Talking Tactics: Christian Pulisic's USMNT inconsistency isn't surprising - it’s just who he is

First, it's worth looking at the stats. The 2024-25 campaign was, by some distance, the best of the American's career. The numbers were better than they had ever been. The quality of play was higher. He tallied 20 goals and assists in the league, good for fourth in Italy's top flight. Loop in the Champions League and various cup competitions, and that number balloons to 27. There was no better player for Milan, and there were very few who were more effective in Serie A as a whole.

And then, the momentum sort of stopped. In fairness, with hindsight, and if you're in a forgiving mood, Pulisic had every right to skip the Gold Cup last summer. He needed what former USMNT striker Charlie Davies described as both a physical and a mental break from football. Pulisic had delivered his best season, and with an exhausting 12-plus months to come, missing a sole competition with little on the line was far from a criminal offense.

In the early months of this campaign, he showed why a summer of individual training might have done him some good. Max Allegri's tactics were confusing at first - he used Pulisic as a second striker in a 3-5-2, but they worked. Pulisic scored and assisted in bunches to open the season. The Rossoneri were in the title conversation early on, and Pulisic was part of the reason. The vibes were, all said, rather good.

And then the Pulisic thing started to happen. He picked up a knock against Australia in October's international window and went on to miss four games for his club. Three weeks later, he missed another game with "muscular problems." All said, from Oct. 14 to Feb. 18, Pulisic managed just seven starts in all competitions, and came off the bench in a further seven games. During that stretch, he found the net just once, bagging in a 3-0 win over Hellas Verona on Dec. 28.

So, as the year began, the goals dried up. And in some cases, it's relatively easy to see why. At times, Pulisic just wasn't getting attempts off on goal. Outside of a frustrating one in which Milan toiled to a 1-1 draw against a Genoa that didn't seem eager to play football, Pulisic managed eight shots. Only two were on target, while the team as a whole registered 32 attempts.

Otherwise, though, this year has been a story of a player being a little bit less clinical than he is used to. He put three shots on goal against Parma. None of them went in, and Milan lost 1-0 (Pulisic managed an hour before being removed - presumably a planned substitution). Only one of three went on target against Cremonense. A tight 1-0 win over Inter was remarkably unwatchable for all parties. Pulisic had one half-chance and put it a yard wide.

A 1-0 loss to Lazio offered some real concern. Pulisic played well, for the most part. No attacking player had more touches or created more chances. Pulisic was clean on the ball and linked up effectively in and around the Lazio box. He had five shots. Two were blocked. Two went wide. And another was saved. Early-season Pulisic might have been a bit more clinical.

And there were some off-field issues there, too. In the 66th minute, Pulisic should have slipped Rafa Leao through on goal. The American opted not to, and Leao, who was subbed a minute later, went off in a strop. Rumors soon started of a dispute between Milan's two best attacking players.And even if they were quashed, Pulisic did himself little credit by failing to make a pass that felt obvious in the moment.

There is a concept in basketball where a struggling player is encouraged to "Shoot out of a slump." Your best player is missing his shots? Shoot more, and he will come good. After a miserable showing against Belgium, Pochettino took that approach with Pulisic against Portugal.

In a confusing tactical move, the manager tried using Pulisic as a No. 9 with no real other advanced attackers near him. It was a puzzling decision for a number of reasons. Primarily, Pulisic likes to float around to the right and to the left. He is many things, but he is certainly not a central presence. And secondly, it made little sense given the squad Pochettino has at his disposal. In effect, the U.S. have three different types of No.9. They have Folarin Balogun, the runner; Ricardo Pepi, the poacher, and Patrick Agyemang, the target man.

All three of them can occupy central areas and create space for those around them - with and without the ball. If the manager wanted to change things tactically, perhaps a better usage of his squad might have been to bench Balogun, which he did, and then start one of Pepi or Agyemang to allow for Pulisic to make runs of a more static central presence.

But no, Pochettino deployed Pulisic centrally, arguing that it would make it easier for his star man to get into the right areas. And Pulisic clearly had license to shoot. His link-up play more or less disappeared. In 45 minutes, Pulisic completed just 12 passes. He didn't create a single chance. He managed three shots, the closest of which was fired a yard wide from outside the box. In truth, he really could have been sent off, too, after picking up a silly yellow card and following it with another strong challenge. If this was the "bring Pulisic back" game, then it wasn't the most effective way of going about it.

Yet despite all of that, it is rather easy to believe Pulisic when he says his moment will come. For all of the criticisms that can be directed towards the USMNT's star player, his penchant for a big moment simply cannot be ignored. He has scored big goals against Inter and Liverpool. He registered an assist in the FA Cup final against Arsenal, running through the midfield and squaring to an open teammate, all in excruciating pain after tearing his hamstring on the play.

For the U.S., there is similar evidence. A late penalty sealed a win against Mexico in the Nations League. He bagged a vital goal at the 2022 World Cup to beat Iran. He scored the U.S.'s first goal at Copa America in 2024.

In effect, with Pulisic, you just have to accept that there are moments of struggle in between. And perhaps that's acceptable. The truly elite of global football - the one percent - score and assist when they're not playing well. They have a certain air of inevitability about them, week in, week out. Pulisic isn't like that. There are times when he is legitimately among the best attacking players in the world. And there are times when he looks pretty average. The end product - something that is not always guaranteed, anyway - sometimes just evades him for weeks on end.

The U.S., then, need to have a little faith. They did not lose against Portugal and Belgium because Pulisic didn't score. But the fact that he didn't find the net makes those losses look a little bit worse. In truth, none of this matters all that much. Pochettino is still experimenting. The U.S. didn't deserve to win either friendly. All that does count is that Pulisic is fit, firing, and ready for the big moment when it comes.