‘He was just playing pick-up’ – Coach recalls Pulisic’s beginnings before rise to stardom

A commentator and coach has revealed that path that helped Christian Pulisic reach the top of his game at AC Milan.

There is no doubting that Pulisic has risen to prominence over the past two and a half years with Milan to become arguably the best and most consistent forward at Milan or possibly even in the league. The USA international is one of the first names on the team sheet, no matter the opponent.

He continues to win points in batches with his contributions, and this season he is the top scorer in Serie A despite missing games due to injury, with eight league goals to his name. With a home World Cup coming in the summer the future is bright, while the Rossoneri are thinking of a renewal.

Humble beginnings

Glenn Crooks – a legendary commentator and coach from the New York and New Jersey area – gave an interview to r.org about Pulisic, a player that he has followed from a young age.

“You could almost say definitively that Pulisic is the best player at Milan right now. I think injuries have curtailed his progress, and you want to knock on every piece of wood that you have right now, because, he’s been able to perform consistently now at Milan. We’d have seen this a couple of years ago if his coaches had given him more of an opportunity.

“He’s had to get physically stronger and put in a lot of fitness and strength work, he’s had to grow immensely, both as a player, as a leader, and in terms of understanding his role, knowing when to dribble, when to pass, and and then finishing.

“Not everybody can finish, and he’s become a fabulous finisher now. It’s really wonderful to see, and I love how it all started, because it started in a less-than-organised way.

“His development started when his mother took him to England at 7-9 years of age, she was instructing at a prep school, and he was just playing pick-up soccer. He wasn’t playing on any organised teams, they were just playing pick-up all over the place.

“Look at the five best attacking players of all time, and all of them have street soccer in their blood. That’s how they got it all started, and that’s one thing we lack. We’re still far behind the other countries, but if you had to rate the top 150 players in the world, there would be just one American: Pulisic.”