Christian Pulisic is the star of Mauricio Pochettino’s United States team, despite the tensions last summer when Milan’s number 11 chose not to respond to the national team call-up for the Gold Cup in order to rest and recharge ahead of this season.
With misunderstandings now behind them, the U.S.A team is once again relying heavily on Pulisic, as shown by the 155 minutes he played out of a possible 185 in the matches during this break against South Korea and Japan.
Those numbers carry weight as he returns to Milan, since playing time, time zone shifts, and a transatlantic trip could leave him less than fully fit. Usually, the former Chelsea player has shown a quick recovery from such situations, but Max Allegri might handle him differently than his predecessors. Still, with few alternatives in attack, Pulisic remains vital.
Pulisic may start on the bench in Milan match vs Bologna
It is inevitable. Between the matches and the trip back to Italy, Christian Pulisic is a bit worn down. That is normal, even though he is used to travel like this, having done so throughout his career. Given the importance of the clash against Bologna, though, Max Allegri does not seem inclined to take risks, which is why he could decide to keep Pulisic on the bench and use him later in the game as an attacking wild card, just as he did in Lecce, with excellent results, as relayed via Milannews.it.
The final decision will be made today during the team’s last training session before tomorrow’s match against Bologna. But the feeling is that this is the direction things are heading. This raises the natural question: who will start alongside Santiago Gimenez? The choice is between Adrien Rabiot and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, with the latter already enjoying the chance at Lecce to push forward into the attacking midfield role, interchanging with Alexis Saelemaekers.
