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How much blame does Christian Pulisic deserve?
D.A. and soccer analyst JJ Devaney of the Caught Offside tackle one of the toughest questions surrounding the USMNT.
No, the loss wasn't all on Pulisic.
But after resting last summer to prepare for this World Cup, injuries once again limited his impact—and the big-game questions aren't going away.
JJ sums it up perfectly:
"Heavy lies the crown."
Is Pulisic an elite player who simply isn't suited to be the emotional centerpiece of a national team?
D.A. even compares him to Mike Trout: a phenomenal talent whose teams haven't broken through on the biggest stage.
A thoughtful conversation about leadership, expectations, and the burden of being America's biggest soccer star.
#USMNT #ChristianPulisic #WorldCup #Soccer #USSoccer
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0:00
And the Christian Pissic question is the
0:02
biggest one because he's supposed to
0:04
have been the greatest American product
0:06
we've created. If if not that at least
0:08
the best player on this team right now
0:11
>> and he was one of the worst players on
0:12
the field. Is that because we've
0:14
overhyped Pissic because we want it so
0:17
bad or because he was injured or because
0:20
he has a tendency to do this come up
0:22
small and big spots. It
0:23
>> might be all of those things. I think if
0:26
you look at Polissic's recent club form,
0:28
it hasn't been there. He scored one goal
0:30
in the calendar year and that was for
0:32
the US men's national team. It wasn't
0:33
for his club site. It didn't really work
0:35
with Allegri, his manager at AC Milan.
0:38
He had seasons, I think the season
0:40
before last for Milan where you can say,
0:43
okay, we've got one of the top three
0:46
players in Syria. There's no question he
0:49
was that good. I feel as if he does wilt
0:51
under the pressure, under the weight of
0:53
the US jersey. I do think so. Uh
0:57
it's hard to make excuses for him in
0:59
this tournament considering everything
1:01
that went before beginning last summer
1:02
with pulling out of the Gold Cup because
1:04
he wanted to be rested. He wanted to be
1:06
ready for the World Cup. How how'd that
1:08
work out? I mean, he's literally gets
1:12
injured in camp in training before the
1:15
Paraguay game and comes off. Like he was
1:17
carrying an injury into the first game,
1:19
comes off. We don't see him for the
1:20
Australia game. We see him at the end of
1:22
the Turkey game which I I think now we
1:25
need to look back on with the and be a
1:27
bit more um analytical on. I know the
1:30
team was changed out a lot but by the
1:32
end we had a lot of good players on the
1:33
field including himself. He gets rinsed
1:35
by Artiguair of of Real Madrid in the
1:37
corner in the leadup to the the winning
1:39
goal and it's a 3-2 defeat. Like we only
1:41
played one team albeit a team that was
1:44
struggling its own ex in it in its own
1:46
existential crisis Turkey. But they were
1:49
the only team in that group that you
1:51
could say they were cut above and they
1:54
beat us. Um but for but to go back to
1:57
pissic he doesn't wear the crown well
2:00
the crown
2:02
to quote Jack Nicholson from the
2:04
departed heavy lies the crown sort of
2:06
thing. He he doesn't accept the mantle
2:09
of superstar easily and you can see that
2:12
in his play. uh the first 45 minutes
2:15
against Paraguay, he was absolutely
2:17
crucial to getting Paraguay out of the
2:19
road because we've seen how sticky they
2:21
can be if you leave them in a game long
2:22
enough. Germany can tell you all about
2:24
that. Um France can tell you a little
2:27
bit about that too. So he was crucial in
2:29
doing that. But his contributions at
2:30
this World Cup, this was the World Cup
2:32
we were building to when he would be in
2:34
his peak years, 27.
