Christian Pulisic’s inability to steer clear of injury “was always an issue”, admits Eric Wynalda, but the USMNT now have stars shining across Europe.
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Injuries have held key men back at timesSparks being found at club levelShould benefit American national teamWHAT HAPPENED?
Pulisic was among those on the move during the summer transfer window, with the United States international leaving Chelsea for AC Milan. He has been joined at San Siro by Yunus Musah, while fellow countrymen Weston McKennie and Tim Weah are also in Italy with Juventus.
AdvertisementGettyTHE BIGGER PICTURE
Elsewhere, highly-rated striker Folarin Balogun has left Arsenal for Monaco, Gio Reyna is back to fitness at Borussia Dortmund and Matt Turner has become first-choice goalkeeper at Nottingham Forest. There is plenty for the USMNT to get excited about, with the bonds being formed at club level considered to be particularly beneficial.
WHAT THEY SAID
Former USMNT star Wynalda has told of seeing Pulisic and Musah pair up in Milan: “Not only do they now have the experience from the World Cup, they play very well together. But, when you play together at the same club, it's always an advantage. For Pulisic, for example, it was quite hard at Chelsea, he had good times and bad times, but at the moment he is in super form. And at AC Milan with Musah, both are playing super soccer at the moment. The other two, Timothy Weah and Weston McKennie, I think they're good too, they're both at top clubs, they've both played very well. I hope they stay healthy. That was always an issue with Pulisic as well. But honestly, we have a very good team, and you also have to say Balogun from Monaco, he was at Arsenal, he played in Ligue 1, but now he's at Monaco and he's scored a few goals lately. Our team is doing well.”
GettyWHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
The United States did suffer a 3-1 defeat to Germany in their latest friendly outing, but they have another to come against Ghana on Tuesday and will be hoping to pick up a positive result there as they continue the countdown to Copa America and World Cup events that will be staged on American soil in 2024 and 2026 respectively.
