Christian Pulisic has made a superb start to life with AC Milan
Inside Christian Pulisic’s whirlwind start to life at AC Milan: Targeted training and a formation that suits his strengths – but he has ALREADY been told to improve defensively!
- Christian Pulisic has scored two goals in his first two AC Milan appearances
- He left Chelsea in the summer and already looks like he’s making Italy his home
- DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news
The American boy has changed Stefano Pioli’s and AC Milan’s soccer philosophy by looking like he could return to the peaks of performance of his time in Borussia Dortmund.
Christian Pulisic’s arrival in Italy was a brilliant move by Geoffrey Moncadat, Milan’s chief scout. Pulisic is an extraordinary player and if he manages to reach a physical condition close to 100%, he can target 15-20 goals, transforming himself into the team’s second attacking danger behind after Rafael Leao.
He has already entered the statistics of Serie A history in just 90 minutes, he becoming the first player made in USA to score on his debut in Italian championship. He scored again on Saturday in the 4-1 over Torino.
Pulisic is a true idol in USA despite his tender age of 24 but he needed the Milan move from Chelsea this summer after thing s had gone stale in London. He risked going off the radar of the top European clubs.
Pulisic has great technical skills and always manages to find corridors of space in the seemingly blind alleys of the field. He has an incredible vision of the game and this aspect was the weak point of Pioli’s Milan setup. Perhaps Pulisic is the most brilliant talent on the entire American scene, even superior to Timothy Weah, the young star of Juventus.
Pulisic’s impact with Serie A has so far been brilliant but this is a player who could have already hit great heights if it wasn’t for several injuries. DailyMail.Com takes a look at how he can continue to flourish in Italy.
Christian Pulisic has scored two goals in his first two appearances for AC milan
The star of American soccer has settled brilliantly in Italy after leaving Chelsea in the summer
CONCRETE PULISIC
In Serie A, his technical ability is reminiscent of Gianfranco Zola. He can play as winger or a central attacking role in a 4-2-3-1 and the presence of Giroud helps all his movements – as demonstrated by the excellent performance against Bologna.
Physically more powerful than Brahim Diaz, the former Chelsea star always manages to be at the center of Milan’s game even in moments of maximum physical effort. He has more presence on the pitch and experience in the Bundesliga and Premier League seem to have improved his weaknesses. Pulisic has all the talent worthy of European players but is enhanced by American discipline.
Coach Pioli immediately understood that he had bought a diamond to polish and his light shines even though his physical condition is still at 70%.
His entourage chose Milan to repay the great trust placed in Pulisic by the Italian club, who decided to buy him outright by making him sign a four-year contract until 2027, with the right of an option in favor of Milan for an extension until 2028.
So far he has carried out intense and targeted training sessions so as not to fall back into the drama of new injuries and the whole team has benefited from his qualities on the pitch.
Pulisic’s attributes perfectly suit the setup he has at Milan – he could score plenty this season
ITALY IS THE RIGHT COUNTRY FOR HIM
Since his debut in the US national team, at the age of 18, he has been called ‘Captain America’ – the rising star of American soccer capable of changing the future of the national team, contributing to its popular growth in Europe.
Today Italy can become his second homeland after the failure of the English experience at Chelsea. In 2019 they paid 65 million euros thanks to an extraordinary season in Borussia Dortmund but in the summer of 2023 his market value collapsed to 20 million euros.
With coach Pioli he plays a very different kind of football than that of Frank Lampard and later Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter: he is an ace in the pack who plays vertically and loves to replace the central striker with movements worthy of a chess player.
Pulisic celebrates his goal against Torino in the Serie A game on Saturday night in Italy
But in the land of defensive soccer, Pulisic has already been told he must improve at the back
BUT HE HAS TO IMPROVE IN DEFENSE
His Italian debut was also perfect in the statistical numbers provided by Serie A: 90% of successful passes in the last third of the pitch and 4 duels won plus a great spell to free Reijnders and give away for the assist to Giroud.
However, all these prodigies must not deceive the Milan fans because Pulisic still needs to improve a lot – according to the judgment of one Milan icon.
Arrigo Sacchi analyzed the first weeks of the American champion at AC Milan on the pages of the ‘Gazzetta dello Sport’: ‘Pulisic scored a great goal and I liked it: he moved well on the wing against Bologna. However, he must learn to help more in the defensive phase’.
Italy has always been considered the university of soccer for players to improve defensive performance, Pulisc will have to quickly learn to manage the impetus and speed of his retreats in midfield to make Milan even stronger.
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