2:36
This is what we the minute he came into
2:38
this program, this is the World Cup we
2:40
were we were building toward and and
2:42
this is it. He rolled his ankle. A lot
2:45
of people outside the soccer media in
2:48
the United States who have to talk about
2:49
soccer now, you know, they're talking
2:52
about him begging off the field. I give
2:54
him uh not a pass, but I give him some
2:57
understanding. It He couldn't walk. He
2:59
had to come out. This that's not
3:00
weakness. Hey, make sure you are a
3:02
subscriber to the channel. Click on this
3:04
button below and that way you never miss
3:06
a video. Click on this button because
3:08
Playda only shows up in your feed if
3:10
you're subscribed. But he is a guy who
3:13
gets injured regularly. That's been
3:15
probably the main
3:17
curb to his career at Dortmund, at
3:20
Chelsea. We really felt he was going
3:22
through a run at Milan where whatever
3:25
doctors they had in Milan were really
3:27
looking after him and those injuries
3:28
weren't a problem. But they reared their
3:29
head again in this the biggest moment
3:32
and it's terrible the way he started
3:33
that game before the injury though. Like
3:35
that's the thing. Okay, he he hobbled
3:37
out that first half was you're supposed
3:40
to be a leader on this team. you're
3:41
supposed to be the talismanic presence,
3:44
the best player. That was awful.
3:46
Absolutely awful. And that's why you you
3:48
see him in interviews. He doesn't like
3:50
interviews. He just wants to play
3:52
football. Um although he's absolutely
3:54
plastered all over this World Cup.
3:56
That's the weird thing about about World
3:58
Cups DA. And you know, we're going to
4:01
live with the ghost of Christian Pissic
4:03
now through the rest of these games
4:05
because he's got, you know, where are my
4:07
ultras advert and he's given us the what
4:10
is it? Wells Fargo debit card. It's
4:12
going to get us cash back or I don't
4:15
know. But he's he he he he doesn't go
4:17
away now. We can't move on. Every time
4:20
we see it, we're going to be gh
4:23
screaming at someone to turn the volume
4:24
down. Um so it it feels to me as if
4:30
yeah, this career that we probably put
4:32
so much hope in after the the debacle in
4:35
2018 and not qualifying for Russia.
4:38
Tim Howard said something interesting uh
4:41
on the unfiltered soccer podcast and I I
4:43
caught a clip of it there. Tim Howard,
4:46
this is called damning with faint
4:47
praise. He said, "I hope he stays off
4:49
social media, you know. I hope he's got
4:52
he can take a rest, talk to people. He's
4:54
a nice player. He's a nice player."
4:58
Nice.
5:00
That's not what we thought.
5:03
>> Nice is not what we were looking for.
5:05
>> Nice is not the best player. Look at
5:07
this. Rosa the Cat. Once again,
5:08
>> I love that. I love
5:09
>> photo bombing. Video bombing our
5:11
conversations before.
5:13
>> That was almost like a 1980s wipe. We
5:15
were We were going to the We were going
5:17
to the next scene. Uh yeah, but no, no,
5:19
no. I And I look I I do think Pulysic is
5:22
is a fine footballer. But again, I'm
5:25
using words like fine and nice. I think
5:28
I think we are reckoning with with some
5:30
of the stars we have. Dest is another
5:32
one. This guy plays at PSV. Uh has
5:38
played in the group stages of Champions
5:39
League, etc. Um
5:42
technically very very good. Uh very
5:45
quick to do his own hype reels as well.
5:47
He'll do uh he'll have something his
5:50
team will have something out within 24
5:52
hours of a PSG game where he does some
5:54
nice turns and some tricks. They'll have
5:56
a hype reel out. Uh but Dest was a
5:58
disaster. An utter disaster. Robinson
6:01
didn't look fit. Robinson had no
6:03
defending to do in any of the previous
6:05
games in this tournament. And when he
6:07
comes up against a Belgian team that's
6:08
going to push him back, he struggled to
6:10
keep possession. He struggled to do
6:11
anything on the ball. Robinson is a
6:12
Premier League main stay with Fulham.
6:15
But when you dig into those things,
6:17
Robinson's been injured almost for two
6:21
years now. Hasn't been fully fit.
6:23
Serginho Dest
6:26
Barcelona
6:27
kind of didn't want to hold on to him.
6:28
They got rid of him. ended up back in
6:30
the area divisi from where he started.
