It took a while for Christian Pulisic to get himself off the field, because he was responsible for reassigning the captain’s armband to United States teammate Tyler Adams, who wasn’t exactly in the neighborhood right then. But it only took 65 minutes for his coaches to officially acknowledge it was better for this to happen.
Pulisic had arrived in Columbus for USMNT training ahead of Thursday’s World Cup qualifier against El Salvador obviously eager to use this competition, this stage, to demonstrate his value to a club employer that doesn’t always seem to appreciate it.
The USMNT was to be his happy place, a place where his importance is unquestioned and his opportunity unlimited. Even with his national team, however, all of that is predicated on him being the best version of Christian Pulisic.
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“I don’t know if frustration is the right word for Christian’s performance,” coach Gregg Berhalter told reporters Saturday, one day ahead of the United States’ qualifier against CONCACAF leader Canada. “He’s a guy that does everything he can for the team to be successful. And he’s a guy that you can count on him giving the effort needed to help the team. And I think that’s the most important thing for us, for his teammates and himself.
“It’s just understanding that every player has their role in the team, and it’s a very balanced team, and we don’t need one guy to be the hero necessarily. There’s maybe some unwanted pressure that Christian’s putting on himself. Because he’s a great teammate. He’s a great player. He can be the perfect game changer for us, used in the right way.”
This is exactly what it looked like Thursday night in Columbus. Pulisic wanted so desperately — too desperately — to help break a 0-0 deadlock that persisted into the second half against El Salvador, which entered the game in seventh place out of eight teams and was playing on the road at a venue chosen to literally freeze them, which Berhalter acknowledged.
Assigned to the left side of the front line in a 4-3-3 formation, Pulisic often strayed into more central areas, which might not have been problematic had he not so often attempted to challenge, on his own, the multiple opposing defenders stationed there. He was involved in 10 duels in the first half; he lost them all. El Salvador’s defensive formation held steady, and Pulisic’s zeal made their work less complicated.
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Pulisic was not poor, just misguided. And on those too rare occasions when he did get himself into dangerous areas, the correct areas, his teammates did not do enough to contribute to the threat. The U.S. was not going to lose because he was out there, but there came a time when it made more sense to remove him from this predicament and allow Brenden Aaronson to complete the game.
There seems little doubt he will be in the lineup against Canada. If there was any chance he would be replaced as a starter by Aaronson — let’s be clear about this, there shouldn’t have been — that dissipated when it was revealed winger Tim Weah was unable to make the trip to Hamilton, Ontario, because he is only half-vaccinated for COVID-19. Weah contracted the illness after receiving his first shot and has not been able as yet to get the second.
Aaronson is an excellent replacement for Weah, presuming Berhalter doesn’t try to get too “creative” and insert someone like Paul Arriola, but this development does increase the imperative for Pulisic to excel.
“There’s not too many players that arrive in the penalty box with the momentum and the speed that he does,” Berhalter said. “So we have to do a good job getting him the ball. He made some great runs the other night, and, unfortunately, the crosses weren’t there.”
Pulisic's Chelsea issues spilling over to USMNT
Those who follow the sport, and this team, surely will remember the picture, the image Pulisic insisted become a part of his celebration of Chelsea‘s UEFA Champions League triumph last May.
He pulled off his Chelsea jersey after helping to finish off a victory over Manchester City to reveal a US Soccer top, which was visible as he was photographed with one of sports’ most coveted trophies.
He had not merely been a spectator in Chelsea‘s successful pursuit of that title. His team scored three goals to claim the semifinal series against Spanish power Real Madrid, and he was personally responsible for two of them.
Ever since, his own injuries, his club’s profligate pursuit of veteran striker Romelu Lukaku and the pressure to mount a Premier league title challenge against Liverpool and most especially Manchester City, have led to hopeful, if not sometimes desperate, tinkering with the lineup that has seen him stationed at positions as diverse as striker and wingback instead of his preferred place on the outside of a three-person forward line.
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“It’s tough. I haven’t always been playing in the positions I want to play in,” Pulisic told reporters Wednesday. “But I think it’s a good quality to be versatile and be able to play in all kinds of positions and have different strengths on the pitch. So, yeah, I’ve learned a lot and I think I’m ready to, hopefully, be in a spot the next couple of games that I’m more comfortable in.”
The first U.S. game on Thursday did not turn out as he hoped, except for the result. The 1-0 victory over El Salvador advanced the U.S. to 18 points, second in the standings, four points ahead of fourth-place Panama. The first three teams after 14 games — the El Salvador contest was Round 9 in CONCACAF qualifying — automatically qualify for the World Cup. So the bigger that lead grows, or the longer that cushion can remain intact, the more likely it becomes for the USMNT to qualify for Qatar 2022.
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More than any player in the U.S. squad, Pulisic is aware of the frustration that developed when the USA absorbed a stunning loss at Trinidad & Tobago in the October 2017 that led to the first empty World Cup for the Americans in three decades. He played in that game and scored the only U.S. goal. Everyone else on that field either retired from the game or no longer is a part of the national team program.
He wants this badly. He just can’t want it too badly. That’s no help.