Christian Pulisic is coming under serious fire following the USMNT’s exit from the World Cup earlier this week.
The AC Milan forward was viewed as Mauricio Pochettino’s main man heading into this summer’s tournament.
However, the reality is Pulisic was far from that, having failed to score in any of his four appearances for the USMNT.
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He has been offered a contract extension to take him to the next World Cup…
Folarin Balogun proved to be Mr. Reliable for USA over recent weeks after ending the tournament with three goals to his name.
Landon Donovan knew exactly where the back of the net was, and he has admitted what he saw from Pulisic simply was not good enough.
What Landon Donovan said about Christian Pulisic’s USMNT performances
USMNT fans were not impressed with Pulisic, with the expectations far outweighing what the 27-year-old was actually able to deliver.
Perhaps those expectations weighed too heavily on the shoulders of Pulisic.
“In reality, I think he only played about half the minutes in the tournament. We have to go back to last summer – this is a day of receipts. He took time off from the Gold Cup so that he would be ready for this season, fit, healthy, and firing on all cylinders,” said Donovan on the Unfiltered Soccer podcast.
“The reality is he has only scored one goal since December. He hasn’t played well for the national team, and he hasn’t played well for Milan.”
It must be remembered that Pulisic was carrying an injury for most of the tournament, but it is clear that he still could have offered more.
“I want to be careful because I’m sure people are piling on him. A lot of it he deserves, of course – that is part and parcel of this role – but it is just disappointing. I was waiting for a moment from him, something special, something spectacular, and it just didn’t happen.”
The worry now is that perhaps Pulisic has missed his best opportunity to really make an impact on the World Cup for the USMNT.
At the age of 27, the Pennsylvania-born forward is going to be 31 by the time the next World Cup rolls around.
In soccer terms, Pulisic will either be at his absolute peak or having already experienced his best years – only time will tell.
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