Christian Pulisic may soon have a chance to play in the UEFA Europa League.
Borussia Dortmund updated its roster for the European competition on Thursday, and added the 17-year-old American midfielder. Dortmund will face off with Portuguese club FC Porto during the first leg of the round of 32 on Feb. 18 before playing the second leg on Feb. 25.
Pulisic recently made his German Bundesliga debut in a 2-0 win against FC Ingolstadt 04 on Saturday. Since joining the senior team at the start of 2016, he has scored two friendly goals.
In the Bundesliga, Pulisic and Dortmund will travel to Hertha Berlin on Saturday.
What do you think of Dortmund adding Pulisic to its Europa roster? Expect him to see playing time against Porto?
Share your thoughts below.
If he continues to play over the next month, there is no reason not to call him into U23s if not the full USMNT. If he doesn’t play again before rosters are due then judge need on U23s and definitely not full squad.
Dortmund isn’t playing games over that time period so leaving him in Germany to practice with a depleted squad devoid of BvB international players seems a waste. He played in U17 qualifying and WC so he is used to traveling back and forth so I’m not sure how that argument holds water either.
8th youngest ever to play in the BL that’s pretty good. Let’s hope he keeps his feet on the ground and continues the good work.
Grant Wahl interviewed Pulisic on the new SI planet football podcast, if interested to search it out
Dortmund are raving about this kid, his progress is the reason they didnt bring anyone in during the and open transfer. It’s already being reported in the Bild that JK wants to call him in soon to pin him to the US for good(he has a Croatian passport as well)
http://www.espnfc.us/borussia-dortmund/story/2800768/christian-pulisic-added-to-borussia-dortmund-europa-squad
Eh, half-true. They did want someone whose more established and with more experience, but they couldn’t get anyone for the right price. But correct, they didn’t want another cheap youngster like Januzaj on loan when they can just promote Pulisic.
The fact is, that while they still have shot at catching Bayern, it was always going to be a long shot (this year) without acquiring an expensive player. Pulisic, Paslack, et al. as well as any new player they scout from Asia, Africa, or Eastern Europe, were always the long-term solution to bringing BVB back to the top.
Pulisic has been great for the U16s and then U17s for the last few years. He was clearly a cut above in the U-20 WC. If you have to place a disclaimer “I am as big a X fan as anyone, but… ” at the beginning of your post then perhaps you have an agenda…
U-17 WC pardon me.
DJDJ, Really? And what is my agenda then?? Why would I have an agenda against a great USMNT prospect when I am a USMNT fan?
You say that Pulisic was “clearly a cut above in the u-17 world cup”. Yes he was clearly the best player on our team, but our team sucked in the u-17 world cup.
Also, you’re comparing playing in a u-17 World cup where players are between 15 and 17 years old, to the Olympics where most players are 20-23 years old. You don’t think there is a big difference between the two levels??
I am not saying that Pulisic is not good; I am saying that I am not convinced he is better than our current U-23 options just because he’s on a big name European club. People on this board have already made that mistake plenty of times (Julian Green) and apparently continue to make it.
I am not trying argue one way or the other but name somebody on the u23 that could make Dortmund bench more less get mins. Zelalem, Hyndman, Miazga and CCV would be the best bets but doubt they would.
Everything I’ve heard is there’s not much of a threat of him switching. He was born and grew up here and only has a passport threw his grandfather. However I guess it’s not surprising Klinsmann wants to call him considering he took Green to a WC based on a weaker resume.
Out with the Old, I can’t answer your question with any certainty because I haven’t seen Pulisic and our current crop of u-23 players together and up-close to compare their skills and abilities. I don’t think Klinsmann/Herzog/Ramos have even seen that themselves.
I will say this though, I followed our last Olympic qualifying campaign very closely (for London games), and Joe Gyau was a good player on that team but not one of the best. He actually wasn’t good enough to start for Porter, he came off the bench. A couple of years later he was with Dortmund making a first-team debut just like Pulisic just did. Now did that automatically make Gyau better than all our other players, the players he couldn’t beat out during qualifying?? No it didn’t. Lets not get too caught up with the jersey a player wears, especially when that player only has a few minutes of first-team soccer under his belt.
Just to get it out of the way, I am as big a Pulisic fan as anyone and want him to be great, but some of you on here make me laugh.
For many of you this is your thought process: Dortmund is a big club in a big league–> Pulisic played for them (doesn’t matter that it was only a few minutes in one game)–> He’s better than anyone else we got!!
It should be obvious that is faulty logic. Lets take a wait and see approach with Pulisic. Lets see if he actually becomes a regular at Dortmund. The funny thing is, I am positive many of you have never even seen Pulisic play! You just saw a youtube video of his first game and read a few articles. Relax.
