debut campaign despite Milan enduring a disappointing 2023-24 season overall, finishing up with 15 goals and 11 assists in all competitions.

Crucially, he’s carried a good start into his second season at San Siro. Pulisic has already fired in four goals and a further two assists from his opening six games. Despite a slow start under Paulo Fonseca with the Rossoneri wrapped up in uncertainty, his unwavering quality has been the team’s one constant.

It’s all happening in big moments, too. The 26-year-old opened the scoring in an eventual defeat to Liverpool and did so again later in the week in the Derby della Madonnina, with a breathtaking solo goal that was Messi-esque in everything from technique to sheer audacity.

Just incredible, @pulisic 😵‍💫#InterMilan pic.twitter.com/jcsqQZ6mmA

— Lega Serie A (@SerieA_EN) September 23, 2024

Pickpocketing the ball from Henrikh Mkhitaryan in the middle of the park, the American wastes no time in putting on the afterburners and driving towards goal.

He bypasses two Inter midfielders before blazing past Francesco Acerbi and reminding him of his age, before leaving Benjamin Pavard on the floor in a heap. Yann Sommer – inevitably – is helpless.

It’s a goal with attitude and skill in abundance. A goal that set the tone and encouraged his side to dig in and show the defending champions what they were made of, just as everyone had written them off.

The underdogs, Pulisic’s sheer wizardry inspired Milan to win their first derby in two years, as he continues to prove to be their rescue remedy. Now imagine him in a United States side rejuvenated and restructured by a manager as capable of Mauricio Pochettino.

Suddenly, those ‘Yanks’ are much less funny and much more of a problem.

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“It’s time to turn the page and we really have to pick it up a level,” Admitted Pulisic after a draw with New Zealand in September, adding: “Everyone is part of this and it feels pretty low right now, but I know there’s better times ahead.”

He’ll link up with Poch for the first time in October when the United States face Panama and Mexico, with the 2026 World Cup looming.

Last 16 and out wasn’t enough in Qatar, thus the bar is high, but with a world-class manager and a creative demon like Pulisic leading by example, the sky is genuinely the limit for the USMNT on home soil.

By Mitch Wilks