Chelsea FC and USMNT star Christian Pulisic gave a wide ranging interview with ESPN on the same day that he opened a new training facility, which he funded, at his youth club. The interview covered Pulisic’s reflecting on recent accomplishments and challenges with both club and country.
On the club level, he’s said that he’s well aware that he’s got some things to work on. He knows it was an up and down, injury-riddled season that saw a drop in form. However, he did truly finish strong. The Hershey, PA native strives to be more consistent, and with that, gain a larger role.
“There’s a lot of things that I can continue to work on,” he said.
“I just need to be more consistent, to help my team when I get the chance. And I think if I do that consistently, obviously, I’ll get my minutes and get my time.”
In sticking with the Premier League and England theme, Pulisic went on the Dan Patrick Show this past week, where showed off his best attempt at an English accent. You can watch that video here.
Shifting over to the international side, Pulisic and company beat their biggest rival, Mexico, Sunday in the CONCACAF Nations League final.
The 22-year-old played a major role in the victory, as he won a penalty and then converted that spot kick, which turned out to be the game winner.
“It was a massive, massive game for us just to show CONCACAF what we’re about, and I think it was the first time we’ve really had all this group of players together,” Pulisic continued, as he assessed the game that saw him win his first trophy with the Stars and Stripes.
“I think it just gives us a lot of confidence moving towards qualifiers and things coming up, and I think that is something we really needed.”
Absolutely, cannot agree more! The USA suffered a major blow by not qualifiying for the last World Cup, and that is an ugly taste that needs to be washed out of their mouth.
Sunday night was a wild, crazy trophy game win which emotions ran very high on both sides. Emerging victorious there was HUGE! But now the real test comes this fall when the USA starts playing World Cup Qualifiers.
Between now and then, the man who wears No. 10 for both Chelsea and the USA will have some enjoyable, and well deserved time off. He went straight from the UEFA Champions League to the CONCACAF Nations League with no rest, winning silverware with both.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.