6:32
Christian Pissic struggling at AC Milan.
6:36
Um Floren Balagan really the only guy
6:38
where you're like, "Okay, I can see this
6:40
guy getting a move. This guy has been
6:42
lights out for Monaco and scored a goal
6:44
in the Champions League." There's
6:45
question marks about everybody else.
6:47
Pretty much everybody else.
6:49
>> There's a little element of Mike Trout
6:51
with Christian Pissic where we know he's
6:54
good. We know he's talented. Trout's a
6:56
Hall of Famer, but we don't associate
6:59
them with winning. We haven't seen the
7:00
winning. And like you said, heavy lies
7:01
the crown. It's like Mike Trout never
7:03
really
7:04
>> seemed to be desirous of the attention,
7:07
of the interviews, of the winning, of
7:09
the big spot and so we kind of exist in
7:12
a bit of anonymity. How disappointing or
7:15
surprising was it that they had played
7:16
so well up until this game against
7:18
Belgium and then completely melted down?
7:21
>> Oh wow. That is even that in itself is
7:24
is a question that is fraught. Look, it
7:26
was on the disappointing side. It was
7:28
super disappointing. I mean, they got
7:29
hammered. Absolutely hammered. And not
7:32
only that, they got beaten with none of
7:35
their star players turning up. In fact,
7:38
I mean, if you look at Polissic's
7:40
numbers, 13 times dispossessed, 11 times
7:44
alone in the first half. Like, he looked
7:45
dreadful. Anthony Robinson, Sergino Dest
7:48
hooked at Halime.
7:51
Just awful. So it was it was the m the
7:53
Matt Freeze mistake as well, which is
7:55
also kind of a Tim Ree mistake. Um just
7:58
dreadful. Absolutely awful. And the
8:01
vibes were so good. You know that
8:04
I feel the public at large had really
8:06
got behind the team. Country Roads was
8:09
being sung at the end of games. There
8:10
was a sense that nobody wanted this to
8:12
end. And the first serious team that we
8:16
play in a serious game and it falls
8:17
apart, it's hugely damaging. It's very
8:21
disappointing. I would say though that,
8:23
and I said it on on our review podcast
8:26
the other night, which if you're an
8:27
absolute sicko and you love misery, go
8:29
and listen to that. But directly after
8:32
the game, I did say if we're if we're to
8:34
look at the games against top European
8:36
opposition that Pochettino has has had
8:39
or or any top opposition in the recent
8:42
past for this this program. I mean, the
8:45
result tracks.
8:47
They got smashed by the same Belgian
8:49
team in Atlanta in a friendly in the
8:52
spring. Uh and they were fairly
8:54
comprehensively beaten by the
8:55
Portuguese, too. The big win that they
8:59
had over a European power at this
9:03
tournament was over Bosnia who just
9:06
aren't as good as us. The last time we
9:08
won a game against a European and I
9:10
don't power, you know what I mean? A
9:11
European side was also Bosnia in a
9:14
friendly. So
9:16
maybe maybe people like me I I'll just
9:20
throw you into the mix as well. People
9:21
like you, we've gassed this team up far
9:24
too much. Far too much. Um, I think we
9:27
have nice players. I do think that if
9:30
you take a longer view of it that the
9:32
program has come on in leaps and bounds,
9:34
but right here, right now, that is such
9:36
a disappointing way to exit a tournament
9:39
against a side that, let's be honest, we
9:41
all had question marks over. I mean,
9:43
this team, this Belgian team was
9:45
minutes, five minutes away from
9:46
elimination against Sagal. Somehow
9:49
pulled it out of the bag with some help
9:51
from the Seneagalles goalkeeper. Um,
9:53
they didn't look good against Iran. The
9:56
only big win that they had was in the
9:59
group stage was against New Zealand, who
10:02
we'd like to think were better than New
10:03
Zealand, and now we have to ask
10:05
questions about everything, I guess. Um,
10:08
yeah, so disappointing. Just so
10:10
disappointing.
