Allegri says decision to take off Pulisic in Milan-Sassuolo was ‘tactical’

Max Allegri’s decision to take off Christian Pulisic with 15 minutes to go of Milan-Sassuolo immediately raised some doubts. Afterwards, the gaffer explained that it was tactical and had nothing to do with physical condition. 

Pulisic was back from start earlier today, having been on the bench initially against Torino due to the flu. He looked a lot brighter, even if he didn’t get another brace, and even found the back of the net in the second half. However, the goal was incorrectly disallowed.

In any case, in the 73rd minute, Allegri decided to take off the American in favour of Samuele Ricci, which subsequently meant Ruben Loftus-Cheek moved to the striker position. Four minutes later, Sassuolo scored the 2-2 equaliser.

All of a sudden, the Rossoneri could have used their star and many of the fans questioned Allegri’s decision to take him off instead of Christopher Nkunku or Loftus-Cheek. Given the whole flu situation on Monday, though, some pointed out that it perhaps had to do with physical condition.

During his press conference after the game (via MilanNews), however, Allegri confirmed that the decision to take off Pulisic was tactical and thus didn’t have anything to do with his physical status. A tactical move that perhaps didn’t prove so successful.

“Pulisic’s substitution was a tactical decision. At that moment, we needed to strengthen the midfield and get going again, so I decided to bring in an extra midfielder. Pulisic was returning from a week during which he lost weight and had a fever. But I’d say it was a tactical change,” he stated.