Soccer is similar to real life. For example, I am sure there are many people out there that are a lot smarter than me but are making less money and working at smaller companies than me. Its all about circumstances. Each club is different, the competition for a specific position in each club is different, each coach is different, and because of this each player gets different opportunities. If Pulisic was at Arsenal, and Zelalem was at Dortmund, what would happen? I don’t know what would happen but I am guessing we wouldn’t be talking about Pulisic right now. Is Pulisic a more talented player right now than players like Zelalem, Arriola, Rubin, Villareal, Green, Gil, Kiessewetter, etc?? Maybe he is, maybe he isn’t. I am sure many of you would say yes just because of the clubs they are on, but once again that is faulty logic.
We suck until proven otherwise. If he can help and he can take the punishment then he needs to play IF he has the blessing of his club.
I’m not saying anoint him the next Pele, but when the rest of our U23 roster is full of guys who are on 3 and 4th German league teams, Championship Youth Teams, or are Substitutes or reserves for MLS I don’t know how you can say he shouldn’t be called in. The American abroad recap is full of players who did not dress or dress but did not play. This kid is playing in a top 4 league in the world. Dortmund sent away two midfielders during the transfer window and didn’t add any that should tell us what they think of CP.
Let’s see how the next month goes for him, and see what his coaches at Dortmund think. That’s whats important in who is bringing him along. If they think the work load, disruption and travel isn’t right for him right now, we should respect that. He is still just 17 and could even go to the Olympics 4 years from now.
So often we tap these kids up before letting them really fully settle in there club situation. Clearly it didn’t help Green, taking him to a World Cup.
I think he’s better than many of the guys on the Olympic team right now but I don’t see the huge rush to get him on that team. Granted, I don’t value Olympic soccer that highly but I think he’s better off trying to get playing time at Dortmund. If he can do that there will be plenty of USMNT team caps in his future.
I agree, lets try to show a bit of patience for once.
Slow you say, “I think he’s better than many of the guys on the Olympic team right now”, I am wondering how you came to this conclusion??
The only chance we’ve had to see Pulisic is a few minutes for Dortmund in one game, and three games in a u-17 World Cup that didn’t go so well for the U.S.
After watching Finlay play for the NATs on the wing, I think we should bring in Pulisic as soon as possible to the Senior team.
Kid just played his first senior match. Let’s cool it.
The over reactions of some people, is ridiculous.
No, we need to cap him asap. He’s already close to starting in dourtmund. This player has the potential to be one of the best in the world. Not even messi was starting at 17
Cris, Messi got his first cap at 16 years old. Just sayin…
@Mac “Cris, Messi got his first cap at 16 years old. Just sayin…”
What are you smoking??? He made his debut for Argentina’s senior team on Nov. 17, 2005. He was born on June 27, 1987. He was 18!
Sigh, well I tried to keep this civil… “No, we need to cap him asap. He’s already close to starting in dourtmund. This player has the potential to be one of the best in the world. Not even messi was starting at 17”
When you’re talking about one players club career, and compare them to another player, is it wrong to assume that you are therefore comparing the club trajectory’s of these players? Why would you say Pulisic is almost a starter for DORTMUND (he’s not by the way), and then compare that to Messi’s NATIONAL team debut. The more logical comparison, would be to compare the start of their respective club careers, to the start of their national team careers.
Messi got his first start at 16 years old; was then eased into the first team over the next year, training with the first team, playing with the reserves. At 17, he played a total of 9 times, off the bench. He didn’t become a regular starter until 18, which is when he also got his first senior cap for Argentina.
Huh, it looks like Argentina waited until Messi proved himself at a senior club level before moving him to the full senior national team.
Maybe we should do the same to our star prospect?
Also, you do no justice to those who support the opinion that Pulisic should move to the senior team by saying “…not even Messi was starting at 17.” Are you really trying to say that Pulisic is a better prospect than Messi?
Messi was 18, it was against Hungary,he came on in 63rd minute and was sent off in the 65th w/ a red card. haha
The evidence supports what Mac is saying. Leave Pulisic to establish himself as a regular before calling him into the USMNT, Cris ignores Mac’s very clear argument and (in fact) contradicts himself). Frank Rijkaard gave Messi his first start at 16 in 2004, but Argentina waited until his was 18 to play for the full national team. At the very least, we should give him the rest of the season
With all that said, the context of each national team is different. Much easier to hold off integrating Messi into a national squad like Argentina; than it is to justify not integrating a young prospect like Pulisic into a USMNT that is aging and in serious transition.
huh? Pulisic isn’t even a winger in the same sense as Finlay.
