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Analysis
- 9 May 2026
Major concerns for the USMNT as Christian Pulisic's form takes a nosedive ahead of the World Cup
27 Apr 2026 12:15 CDT |
5 min read
News
The pressure will be on the United States Men's National Team and head coach Mauricio Pochettino to perform on home soil this summer at the 2026 World Cup.
The tournament takes place across the United States, Canada and Mexico and, as one of the hosts, the US are expected to make an impact and progress at least until the first knockout stage.
They have been drawn in Group D alongside Australia, Paraguay and Turkiye which is probably one of the tougher groups, while there is apprehension heading into the competition after two demoralising friendly losses - 5-2 versus Belgium and 2-0 versus Portugal.
What will also be a cause for concern is the form of star player, Christian Pulisic.
He's the golden boy of American soccer and is the squad member with the most pressure on his shoulders heading into the World Cup due to his status as a player for one of the biggest clubs in Europe, AC Milan.
The former Chelsea forward started the season off superbly, too, with four goals and two assists in his first five Serie A games. He recovered well from a hamstring injury in October that saw him miss four games to score twice against Torino and then, crucially, the winner in the Milan derby versus Inter in November.
Unfortunately for Pulisic, his form has went off a cliff in 2026 as he hasn't found the back of the net in the league for 17 games stretching back to 28 December against Hellas Verona.
The American and Rafael Leao have been deployed as a two-man strikeforce in a 3-5-2 formation by head coach Massimiliano Allegri and neither player is suited to it, it seems.
While Milan have the best defence in Serie A this season, finding the back of the net has been an issue and the lack of guile and ruthlessness in the final third was on display again as the Rossoneri and Juventus played out an insipid 0-0 draw on Sunday.
Worryingly for the USMNT team, the goal drought is getting to Pulisic.
“Christian is a very sensitive man and this drought is hitting him harder," Allegri said post-match.
"He is also someone who struggles more with the physicality of duels and the lack of a centre-forward, but I must try to give a balance to this team, as we have an objective to achieve.
“I realise he is not entirely suited to this, I had asked him to play centre-right tonight and Leao centre-left, so we were without a centre-forward. Rest assured, by the end of the season Pulisic will have given his contribution."
Effort isn't an issue as he regularly posts impressive running distance stats, so it's either the quality or the confidence and both of those are a cause for thought for the USMNT.
Christian Pulisic is not the commanding captain the USMNT 'wants or needs'
Former USMNT star Alexi Lalas does not believe that the current squad has any standout candidates for the captain role for the 2026 World Cup and thinks Pulisic is unsuited to that responsibility.
The United States have a bit of a leadership void in their team at the moment as the squads have had a few captains recently including veteran Tim Ream, Chris Richards and Pulisic.
Ream, at 38, is the older statesman of the squad but there are concerns whether he will even feature in the World Cup next year due to his advancing years, though he did feature in the last international break.
Lalas reckons the current squad lacks "Bad Boys" akin to that infamous Detroit Pistons NBA team of the late 80s and early 90s.
"I don't think that Christian Pulisic is the captain that this team needs or that this team wants," the former United States centre-back said on the State of the Union podcast.
"The problem is, who else is there? Who's coming around the bend? Nobody. And of the existing players, either they're not quite there yet, a la Chris Richards. I don't want Weston McKennie being the captain. That's not going to work. Tyler Adams, I think it was always kind of predestined that he was going to be that, and yet he hasn't really grown into that. I'm sure if he was sitting here, he would bristle at me illustrating it like that.
"The notion that your best player is not necessarily equipped to be a captain is nothing new. We have seen it over the years and it is completely valid ...That doesn't mean he doesn't have passion. Oftentimes, it's not necessarily the best player; it's not necessarily the person who has done the most in their career. It's not even necessarily somebody that's larger than life. And oftentimes you have to be able to take a step away and say, 'This is what's good for the team.'
"But I just don't think that this team has a captain that would qualify on the 'Bad Boys' of the Detroit Pistons. In this group, there just there isn't one like that."
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