Pioli on Pulisic: 'His Attitude Is Fantastic' 🇮🇹🇺🇸

THERE’S AN OLD FAN VIDEO that’s making the rounds again of Christian Pulisic 🇮🇹 (25; Hershey, PA) during his Chelsea days. In the recycled TikTok, the USMNT star is walking with his mother on the streets of London, being followed by some Blues fans. The Chelsea supporters are mostly polite with the player and his mom — one of the fans trailing behind hilariously calls out, “Puli! I’m American broooooo!” in an effort to get his attention — but to the outsider it certainly looks as though Pulisic was uncomfortable with the situation, and wanted to find transport off the street as quickly as possible. His mother capably handles the situation, getting Christian to sign a female fan’s shirt before they drive off, but in hindsight the video feels like a perfect encapsulation of his time in West London. Even when things were going “well,” there was always an edge of unsettlement lurking just beneath the surface.

It’s interesting to view the video now, and compare it to how things are going for him with AC Milan. Things could not be any more different for CP11, in fact. He has a coach who loves him, a fan base that worships him, and a squad full of supportive teammates around him. If the same video were to be shot today, Puli would likely stop in his tracks and willingly autograph any kits presented to him.

As he did in this lovely video, shot on Saturday, in which he stops to sign a young Milan fan’s shirt. The moment came on the heels of Pulisic scoring a left-footed wonder strike that wound up being the winner in a 3-0 victory over Lecce (Watch); a goal so good that it had the San Siro chanting his name in unison afterwards.

With 13 goals and eight assists, Pulisic is having the finest season of his professional career, and has emerged as a lead-by-example player for the Rossoneri, something that manager Stefano Pioli discussed after the win over Lecce.

“He doesn’t talk very much, but it’s the attitude that shines through from a person,” said Pioli. “His attitude is fantastic, he is an exemplary professional and hard worker who will help the team to get stronger.”

Pulisic’s performance even seemed to elicit a reflective side of Pioli, who recalled his first video chat with the American international.

"I’ve had many video calls to explain the playing style and I rarely get the wrong sensation from the players,” said the Milan manager. “I knew Pulisic’s quality, but when we talked on a video call, I sensed something very positive. He was very eager, curious, interested in everything I had to say.”

Between the love from the fans, his manager, and even the club social media admin, who worked up a hilarious Total Eclipse of the Pulisic video for the club TikTok, it should probably come as no surprise that Milan are reportedly interested in signing CP11 to a 12-month extension that would keep him at the San Siro through 2028 instead of 2027. 

Would seem to be a wise move for both player and club.

Americans in the Championship:

Three Championship clubs are making late Premier League promotion pushes, thanks to the play of a trio of USMNT players in England.

Josh Sargent 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (24; O’Fallon, MO) scored his 15th goal of the season — in just 22 games — in Norwich City’s 2-2 draw at Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday (Watch). The goal was Sargent’s 10th since the beginning of February, more than any other player in the top two tiers of English football. The away point keeps the Canaries in the final playoff promotion spot, five points clear in sixth place with four matches left to play.

Trailing them in seventh place is Coventry City, led by Haji Wright 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (26; Los Angeles, CA), who scored his 17th goal of the season on Saturday in the Sky Blues’ 2-1 win over Leeds United (Watch). Trailing Norwich City by five points — although they do have a match in hand — Coventry will be hard pressed to catch the Canaries for the final promotion playoff spot, but given Wright’s heroics for club and country this season (see: FA Cup winner, US brace against Jamaica), it’s tough to write them off completely.

Trailing Coventry on goal differential only are Preston North End, who pulled off a 4-1 win on Tuesday thanks to a Duane Holmes 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (29; Columbus, GA) assist on the match-winner (Watch). After a hot start to the season that saw Holmes score three times in his first seven matches, the PNE midfielder cooled off a bit before rediscovering his form as of late, with a goal and an assist in his last three starts, all wins. Holmes has four goals and five assists for the season.

News and Notes:

• A truly amazing moment for Lennard Maloney 🇩🇪 (24; Berlin, GER) and FC Heidenheim, as the Bundesliga newcomers beat Bayern Munich for the first time in club history on Saturday, sparking wild scenes at the Voith-Arena. Maloney played every minute of the 3-2 win. 💪

• Auston Trusty 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (25; Media, PA) has started Sheffield United’s last two matches at left wing back, including going 87 minutes in the Blades’ inspiring 2-2 draw with Chelsea on Sunday. Could make him an intriguing option for Gregg this summer, as Trusty can now theoretically provide cover for Jedi at left back.

• Tyler Adams 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (25; Wappingers Falls, NY) was not in the lineup for Bournemouth’s 2-1 loss at Luton Town on Saturday. The good news? Manager Andoni Iraola said it was due to back spasms, and had nothing to do with his previously injured hamstring.

• Malik Tillman 🇳🇱 (21; Nürnberg, GER) had two assists in PSV’s 5-1 win against AZ Alkmaar on Saturday. Sergiño Dest 🇳🇱 (23; Almere, NED) contributed one as well, as Pepi, Dest and Tillman have now been involved in 37 goals for the Dutch leaders so far this season. 🙌

• Emmanuel Sabbi 🇫🇷 (26; Libertyville, IL) scored a vital penalty for Le Havre in their 1-1 draw with Lens on Saturday, before hitting the backflip cele (Watch). Manu’s goal keeps Le Club Doyen two points above the relegation zone with six games to play.

• Huge congrats to Jose Gallegos 🇩🇰 (22; San Antonio, TX) for being named Sønderjyske Player of the Month in Denmark. Gallegos has five goals and two assists this season for SE, who are currently in second place in the Danish second tier.

• A key cog in a Genk side that’s currently still in the title hunt in Belgium, USMNT center back Mark McKenzie 🇧🇪 (25; Bear, DE) has recently been linked with a move to West Ham. Jonathan Spector II: Electric Boogaloo. 😉⚒️

• Bournemouth owner Bill Foley 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (Austin, TX) sat down with Sky to talk about becoming a Premier League owner, and why he bought the Cherries (Watch).

• Brenden Aaronson 🇩🇪 (23; Medford, NJ) did a surprisingly in-depth on-field interview with the excellent Archie Rhind-Tutt, discussing how the season with Union Berlin has gone for him so far.

Parting Shots:

Assuming all goes according to plan, J.J. Watt and wife Kealia Watt are set to become the first player-owners in Americans Abroad history. The couple, who are minority owners in Burnley FC, announced on Wednesday that they will take the pitch for the men’s and women’s sides, respectively, in The Soccer Tournament, a seven-a-side, $1 million, winner-take-all tourney being held in Cary, N.C. from June 5-10. Speaking to The Athletic, J.J. confirmed he will be captaining the Clarets, saying, “We are both highly competitive individuals, so we’ll be giving it our all in claret and blue.” He also replied to our Instagram post, saying “Ref doesn’t have enough red cards in his pocket to handle me.” Respect to any ref who has the guts to issue a red to the legendary NFL defender.