Christian Pulisic’s fast start to the Bundesliga season continued on Wednesday, as he set up the opening goal in a 7-0 Borussia Dortmund romp against Nuremburg.
Pulisic set up Jacob Bruun Larsen to open the scoring for Borussia Dortmund in the ninth minute. It was the 20-year-old’s first assist of the Bundesliga campaign.
Pulisic received the ball on the right wing and drove inside and up the field, beating two defenders before clipping a delightful through ball to Larsen who made a run parallel to the penalty box. Larsen took one touch to lift the ball over an onrushing Fabian Bredlow.
The victory moves Dortmund into second place in the Bundesliga, three points behind Bayern Munich.
Dortmund next travels to take on Bayer Leverkusen this Saturday.
He also helped set up the second goal, would have gotten an NHL assist.
Great assist for sure, but I really wish Pulisic would add more trickiness to his arsenal. He uses the basic cut almost everytime he dribbles and, while it sometimes works due to his quickness (as in the goal), it is far too predictable. After setting up the goal above, he lost the ball on multiple occasions trying to beat defenders 1 v1. I think he has the talent to become an Eden Hazard or an Arjen Robben type player; he just needs to add more stepovers and creativity, in my opinion.
I think you are being much too harsh. I thought he had an outstanding game. He is a consummate team player and has excellent quickness and above average skill on the ball. He is only 20 and you can see definite improvement over the last two seasons. I think that right now he is more skilled than Donovan ever was. I imagine I will get pushback on this statement, but Donovan was good running at people in open space, but not that good in tight spaces. Pulisic is Donovan’s equal in the former and superior in the latter. I hope Tyler Adams goes to the Bundesliga this January so he can sharpen his game, too.
If anyone thinks that Donovan was ever this good especially at this age should reevaluate
their priorities. CP is by far the most talented and best player the US has ever had and its not just about this game, it everything the KID does. Movement off the ball, 1v1 and seeing the pitch this KID just turned 20.
He’s already proved he could hack it in one of the top leagues in the world — unlike Donovan who failed twice to make it in the Bundesliga. Still, Donovan was successful with Everton twice, but he was older and more experienced by then.
Gary, do you disagree with my statement that part of makes Arjen Robben and Eden Hazard (similar type players) is not just their quickness on the ball but their trickiness on the ball? Honestly, I wasn’t meaning to sound too harsh. Pulisic is a baller, plain and simple. I just really enjoy watching creative players like Ronaldinho, Mbappe, Neymar, Brazilian Ronaldo, Modric, Pogba, Berbatov, and so on. That ‘unpredictability’ when they are on the ball excites me.
I think the comparison to Robben and Hazzard is pretty spot on (that CP could some day get to that level). Agree with GP that both Donovan and CP have a similar speed-based game, but CP is already ahead of Donovan in tight spaces and speed of thought. Pretty harsh to say that Donovan failed twice in the Bundesliga. Most 17 year olds can’t make that jump, CP being one of the rare exceptions. And again, when JK tried to bring Donovan over to Bayern years later, not many pros can hang on that squad. So he failed to make it on that team, but not sure he failed to make it in the Bundesliga the second time around. Donovan most certainly could have been a starter on a mid-level German team (just as he did with Everton).
Not to take away from the player that Robben is/has been, but the dude has had an epic career as a one-trick pony. You *know* he is cutting inside every single time but, somehow, he still gets it done. Hazard is a more complete player in my book. But not bad company for CP to find himself in if he gets to that level at barely 20 years o.d
For what it’s worth, I agree with your analysis. As to Robben, it’s amazing how he is able to score so much even with only one foot. Outside his scoring, which is very substantial, I’m not sure he contributes much more (no D, little playmaking, it seems to me). I think I prefer Pulisic right now to Robben if I were to put together a team. As for Hazard, I think he has been one of the best players in the world for the last several years. He had one down year with Chelsea, but he is truly a top 5 player, at any position, not just as a midfielder. I don’t know if Pulisic will ever be another Hazard, but he is already close to being world class, IMHO. As for Pulisic’s “trickiness”, he is not flashy or stylish, but if you look at his play closely you will see incredible ball control and subtle little moves that get him past defenders and into dangerous positions. In that way I think he is similar to Dempsey who must have been one of the most fouled players in the league during his prime time at Fulham. We already see Pulisic often getting fouls and rewarded free kicks in dangerous positions and even winning penalty kicks.
Brilliant. I love this assist.