From where Finlay plays for Columbus and what I’ve seen of Pulisic for Dortmund and U-17s they do play similar roles.
Although certainly different skill sets. I’m not ready to write off Finlay from one outing though either.
Finlay is an out-and-out winger, his job is to just play the most outside channel. To stay with BVB, Finlay plays wing similarly to Blaszczykowski.
From what I’ve seen from his friendlies and his first cap, Pulisic plays that outside position closer to the way Chelsea deploy Hazard/Oscar/Willian. They’re essentially three #10’s spread across the line; outside AM’s, not really true wingers.
Slight differences, but they matter in how you structure your team and tactics.
Please stop posting. Your ignorance is aggravating.
Really? My first point is that Finlay is just not that good and he is being considered a potential answer on the outside. I don’t think Yedlin or Zardes are the answer either- so who do we have that real international quality who can play outside mid? F. Johnson and that’s it. Want to argue those points? Next, If there is someone out there getting meaningful playing time for Dortmund that’s not cap tied, I don’t care who he is- he should be given a look for the senior team. Also, he was very good in his debut with Dortmund. We’ll see how things evolve, but the kid has serious quality, and is very quick.
You made it pretty clear in the above post that Pulisic should be called in ASAP! Then you clarify it below with “If there is someone out there getting meaningful playing time for Dortmund”. He’s made ONE appearance for the senior team as a substitute. Is that meaningful playing time? We are all excited by Pulisic’s development but 1/3 of a game for Dortmund does not equal meaningful playing time. What most of us are saying is let him develop at Dortmund at least for the rest of the season and if he continues to get playing time with the first team, then bring him in.
@danny kissinger
He looks like he could be great but what is honestly the huge rush? Because we can’t beat Guatemala without him? His playing time at Dortmund is going to do far more for the US down the road then flying him to central America right now.
You probably thought Julian Green would be our savior after he played 20 minutes at Bayern, right?
If CP22 can keep getting mins there is no reason he should be left off the u23s against Colombia.
No, he should be left alone. Why fly him to 2 different continents in the middle of his first season with the first-team at a club like Dortmund? If we need him to play with the U-23s, with no training camps or experience with any of those players until the matches, we don’t deserve to go to the Olympics. He should stay put and keep improving and learning. Our wings and attacking midfield aren’t the problems for the U-23s, the central defensive midfield and outside backs are the major issues.
i tend to agree. he is not established for BVB’s first team yet. no reason to break that up. he has never played with that group and we have good options there anyway in that position.
that said…Herzog has already said he won’t shy away from calling him up if he feels it’ll add to the team.
The qualifying is over an international break so many of BvBs players will be with their respective national teams. Second, he is currently the American playing at the highest level, Keisewetter hardly gets minutes in the Budesliga 3, and everyone is gaga over him. If Pulisic continues to play and do well for Dortmund the question should be full nats or U23s not should we even call him in. Imagine if Donovan hadn’t been brought in to WC 2002.
I wonder if he’ll get his first start within the next week.
Dortmund has a tight schedule- Hertha on Saturday (Bundesliga), Stuttgart on Tuesday (DFB-Pokal Quarters).
As for the Europa League, how has Dortmund approached the competition this year? I know a lot of Champions League mainstays don’t take it so seriously until the quarterfinals or so.
According to SBI, he already has. When he came off the bench in the 68th minute this past week…
That is not a start.
Anthony- MLSnob is referring to an error in the original article that said something like “Pulisic made his first start, coming off the bench in the 68th minute.”
Only in England do they not take the Europa League seriously until the knockout stages. Europa League is a lot more respected in Germany and Spain.
BVB has for the most part taken it seriously enough, that winning the group was paramount, but they did use the comp as a way to bleed in some youngsters, experiment tactically, etc.
Dortmund take the Europa league seriously because they know they can win it and earn a UCL spot (even though the would get one by placing 2nd in the Bundesliga). English teams are full of excuses when they just aren’t as good as other leagues.
the only problem here is that…his success will make JK look better…and that cant be good
what? one has nothing to do with the other.
Must EVERYTHING be about Klinsmann??
The echo-chamber demands it.
He’ll find a way to to give himself credit for pulisic’s decelopment
why do you say that? just because? i don’t think JK had anything to do with him moving from PA Classic to Dortmund U17s and i don’t believe he’ll attempt to say he did if he didn’t.
Jimmy- when the hell did JK ever say “I did this…” “I found this kid…” “I trained this kid…” Seriously? He has yet to even take any credit for giving Jordan Morris a shot, someone who was barely a blip beyond the college and Sounders radar.