United States men’s national team head coach Mauricio Pochettino and his coaching staff credited AC Milan for helping him get the best out of Christian Pulisic with the national team.
While Pulisic found success with the USMNT before Pochettino, and has clashed with the head coach over commitments to the Concacaf Gold Cup and summer friendlies, his status as the USMNT’s best player has never waned.
For Pochettino, that meant taking in every bit of information in order to set up the team in the best way to elevate Pulisic’s talents. When healthy, Pulisic has been in fine form for AC Milan this season, scoring four goals and two assists in six matches, before suffering an injury while representing the USMNT in October.
Although Pochettino can’t always have eyes on players across the world, his assistants furl out across the continents to keep tabs on players and check in with club coaches. Jesus Perez, the top assistant coach for the USMNT, credited a conversation with Milan coaches that influenced Pulisic’s best use.
“I remember one conversation in Milan… the [AC Milan] coach at that time said to me, ‘I feel Christian shines if he’s in this space, doing this role,“ Perez told Fox Sports. “For me, it was important to translate to Mauricio.”
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Mauricio Pochettino (left) and Christian Pulisic (right) are two key figures in bringing the USMNT success next summer. / John Dorton/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images
Although Perez, Pochettino and the USMNT leave some margin for integrating feedback from club coaches, they take into account that the regularity of patterns witnessed at the club level, compared to the international window glimpses they see.
“I’m not saying we take 100% of what they say,” Perez said. “But these guys are professionals like us. It’s super valuable that our colleagues give us their opinion. Then we consider it and evaluate it. I think in soccer, like in life, you have to be humble enough to listen to everyone and then make your own choices.”
Pulisic has played in multiple positions under Pochettino, but the USMNT arguably looked their best in a 3-4-3 formation with him on the left wing. The minutes were limited, given his injury, but overall takeaways from the October camp were positive.
Getting the best out of Pulisic and every player in the squad will be critical remaining ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Los Angeles on June 12. However, Pochettino won’t be able to draw on Pulisic this month, as the attacker only recently returned from injury. He will miss international friendlies against Paraguay and Uruguay.
The next time Pulisic could return to the USMNT is in the two-game March window, the penultimate camp before the World Cup.
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