Could The USMNT Start Without Christian Pulisic?

The US captain has been utterly awful for months now. Does that have any bearing on June?

Betteridge's Law, folks. I know I'm nerfing my own piece here, but I really couldn't think of a headline that wasn't a question.

The World Cup is now more than just on the horizon. It's looming over the buildings across the street and causing shadows to leak through the front windows. Even minor injuries now will have an effect on availability for national teams for the big dance. Hopes of form reversing before the tournament are basically forlorn, because there just isn't enough time or games in the domestic season. The players fans are seeing now, as healthy and however they're performing, are pretty much the players they're getting when the curtain lifts in the second week of June.

Which means that USMNT fans are right to be more than a tad worried about the captain of the national team, Christian Pulisic. Because he's been a Spinal Tap show for months. If I can combine movie references (because I'm an unoriginal fuck dweeb), remember the scene in Inside Out where Riley tries to play hockey for the first time in San Francisco? And her brain is so scrambled she can't even touch the puck with her stick or even stay on her skates? Yeah, that's been Pulisic since December. So basically, Mauricio Pochettino has to just get Pulisic's Joy and Sadness back to Headquarters. Except he can't really do that. He's not in charge of Pulisic's Joy and Sadness. And lord only knows what sort of fucked up islands exist in Pulisic's head. Motherfucker is from Pennsyltucky, after all.

(This is where I point out that I first saw Inside Out in the aftermath of a big breakup, and the Bing Bong scene is probably as close as I've ever been to throwing myself out a window).

The numbers don't always tell you the story in soccer, but they come pretty close for Pulisic. He hasn't scored in 2026. He has one assist in the same timeframe. It's pretty ugly. There have been the rare shoots of contribution here and there that those numbers gloss over. Against Udinese last month, Pulisic created three chances and completed the most dribbles. He was a creative force against Inter. But these are sporadic spurts of competence in a desert of utter dross.

Going beyond the stat sheet, watching Pulisic has been a chore and a half. The touch is Fezzik-like. The passes are a Pollock painting. He looks utterly miserable. The thing with Pulisic is that when he's struggling, he rarely if ever tries to simplify the game. He goes hero-ball, which only ends up with him fizzling out his team's possessions and attacks by trying to dribble through half the stadium. It leaves his teammates staring at him, trying to decide which objects in the dressing room would be best for bludgeoning him after the final whistle.

This is the version of Pulisic that will be arriving for USMNT training camp in a couple weeks. Perhaps there's hope that switching from the red and black of Milan to the red and white of the USMNT might just cause a gear change, a reset. It's a wonderful fantasy, but plans can't be made on fantasies. Then again, with the USMNT, all plans are always at least partially based on fantasy.

Pulisic's form is so wretched that the question of whether he should start on June 12th against Paraguay is absolutely justified. Which would have been unthinkable before Christmas, when Pulisic wasn't just Milan's best player, but one of the best players in Serie A.

If the USMNT was the national team it sometimes likes to pretend it is, they could seriously consider starting Pulisic on the bench. But it isn't that, and the options behind Pulisic aren't plentiful. Some will point out that when the US popped Paraguay and Uruguay in the fall, Pulisic wasn't in the squad. That's cute and all, but putting too much stock in friendlies is delusional. Yes, that sort of delusion is where we USMNT call home, but it is beneficial to step outside from time to time and have reality pistol-whip us.

Whether Poch opts for a 3-4-3 or 4-2-3-1, the idea behind both formations in midfield is the same. He wants a box in the center of the park, with two 10s and two 6s, basically. Pulisic may start from the left in a 4-2-3-1, but he tucks inside in possession to link with the rest of the midfield. So what are the other #10 options?

Weston McKennie looks set to claim one of them, as his form has been almost the perfect inverse of Pulisic's. Poch clearly doesn't trust McKennie to play deeper in midfield (nor should he), and his nose for finding openings in the opposing penalty box are too valuable not keep as close to there as possible.

The first choice after that would be Malik Tillman. Except he can't get into the Leverkusen lineup at all lately, his last start coming March 21st. His last goal or assist was January 31st. Apparently it's fucking contagious in the attacking US midfield.

Beyond that, Diego Luna is absolutely wrecking fools in MLS with RSL so far this season. We know he's a darling of Poch's do to his xDAWG. But c'mon, do you really think Poch is going to start a MLS player, even one of the best, over Christian Goddamn Pulisic in a World Cup match? A national team hires someone like Pochettino to make those kinds of decisions, but that seems a bridge too far. It would take balls the size of Europa.

Brenden Aaronson? Fuck right off. Gio Reyna probably can't stand up for 90 minutes, much less play at a World Cup level for that long. While he'll certainly make the team, he's a sub until proven otherwise.

So yeah, it's a problem. And the US's problem is the same as Milan's, who also can't really help but try and let Pulisic play through it. When he's off it, he doesn't just try to string things together, keep it simple, get into space, work himself into a match. IT'S LEROY JENKINS! The US's first two games are going to be against some pretty obstinate foes in Paraguay and Australia. Watching Pulisic Wile E. Coyote himself into the wall painted as a tunnel with the ball repeatedly is only going to raise the tension, and the US isn't so gifted that it can count on creating chance after chance. Those possession that Pulisic pisses away trying to be a one-man Mongolian horde will matter a lot.

Hopefully a switch of jerseys is a new day for Pulisic. There may not be a plan for anything else.

This is the start of some World Cup stuff, and I have some big plans for what I'll be doing for that tournament around here. Stay tuned!