10:10
>> There's a lot of reasons why
10:12
expectations were higher this time
10:13
around. For me, home field advantage was
10:15
a huge part. We've seen host nations
10:17
just make runs that probably they
10:19
wouldn't make otherwise. The draw was
10:21
really great. The group that they got
10:23
was really great. They looked really
10:24
great in the first two games that they
10:26
played and ultimately you kind of
10:29
thought at the very least they were
10:30
going to have a fighting chance against
10:31
Belgium with that incredible Seattle
10:33
crowd. It just didn't happen. But as you
10:35
said the FIFA rankings would suggest
10:37
that this is kind of the pecking order
10:39
here against the Bosnia Herzuggovenas
10:41
which are ranked in the 60s in the FIFA
10:43
World Rankings which are not law but
10:44
give you some context. We're better than
10:46
we're ranked number 15 or 16 or
10:48
something like that. against Belgium
10:50
who's a top 10 team. We're decidedly
10:52
worse then. Caught offside podcast. It's
10:55
phenomenal. Andrew Gundling and JJ
10:58
Deanni are all over it. They've been
10:59
doing a pod basically every day here the
11:01
last couple of days. Check it out. All
11:03
places of the podcast are available and
11:05
on YouTube as well.
11:07
>> What is your prediction for the
11:08
championship?
11:09
>> Oh my god.
11:11
Um,
11:13
so as we as we sit here now and I look
11:16
for the team that's impressed me the
11:17
most without having played necessarily
11:20
the best teams. I know they had Sagal in
11:23
their opening game and that first half
11:25
was was pretty tough for them, but the
11:27
French
11:28
the French to me are uh they're they're
11:31
everything you want from this tournament
11:33
in terms of they're good at the back
11:35
defensively, solid midfield, and they
11:36
have an attack that just you want to see
11:39
Michael Elise get on the ball. You, as
11:42
Andrew pointed out, it was so funny.
11:43
Everyone loves the French attack and the
11:45
way that they play football so much.
11:47
Kian, Mbappe, Oise, Barklay, Due, Osman,
11:50
Dembele, all these guys that you love
11:53
them so much and they're a Goliath that
11:56
you hated the David that was Paraguay.
11:59
It was the complete role reversal. You
12:01
were like Paraguay were doing anything
12:02
within their power and beyond legal
12:05
powers to try and stop France and
12:08
everyone was like h you know. Yeah.
12:11
Crazy the Bible.
12:12
>> Yeah.
12:13
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's like and like why
12:15
should Paraguay let the French play?
12:17
Like what? Like it just it just felt so
12:19
strange. But this French side is is
12:21
glorious. Um now they haven't really
12:26
they're about to run into a top side in
12:28
Morocco. That's going to be fascinating
12:29
with all the cultural crossover and
12:32
colonial crossover between these two
12:33
sides. That's going to be fascinating.
12:35
Um so I'm really looking forward to
12:36
that. But at the moment the French are
12:38
the ones. I think there's a team of I
12:42
can't believe it because we thought they
12:43
were the team of destiny when Messi
12:44
finally lifted it in Qatar four years
12:47
ago. There's somehow a feel of destiny
12:49
about Argentina with the way they're
12:51
playing that the close run game against
12:54
Capo Verde which everyone was like what
12:56
a game and then yesterday the highly
13:01
>> I mean they were two-0 down to to Egypt
13:04
somehow found their way back. They could
13:05
have been 3-0 down and the Egyptian
13:07
manager was not very pleased with with
13:09
the some of the VAR decisions on the
13:11
field, but they got back into it and
13:13
they won the game in the end in the most
13:15
dramatic fashion. So maybe there's
13:16
something about Argentina. Spain are are
13:18
just simmering. They're just simmering
13:20
and England are beginning to round into
13:22
they had such a heartening win in the
13:24
Aztec Stadium over Mexico. England are
13:26
not perfect, but they haven't been in
13:28
years and they're still making finals.
13:30
I'm going to say it's the French. I
13:33
think there's going to have to be a
13:34
special special team to stop them. I
13:36
wonder if Sibari being injured for
13:37
Morocco means that Morocco won't be that
13:39
team.
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