Pulisic...MUST Score More Goals to be Taken Seriously!
In the USA we are absolutely thirsting to be taken seriously as a football nation. We are also thirsting to have a star player and the one player that has emerged of late to take the mantle is Christian Pulisic. The media has proped him up as the next American superstar and there is no doubt that Pulisic is a talent. He plays at a very high level (at Dortmund) and with his forthcoming stint at Chelsea he will be challenging himself at an even higher level. As was the case with Landon Donovan, America has fallen in love with this young man...but for the true soccer pundits, it is extremely apparent that if Pulisic wants to be taken seriously and if he truly wants to be the new American soccer king, Christian Pulisic MUST score more goals.
Being a fan of American football, I follow Borussia Dortmund on my ESPN Soccer App. I know when every game starts, when halftime arrives, and when goals are scored. I have the App set to alert me for these very important events. I cannot tell you how many times I check the line-up and Pulisic wasn't even on the pitch. I mean considering the popularity and potential of this young man, one would think he is playing every game and scoring goal after goal. This is not the case.
In all honesty he has come on as of late and scored some goals. I smiled and admired that he had done so...but if I were being totally honest, it is very clear that he has not played as much as I would have hoped and certainly has not scored enough to be the great soccer hope that American football fans want and need. Now he will move to an even more demanding league...and even more physical league and be faced with a competitive landscape that will be very difficult to break into. Even on Dortmund he played second (and many could argue 3rd or 4th) fiddle to Jadon Sancho (and others) who by all estimations is a superstar in the making.
Don't get me wrong, I want Pulisic to be a superstar, but frankly I am not yet convinced. Here are some strikes against him in short:
- Doesn't score enough
- Doesn't play enough games or get enough minutes
- USA failed to qualify for World Cup
These factors and more are strong reasons that the world must still wait for C. Pulisic to be the superstar that many want him to be. But there is one sure-shot way for him to put all the haters (like me) to rest...SCORE MORE GOALS!!
There is no doubt that if Pulsic was to score more goals the world would have no choice but to take notice. Don't believe me here are the statistics:
Top Goal Scorers Borussia Dortmund (as of date of this writing (5.17.19):
Paco Alcacer 19 Goals
Marco Reus 17 Goals
Jadon Sancho 12 Goals
Mario Goetz 7 Goals
Raphael Guerreiro 6 Goals
Christian Pulisic 5 Goals
Want more evidence...here are:
Minutes played for the top Goal scorers (as of date of this writing (5.17.19):
Paco Alcacer 1542 Minutes Played
Marco Reus 2763 Minutes Played
Jadon Sancho 2810 Minutes Played
Mario Goetz 1603 Minutes Played
Raphael Guerreiro 1723 Minutes Played
Christian Pulisic 1288 Minutes Played
Considering what we hear about American football on American television one would think that Pulisic is playing tremendous minutes and scoring goals in bunches....he is not. The potential is there but to live up to the hype that we all want from him and hope for from him...Christian Pulisic MUST SCORE MORE GOALS!!
