For the first time of the Mauricio Pochettino-era, Christian Pulisic wore the captain’s armband on Sunday night, however things did not improve for him or the U.S. men’s national team.
Pulisic started and played 69 minutes in the USMNT’s 2-1 loss to the Canada in the third place match of the CONCACAF Nations League. The 26-year-old was ineffective in the match, creating zero offensive chances, having just 21 touches, and registering zero shots on goal.
Sunday’s performance was the second-consecutive quiet outing for Pulisic, who admitted frustration in his postmatch interview with CBS Sports.
“We’re obviously disappointed, we will go talk about it but we got to come back from this,” Pulisic said. We’re not at our best at the moment.
“Now all we can do is be an example at our clubs and be the best that we can be there,” he added. “When we come back, some things need to change and we need to improve. We are going to look back at it but I don’t have all the answers at the moment.”
Pulisic has enjoyed a productive season with AC Milan, but hasn’t been able to translate that success over to the international level in 2025. His continuous shift from a wing role to the No. 10 could play a slight part in that lack of production, but Pulisic overall will need to remain flexible for club and country.
Ultimately getting Pulisic in dangerous spaces will certainly benefit him and the USMNT, something he admitted did not happen a lot against Panama or Canada.
“I like playing in that role a lot,” Pulisic said. “The last two games I didn’t see as much of the ball as I would’ve liked but I feel comfortable in the role.”
Pulisic remains a vital part of the USMNT program heading into the busy summer schedule. Whether it is the Gold Cup or the friendlies leading up to the tournament, the USMNT will rely heavily on Pulisic’s talents to lead the way.
After captaining his country for the 28th time on Sunday, Pulisic voiced his love for the program and how special it has been to continue being a part of it.
“This team is everything to me, I care so much for this team and country. I hope people know that about me. It’s such an honor every time I can do it.”
When the 2 players with the highest ratings ARE MLS PLAYERS, the US had 60% possession and the team had only 2 shots on target THAT DIDN’T COME FROM ANY OF OUR SO-CALLED “ELITE” PLAYERS…….that pretty much sums up our performance……but I think Landon Donovan said it best.
“I’m so sick of hearing how ‘talented’ this group of players are and all the amazing clubs they play for………If you aren’t going to show up and actually give a s!%* about playing for your national team, decline the invite. Talent is great, pride is better.”
We are all sick of this s!%* LD……..especially while Jesse Marsch continues to CONVINCINGLY give USSOCCER THE MIDDLE FINGER.
Landon is jealous and envious.
Now that these guys are a little down, it’s a good chance to kick them.
They deserve the shit they are getting from the fans but’s it’s not as if LD did not have his share of shit performances where he disappeared.
“Landon is jealous and envious.”
…….of what exactly???
“Jealousy is the tribute mediocrity pays to genius.”
……Who is currently mediocre in this scenario????
Few have the grit, guts, passion and pride of LD. Very few….
bizzy,
How does 2.5- to 4 million euros per sound to you?
TO ME????? LIFE CHANGING!!!!! lol
……But to Landon Donovan, with a NetWorth of $8,000,000 – $14,000,000 after having retired for a while, and with the career he had and World Cups he’s played in…….not sooooo much
bizzy,
apples to oranges.
These guys still could have some prime earning years ahead of them while LD will have to make his money some other way.
I’m not worried about LD being destitute but guys like CP, Weston, Tyler and even Gio ( about 2.1 million /year) have a shot, if things go well, at making the kind of serious money that most of us can only dream of.
I’m jealous and envious of their opportunities so I don’t see why LD would not be.
Guys like Clint, Kasey, DMB and Mo Edu are angry too but they don’t seem to have the kind of bug up their ass that LD seems to.
I remember people used to accuse Clint of saving himself for Fulham when he played for the USMNT.
