The USMNT’s loss to Belgium on Monday night was brutal for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the uncertain future of star winger Christian Pulisic.
Once again in the 4-1 drubbing, Pulisic made little to no impact and left the game in the second half with an injury.
The performance was enough to prompt former USMNT star and Fox Sports analyst Landon Donovan to question Pulisic’s ability to perform in big spots and to call Him out for leaving the game to nurse his injury.
“I’m starting to look back and … it’s more than just a trend now. It is,” Donovan said Tuesday morning on his podcast Unfiltered Soccer. “Like, when the games are easy, and it’s a home qualifier, and it’s Jamaica, yes. But in the big moments and the big games, he just hasn’t. … I’m just saying it factually. He is who he is at this point.”
Donovan added that unless Pulisic had a severe injury, he should never have allowed himself to be subbed out.
“This was a game where you needed him to go, ‘Give me the ball, I’m gonna stick it in the back of the net, it’s 2-2, let’s go.’ And he just didn’t. And he wasn’t even close to it,” Donovan said.
“And in fact … there’s reporting that he asked to get subbed out of the game. I can’t confirm that, so I don’t know if that’s true or not. But the reality is, he came out of a World Cup knockout game at home, with his leg still intact. Because … you would have had to f*cking drag me off the field. And I would have punched the doctor in the face and said, ‘You’re not taking me off the field. Put whatever you need to put in me, and I’m staying on the field.'”
Donovan also recalled the controversy last summer around Pulisic sitting out the Concacaf Gold Cup tournament to rest, noting that Pulisic’s perspective at the time was that that decision would allow him to be at his best for the World Cup.
While Donovan said Pulisic played decently against Paraguay and Bosnia, his form was not good enough for the rest of what was the biggest World Cup ever for the USMNT.
“He took the time off in the Gold Cup so that he would be ready for this season. And he would be fit and healthy and firing on all cylinders. And the reality is, he’s scored one goal since December,” Donovan said. “He’s not played well for the national team, not played well for Milan … and he’s been injured.”
Donovan said he was not trying to pile on to Pulisic, but shared a story from his own USMNT playing days, when Donovan claims he played on a torn hamstring in a 2010 match against Ghana.
“It’s just really hard for me to fathom,” Donovan said. “And again, he didn’t help himself with his post-match interview where he just said something like, ‘I just sprained my ankle, but now I have time to rest so it will be OK.’ And I’m just like … that’s not the way I would have approached it, but OK.”
With American legends like Donovan and Carli Lloyd sharply acknowledging the reality of Pulisic’s struggles, the player heavily promoted as the future of the USMNT seemingly has a long road ahead before the 2030 World Cup.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.