United States Men’s National Team Coach Gregg Berhalter appeared today at the Volkswagen display in the 2019 Chicago Auto Show. Chicago is where the home offices of U.S. Soccer are located, and just last month Volkswagen announced a new four year sponsor partnership with the United States Soccer Federation.
So it was a natural fit for Berhalter to appear at a VW luncheon held on Media Day for America’s longest running and largest overall automobile show.
Christian Pulisic, the very talented winger who is now emerging as the new face of the USMNT, was the biggest name changing clubs in the just concluded January transfer window.
Pulisic will finish out the season with Dortmund, and then become a member of Chelsea FC this summer.
With Pulisic now moving to a club located in an English speaking country, and possessing a much larger following in the United States than BVB, the 20-year-old Pennsylvanian should see his brand grow much larger in 2019.
We asked the Stars and Stripes boss his thoughts on the Pulisic transaction and his club career situation.
“He went over to Borussia Dortmund at a very young age, and he was able to break into their first team, and now he’s transferred to Chelsea, one of the biggest clubs in the world, and I think it’s just tremendous- his development, how we’ve seen him progress as a player,” Berhalter said in a conversation exclusive to The Sports Bank.
“Playing in the Bundesliga, playing in Champions League, what we’re looking for now with Chelsea is for him to continue on with that development. It’s a big squad at Chelsea, but they also have a lot of fixtures.”
“We expect him to get on the field and compete for a position.”
“With the English speaking language, I think that will help him. The English Premier League is an exciting league, a fast league and I think it fits nicely to his game, so we’re expecting big things from him in his move to Chelsea.”
Berhalter himself has playing experience in the Premier League, and it also came in London. During 2001-02, Berhalter scored once in 19 appearances for Crystal Palace.
We asked him what advice he would give to Pulisic in regards to playing in the English capital.
“The advice I would give is just enjoy the Premier League. It’s an exciting league, the fans want to see good football.”
“They come to the games to be entertained and he’s an entertaining player, so I think it’s going to work out nicely.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.