See this is the problem with this younger generation, everything is about money, or the lack there of, but not being productive where it matters most. Success with the NT will bring these players even more opportunities to enrich themselves, but if they’re not careful they’re going to regret the collection of talent that people keep saying “is the best we’ve ever seen”, as nothing more than that. I can guarantee you LD isn’t jealous of the money players are making now, at the end of the day these lackluster, embarrassing performances come back on the alumni of the USMNT bc they have to keep answering questions about it, and every former player wants the team to be successful and reach their potential whether you believe that or not!
The US is 1-5-1 (w-l-t) with Pulisic as captain since ‘24 NL. 4-2 under Ream, MRob 1-0, Richards 0-0-1. I’m not saying Pulisic’s captaincy is causing us to lose, but it’s not helping us win. I get not giving it immediately back to Tyler, given Poch hadn’t worked with him yet, but it needs to go back to Tyler. Take the Captain America pressure off Christian, just let him play.
JR,
Everyone has bad games. CP had two of them.
You can name Pulisic water boy or team manager and make him hand out towels.
Or you can a name him captain.
He is always going to be the main focus of any “pressure” on the USMNT.
He doesn’t captain Milan but he’s been their most important player all season and the pressure on him there is ginormous.. But he’s been and still is producing for them. And he handles the Italian media very well.
Him being captain means that we get to see the pressure more clearly. If he were not captain we wouldn’t see the pressure on him as much.
That’s all it means.
If it were me, I’d name Max Arfsten or Jack McGlynn captain.
Captain Max or Captain Jack has a nice ring to it. Do we have a Morgan in the player pool? And being MLS guys they would give the media another narrative to use.
Unpopular opinion but it might be time to pull out some good old “bunker Bob” tactics to stop us leaking soft goals in every game. Maybe a 5-3-2 or 5-4-1. 2 center backs and another sweeping a bit behind. Adams in front of them and then speed and power on the wings with some tactical accumen in the center (reyna). Let them come to us and we spring the trap. France does that pretty well. Looks boring but works and I think we have players that can fit the scheme. Jump over the lines play direct and shoot more. Not sexy but I’ll bet you we win more games that way then how we currently set-up.
it is the natural open minded coaching response to a team that ships goals trying to go end to end, gets out of our glacial buildup problem, and fits personnel. we have more athletes than we do technicians.
to circle around on bunker bob, what the snobs miss is bunker bob had figured out how to beat spain in 2009. we are imitating teams we had figured out how to beat 15 years ago, using a much cruder player pool. how on earth do we see what we are trying as cutting edge?
my concern is we hired another system coach. unlike say klinsi, who switched from “knock it around” his first 2 years to “empty bucket” for brazil, i don’t see a guy hired to play a way, changing our ways.
but who knows.
But our guys play crappy defense, and since you can’t ever name anyone with a passport that doesn’t play crappy defense sitting back doesn’t seem to make much sense either. Does Pulisic defend? Does Reyna defend? Does Wes defend? Does Tyler actually stay in his area? Tessmann and Johnny don’t defend. We’ve seen repeatedly that CCV and McKenzie have serious issues. Richards has one bad play every game, which only one is significantly better than his competition. All the U20 CBs have been benched by their clubs of late for significant errors. Ream is athletically limited at his age. Both goals came with plenty of defenders around but we couldn’t clear a ball. Not because we were trying to pass out but because we literally tried to hit it out and flubbed them. We lose most 50/50 balls and second balls because we are slow to react. Turner can’t hit a long ball to anyone and when he does we can’t hold it up or win the knock down. Seems easier to work on some passing sequences and movement in the final third than completely teach them how to play fundamental defense. We are so bad defensively, our best defense is holding onto the ball and scoring early. If we score early and make teams come out we usually score multiple times. If we don’t it’s a matter of time before we’ll concede.
side point but if we tip the formation a bit back — as panama did — the sheer numbers can help cover up any specific personnel issues. the 433 we play exposes them.
it’s either that or put reyna/puli/luna out there and try and out-offense teams. i kind of feel we are stuck in between. not very attacking, tentative. and then not airtight in the back. c. 2021 we just went end to end and won games right when reyna was debuting. or you had the GC team that summer winning games 1-0 on a free kick. but playing games in a style that results in 1-1 games isn’t the money tree. the money tree is either 3 goal scoring or 0 goals allowed.
