Mauricio Pochettino won’t have Christian Pulisic for the CONCACAF Gold Cup this summer, but still has plenty of praise for the U.S. men’s national team star’s abilities.
Pulisic was left off of Pochettino’s 27-player June roster after a lengthy season with Serie A club AC Milan. The 26-year-old logged 3,650 minutes in 50 appearances for the Rossoneri this season, which were both career-highs for the Pulisic in a single campaign.
With Pulisic now set for a deserved break, Pochettino will have the opportunity to see other players this summer in the final competitive USMNT action before the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The Argentine manager knows the importance of both having and not-having Pulisic in his squad, garnering high praise for Pulisic’s presence in the program overall.
“I don’t want to be disrespectful with Messi or with Pulisic… but I think in this country, Pulisic should be our Messi,” Pochettino said in the Unfiltered Podcast with former USMNT players Landon Donovan and Tim Howard. “Because he’s an iconic player. The kid on the street – for sure, if you ask about one soccer player in this country, it’s Pulisic.
“Christian, in the last year, was showing great quality, and he’s performing in Europe, and also he’s performing here in the national team,” he added. “He’s a very talented player who can help us to win.”
Pulisic has scored 32 goals and added 20 assists in 78 caps for the USMNT to date, sitting fourth on the program’s all-time goalscoring list. However, he won’t add to those totals this summer, with his next international opportunity coming in September.
The USMNT will host Turkey and Switzerland in a pair of home friendlies before kicking off Gold Cup play against Trinidad & Tobago on June 15.
i see the podcast as poorly timed. he should be focused on the job at hand. the players in camp. the tactics they need. righting the ship in general. etc.
to be fair, he’s just answering a question, but to me their handling of the press should be tighter, not babbling on about various topics to a pod right before a tournament.
i don’t see the point of chatting up a player now who said he wants the summer off. i don’t see the point of chatting up a player who was part of that march team. even if you like them.
i know the press and SBI want more to write about, but what we should be getting right now are vague quick platitudes about we’re fixing crap while in the background the man feverishly works his butt off under the hood, and not telling us and our future opponents what he’s doing. and i don’t think anyone should be talked about like Our Messi until we start getting results. everyone should instead be getting Fear Of God treatment. i am looking for performers, this summer and in general. we’re gonna tweak tactics and personnel and i expect results. if you perform and play hard you’ll be back around. if not, i am cutting people. period.
this is the sort of thing you say after iran, not after march.
I think it is kind of ridiculous and unfair to even mention Pulisic in the same sentence as Messi. Not only is Pulisic not close to the same quality player (but, no one is), they are completely different types of players. In style of play, Pulisic is much closer to Landon Donovan. As far as importance to the USMNT, he equals Donovan and Dempsey and may become more important, but that’s about all. As for a foreign player, maybe Pulisic can become as good as someone like Gareth Bale or, at his very best, Harry Kane, but that is a stretch. I doubt he will ever equal players like Thierry Henry or Mo Salah, for example.
Gary,
” As for a foreign player, maybe Pulisic can become as good as someone like Gareth Bale or, at his very best, Harry Kane, but that is a stretch. I doubt he will ever equal players like Thierry Henry or Mo Salah, for example.”
It’s already too late for him to even equal any of the guys you mentioned. All of those guys had the good fortune to be at decent clubs. CP got stuck at a shit version of Chelsea and then moved to a second rate, impotent Milan who are still living off of the fumes of their reputation.
“As far as importance to the USMNT, he equals Donovan and Dempsey and may become more important, but that’s about all. ”
You’ve forgotten that CP is a Champion’s League winner who actually played in the game, unlike Kirovski. He’s already surpassed Clint and LD but this is the USMNT , at best a second rate soccer power.
Hard to be our messi when you play him out of position in CAM. Poch is a clown people only giving him a chance cause his club coaching career was stable. This is worse than GGG and asinine how he is losing the locker room already, thats the real reason Puli didnt want to come to GC.
And in other news:
Former USMNT captain Michael Bradley is following his father Bob Bradley’s footsteps by becoming a coach. He’s recently joined Canada’s coaching staff under Jesse Marsch.
Bradley is currently training Canadian players as they prepare for two upcoming friendly games against Ukraine and Ivory Coast.
He’s only expected to be on the staff for this window, and is not expected to coach in the Gold Cup.
Bradley being an assistant under Marsch is a full circle moment because his father, Bob, coached Marsch as a player in Princeton University, Chicago Fire, and Chivas USA.
Marsch then became an assistant under Bob at the USMNT for the 2010 World Cup and 2011 Gold Cup. Now, he will be sharing his knowledge with his son.
Bradley played nine years in Canada with Toronto. Since retiring in 2023, he worked under his father in Norway and is eager to learn and gain experience.
The former midfielder played 151 games for the USMNT. His last game was actually against Canada in 2019.”
INTERESTING