The US is perhaps the sports and athletics capital of the world. However, it’s no secret that they have historically failed to produce top, world-renowned footballing talent that rivals several other footballing countries. And it’s probably not a stretch to say that that has had an effect on the general popularity of football there.
Which brings us to the purpose of this video. The US has produced good players over the years. Don’t get me wrong. But perhaps, none have had as much hype surrounding them as Christian Pulisic.
A player, that while still being a bit raw and by no means the finished product, is a lot better than many people give him credit for.
A player at the forefront of what seems to be a golden generation for the US.
And, most significantly, because of his nationality, age, background and potential, he’s quite possibly in one of the most unique positions from an influential perspective that we’ve seen in a footballer in recent years.
For that reason, I thought it would be really interesting to briefly take a look at two things in this video: Firstly- Christian Pulisic, the player. Is he really that good? Or is the hype machine doing a lot of leg work for him. And secondly, Christian Pulisic, the symbol. At a glance what does he mean to America and why is he in such a unique position?
Table of Contents
Early days
Pulišić, which is unsurprisingly is not a native American name, has it’s roots in Croatia – The birthplace of his grandfather. However, the man refers to himself as Pulisc, so we’re gonna stick to that. Born in 1998, in Hershey Pennsylvania, everything seemed to fall in place extremely fast for him.
With a mother who played high level football in college and a father, who played at a professional level in the 90s, his taking to the sport was all but inevitable.
His family moved around a bit in his younger years, and he even found himself in the UK, living in Oxfordshire for a year. In an amongst all of this, we somehow got this picture, taken in 2010, when Pulisic was about 11 years old. That’s Mason Mount, by the way. Did I hear someone say “destiny”? Must be hearing things.
Dortmund
Anyway, before long, Borussia Dortmund came knocking, enlisting him in the Youth Academy at 16.
As we all know, Borussia Dortmund as an organisation typically has an insane eye for young talent. So it should come as no surprise that Christian Pulisic did not disappoint. Not only is the man a fast, agile and quick footed attacker. But the guy can dunk at just 5ft8. That is really impressive.
He started out with the u17s. Then shortly after that, was fast tracked to the u19s. Then shortly after that, first team coach, Thomas Tuchel reportedly said “Christian, my boy- it is time”. Okay, I made that quote up. But in my mind, that’s what he said.
A first team player at just 17 years old, the age of record breaker Pulisic was upon us. Here’s a quick breakdown showing just how much of a wonderkid the guy was not too long ago.
Youngest non-German to score in the Bundesliga. Youngest player to represent Dortmund in European Competition. Youngest American to score in the Champions league and youngest Champions league goal scorer for Dortmund.
More notable performances and a DFB Pokal winners medal came his way not too long after that, but the record breaking didn’t end there.
Onto the US national team and he became the youngest to start a World cup qualifier for America. Youngest American scorer in the qualifiers, and later, the youngest to captain the national team at only 20.
Knowing all of that, it’s easy to understand where all the hype was coming from. All signs pointed towards one thing. Generational talent. (billboard)
Chelsea
So hardly anyone was shock when Chelsea showed their interest in the then 21 year old in 2019 However, what was shocking was the price tag. £58 million. As we’ve seen thus far in this video, he was a good player. But damn man. Almost 60 mil? Oh also, this broke the record for the most paid for an American. Of course.
Just a reminder that this was in a post Neymar, Dembele, Coutinho transfer world, so prices for top talent were been blown up to insane proportions by the time Pulisic was on the move. Nonetheless, this was an open invitation for the doubters.
And even further to that, he was coming into squad hot off the heels of Eden Hazard. Who, coincidentally, had his best season in a Chelsea shirt before going off to Madrid.
Now, Pulisic obviously wasn’t brought in to replace Hazard. Maybe in the longterm, sure. But even then, we’re talking about the very long term. He was only 20, after all.
In any case, fast forward to the present day, 3 years into his Premier League career, and I rate he’s been pretty good. 22 goals and 18 assists in 103 appearances in the auxiliary role he plays in, a Champions League and a club world cup uh is decent, to say the least.
His off the ball movement and darting runs are often fantastic; his dribbling can be a lot to deal with and his first touch often sets him up very well.
Having said that, I must say, he is still very inconstant and tends to rack up a fair amount of injuries. And for that, I because of that, I feel he has yet to truly follow through with the potential that he showed in his younger years.
But again, he’s only 23 and still has time.
Regardless, that only covers half of what this video is about. Let’s move onto Pulisic, the symbol.
Pulisic the Symbol
Trigger warning for anyone that this effects, but I’m about to interchange between soccer and football a bit.
According to a survey conducted in late 2021 by Statista, Soccer is the 4th most popular sport in the United States. And by quite some distance too. But this chart isn’t all that discouraging as not too long ago, NHL held that spot.
And behind these numbers lies an ever-increasing fan base for the sport. According to a study conducted by Nielsen Scarborough research, between 2012 and 2018, soccer saw a 27% increase in interest in the sport from individuals aged 18 and above.
The US woman’s national team absolutely demolished the competition in the 2019 World Cup and drew more eyes from the US than the 2018 men’s final did.
And onto our last piece of research. According to Gallup, as recently as 2018, soccer (tied with Basketball) was the 2nd most preferred sport to watch amongst individuals aged 18 to 34.
Now all of that information does come with a bit of an asterisk, and I don’t want to mislead anyone. Coming from a bit of an academic background myself, I must admit, these are all studies conducted with small sample spaces. Roughly 1 to 2 thousand people per study. Hardly representative of 330+ million people.
But the general point I’m trying to get at here is that the popularity of the sport is clearly rising. Something that is backed by several studies outside of what I’ve presented. The talent is there, and the youth seem to be into it.
Christian Pulisic is the star of American soccer. It’s been that way for quite some time now. He has sponsorships coming at him from every direction. Anyone associated with US soccer is likely to automatically support him. And with the way the sport is progressing, his reach could skyrocket in the years to come.
He’s already captained the US national team to a major piece of silverware in the CONCACAF Nations League.
Further to that, America is forming a bit a golden generation with players like Weston Mckenie, Timothy Weah, Sergiño Dest and of course Pulisic himself.
As a whole, the current roster is young, but given time and experience, they could surprise many people on the international stage. Maybe not with silverware, but certainly with standout performances.
And if they do, which seems to be increasing in likelihood as time goes by, Pulisic will probably be at the centre of it all.
The man born in the US, with Croatian ancestry, who received a football education in Germany and now plies his trade in England. Not a bad plot for a movie, if you ask me.