Mat,
Calling him Bunker Bob is inaccurate. Anyway you don’t need Bob’s tactics.
You only need two in-form guys from Bob’s teams.
Put either Guzan, or even Howard as the keeper and either LD or Clint up front.
Do that and they win the Nations League.
Or maybe just one guy, LD or Clint because I tell you what. CP sucked but his teamates did him no favors. All the times he’s saved their asses and they can’t pick him up when he needs it? That’s just chicken shit.
that’s the thing though, they aren’t “leaking” goals, but they are giving up soft goals in the worst possible situations. Leaking goals would lead one to believe they are giving up goals with regularity, which they aren’t, but what’s clear is the CB pool is seemingly the worst it’s been for some time
Thought it was interesting to hear Henry’s comment while covering the game regarding CP and leadership. Unlike the others (all ex-USMNTeamers) he said something to the effect that it doesn’t come naturally to Puli to be a vocal leader and maybe the US would be better off not asking him to do something he isn’t comfortable with. I found that pretty insightful, and was reminded it was Adams who captained us (pretty well) at World Cup ’22. Can’t help but think it would help to have Adams or someone else wear the armband, take the questions, and step up into a leadership role. Maybe it would help CP to play more freely. And despite having a pretty invisible couple games, it was him who sprung the play late against Panama that should have been the equalizer.
CP was on the 2018 team and couva still happened. i don’t think he can carry this alone — he’s technical but not messy, halfway quick but not incredibly fast — and he doesn’t radiate leader. this isn’t a big slap. he is good on offense. unlike mckennie he has some natural positions. i just don’t think he should be The Absolute Focal Point and his strengths do not play to what this team needs a captain to sell.
to me the captain should be someone like adams who can sell dogged professionalism and smart defense by example. but he has to stay healthy.
also, i would like the leadership of this team to be independent of the coaching and willing to be critical and defend the players. a good captain is a 2 way interface. CP’s only display of pushback was the look of his face getting subbed off losing to canada in 2019. at a point this team needs to sit down and talk and decide how they are going to fight and win games, and if they need to nudge the coach to do it.
eg is the running too much, do we need tactical adjustments, how are we going to create more chances, how are we going to help each other to stop teams. and some of that might be a little minor revolt. i don’t know if it’s that this team is more big club successful but they seem less interested in boat rocking even as half their career window is done. previous US teams seemed to be their own power center and push this in the direction they wanted. like if people were upset with klinsi it was in the papers soon after.
i can’t believe they are ok with this. i want to hear their ideas how to fix it. not just coaches’ platitudes.
Pulisic is supposed to be the leader of this team and he’s saying:
“We’re obviously disappointed, we will go talk about it but we got to come back from this,” Pulisic said. “We’re not at our best at the moment.”
Sorry chief, it’s not “we” it’s “I.”
A real leader shoulder’s the burden. Takes the blame. None of this “we” nonsense. The team goes as far as you take them.
You’re the best offensive player. You didn’t score. You didn’t assist. You barely created any chances against Panama and Canada and you’re talking about “we”?
Then you talk about liking to be central but not touching the ball? Go and get the ball fool! Show for it. Demand it! Make something happen. All the greats do.
I swear Pulisic’s brand logo should be a silhouette of him shrugging his shoulders. His leadership is a problem, it might be the problem.
He’s like Han Solo when the hyper-drive doesn’t work.
“It’s not my fault… it’s not my fault!”
I don’t think Pulisic’s leadership had any thing to do with the 2 goals Canada scored. It was poor defending and in both case McKenzie was in a position to thwart the attack, but failed.
If the US does not find better CBs, Ream will continue to get starts and the US will not get better.
example, i thought they looked a little sluggish and tired. it is the end of the european season. did poch run them hard in practice and they were exhausted?
