The duo discounted the significance of their conflict, as convincing international break put a turbulent summer in the past
Christian Pulisic needed a moment. He had been excellent against Japan, running the game in a performance he would later dub the best for the USMNT under Mauricio Pochettino. But this is a results-based sport, and all of the pretty turns, nice passes and deft dribbles in the world can't beat a cold, hard stat.
And after an hour, it looked as it would never come. Pulisic had done everything right except, well, materially impact the game.
Finally, fortunately, that singular moment came. It was the kind of thing he has done so many times on a football pitch: a turn away from a defender, drop of the shoulder, charge forward, poked pass. Folarin Balogun delivered the finish, sealing the USMNT's 2-0 win. But Pulisic got the assist, and it really was goal. Balogun careened away in celebration – this was big for him, too.
Pulisic, meanwhile, celebrated in his own right, a casual punch of the air, and an expression of relief. Balogun wanted the goal. Pulisic the assist.
And so we can finally all be friends again. This summer was chaotic on so many levels. Pulisic did something entirely reasonable in sitting out of the Gold Cup, but left himself open for criticism from the largely hyperbolic masses. Yet with 70 minutes of excellent work – and one fine assist – he went a long way torward burying it all.
No, it's not done yet. Yes, there might still be some residual chatter here. But the U.S. has its star man back, and for all of the hot air directed toward Pulisic, the human being, Pulisic, the footballer, makes this team infinitely better.
His return couldn't be more welcome.
Getty ImagesWhat a summer it was
The broad idea here has always been that, at some point, Pulisic would have the chance to let his game do the talking. This is the curse and benefit, of course, of having a transcendent star. Pulisic is too good to bench. Pochettino was going to have to call him back in. The challenge for the player was to prove that his impact was worth burying the hatchet.
And what a summer it was. Pulisic decided that he didn't fancy playing in the Gold Cup. Fine. He was then told that he couldn't play in the pre-Gold Cup friendlies, despite his offer to do so. Sure. It could have ended there, but there were podcasts and counter-podcasts, contrasting opinions from the guys who are, perhaps, just a little bit jealous that their version of the USMNT never got this level of attention.
By the time Tim Howard, Landon Donovan, Alexi Lalas and many more had stretched out a non-issue into weeks, it all just seemed a bit petulant. Of course, Pulisic played his role here. There is such a thing as moral high ground, and Pulisic could have taken it. There would have been, in theory, little harm in shutting up.
That is not allowed, because content has to happen. Pulisic had a dig back, explained himself, and then complained in his high-profile documentary. There was scattered speculation that Pulisic might not even make the September roster. Pochettino didn't commit either way.
AdvertisementGetty Images'I haven't talked with Christian'
It was, then, something of a relief when the roster came out and Pulisic was on it. Pochettino made the right choice. He enjoyed his summer of control and clarity. Now, it seemed, it was back to reality for the Argentine. He had to loosen the reins a little bit.
The ensuing days after the roster drop served, effectively, as a showcase of how to assert authority as a head coach. He played everything as simply as possible. Yes, he and Pulisic were buddies again. No, there was no real falling out. And, perhaps most enlighteningly, no, they had not talked.
That seemed admittedly odd. If there was a feud between the two highest profile figures in American men's soccer, why hadn't they figured it out behind the scenes? Does he not talk to his guys regularly?
Pochettino had an answer there, too. There was, if his words were to be believed, never any drama in the first place.
"I haven't talked with Christian," Pochettino said upon on the roster release, "but I think we have nothing to talk about. It's all behind us, everything that happened in the summer. And I think we all need to look forward. We have a plan for every single player, and the plan for Christian now is to call him and to see him in this camp."
Yet for all of Pochettino's good vibes, there was still an ominous sense about this whole thing. How much would Pulisic play? Would he start? Would he be allowed to go all 90? He could only manage 30 minutes of Milan's final game before the international break. There was talk that he had a knock that limited his participation. Would that carry over?
No one had any real, substantive answers there, either. Pochettino wouldn't give away his team – why should he?
Getty Images SportA South Korean disappointment
South Korea, then, seemed a decent platform for a little Pulisic redemption. When the lineup came out last weekend, everything seemed very Pulisic-coded. This was his ideal platform: a couple of defensive midfielders behind him, a No. 10 to link up with and a wide player to feed. Josh Sargent might not be the answer at striker, but Pulisic, at least, had a No. 9 to play off.
He wasn't quite a disaster. But he may as well have been. The USMNT were outcoached and outplayed by the Koreans, who knew exactly how to exploit Pochettino's 4-3-3 in attack, and see them off in defense. Pulisic ended up playing hero ball in the end, asking for it when he wasn't open, dribbling into lanes that didn't exist, and taking shots that weren't on.
His pass completion percentage was low. He completed just one of five dribbles, connected on none of his crosses, and cut a frustrated figure throughout. There wasn't a meltdown. This wasn't a total nightmare of a performance. But it just wasn't very good. The U.S. lost 2-0, and deserved the result in full.
Pulisic didn't speak to the media before or after last Saturday's match – thereby continuing a worrying trend. Social media overeacted, while the slew of usual talking heads criticized Pochettino's roster, lineup and tactical decisions, and the team as a whole for perceived lack of effort.
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(C)Getty ImagesTriumph(ish) against Japan
That made Tuesday's match against Japan so much more important – even if it already felt a little seismic. The day before the gae, Pochettino gave an emotional "we know what we are doing" news conference in which he addressed his side's poor string of results – he had only won nine of 17 matches as U.S. manager entering the Japan game.
His view was that final scores didn't necessarily matter. The World Cup did.
"We need to start to win when the World Cup starts,” he said. “Too many examples of teams that win during [prior] years and then arrive at the World Cup, and they don’t arrive in the best condition.”
But that, somehow, added pressure. If Pochettino was making so much noise about tactics beforehand, then whatever system he deployed better work. The U.S. were given a leg up by Japan's team sheet.
The benched all of their big names after putting out a full strength side against Mexico a few days before (the irony that seems to have been missed is that the visitors clearly saw Mexico as a far more significant threat than the USMNT).
And of course, things ended up looking pretty decent. A groovy back three – treated as a tactical revolution of the like never seen in soccer before – gave the U.S. a little more balance. Pulisic was given freedom to roam around and do fun things with the ball. He popped up left, right and center.
The assist to Balogun was a wonderful thing, but through 65 minutes of work he really could have found the net once or twice in his own right. The U.S. won 2-0. Pulisic was the best player on the pitch. Drama over?