CP in particular looks bad or ineffective when tired. maybe they could call him less or he could occasionally say no. he has never struck me as some fit landon who runs forever. he needs his rest.
honestly the effort could be better but effort discussion is what crap teams do. we’re gonna play hard first 30 then see what happens. good teams inherently play hard but they have a 90 minute scheme in which they are trying to do more than backpass.
that is to say, this needs a basic personnel and system rethink. can we work on the actual soccer switches and buttons before we get all into work rate?
and my personal experience, you want tenacity and work rate, what you do is bench and try other options until you get it. you don’t beg the same roster to play harder. you start leaving curbside people who won’t play how you want. that both sends the message and also starts to shove the roster in the desired direction. crying to the press doesn’t fix a soft team. recruitment does. changing who plays does.
IV
“he has never struck me as some fit landon who runs forever. he needs his rest.”
Actually all our euros need a rest. Just wait and see how long it takes Jedi to get back.
Know why Landon ran forever?
Landon’s main gig was the USMNT. MLS was useful for keeping him in shape but not beating him half to death in the process. He played in MLS at a time when he did not face anywhere near the kind of pressure to produce that CP faced at a place like Chelsea or Milan. If he showed up and could play, he started.
In comparison the USMNT is where CP goes to get away from the brutal rat race of Europe. At Chelsea and then later Milan he had to / has to fight like a dog just to get on the game day roster. He’s finally won that battle for recognition at Milan but don’t think that every day is not a challenge for him to make sure he keeps his place.
When it comes to fighting to prove that others are wrong about you, that you are worthy of getting on the field and staying there, CP already knows much more about that than Landon ever did.
There’s been a lot going on at Juve and Milan lately. And our guys are core parts of that. Our Italians all looked gassed these last two games. As our players get better and play more in Europe overuse is increasingly going to be a problem. It already is. Let’s see if Jedi even gets back this season or if Fulham have to shut him down.
I think that’s one reason why unlike you all, Pochettino took Cupcake more seriously. He knew they were going to need more volume, more capable bodies just to get through the grind. You like to piss all over that if you want but they are holding the fort until the starters get back. And if they don’t they are going to have to fill in.
You always talk about other options that you would try but USMNT fails to. But you never name them .
At least in other sports and other soccer teams I have followed, it is the coach’s job to accept blame. Bear Bryant, one of the all time best college FB coaches would take the blame when they lost and praise the players when they won. He would also be hardest on the players when they won and easiest on them when they lost. As a result, his players would run through brick walls for him. The captain’s job is not that important in soccer, it seems to me, compared to other sports. It is the coach who should be the leader. He should also be the one who provides inspiration. If nothing else, he is rarely injured and always there for the team while players aren’t always available for every game.
Gary,
“The captain’s job is not that important in soccer, it seems to me, compared to other sports. It is the coach who should be the leader. He should also be the one who provides inspiration. If nothing else, he is rarely injured and always there for the team while players aren’t always available for every game”
This is not college football. It’s soccer. Not everything is interchangeable.
Maybe not in America but the captaincy is a huge deal in many places in Europe.
Expectations about exactly what is expected of the captain differ from place to place but who gets to wear that armband is a big deal.
I don’t know enough about how the USMNT locker room works and what those guys expect but it looks like Pulisic is not comfortable being captain as he is basically an introvert but he could GROW into it.
I thought Clint was unsuited to be captain, but he turned out to be a good one.
Adams might be a better choice but the defense, which he supposedly upgrades all by his lonesome, failed these last two games even though Tyler was healthy. Where was his leadership in this area?
This is a young team and comparatively inexperienced. Everyone forgets that and the kind of leadership we are talking about can only come from players on the field. Otherwise, you’d just hire a guy like Bocanegra or Dolo to stand on the sidelines and in the locker room.
I don’t think they have a suitable captain. Pulisic is going to have to make himself into one, unless you want to give the arm band to Luna.
“The team goes as far as you take them”
When CP used to try to do everything he got blasted for playing too much “hero ball.”
Damned if do, damned if you don’t.