It’s a Tuesday night at the iconic San Siro stadium as AC Milan kicks off against Liverpool in their Champions League opener. It hasn’t even been three minutes of action and Christian Pulisic has already scored. Running down the right wing with dogged determination, the 26-year-old American picks up the ball and drives toward Alisson’s goal. His Milan teammates call for the ball as they enter the box, but Pulisic only has one thing on his mind and places it on the far post as the Brazilian goalkeeper has no chance to stop it. 1-0 to Milan. Liverpool end up winning the game, but Pulisic’s goal (his third of the season in all competitions) is not forgotten.
Five days later, in the same historic ground, comes another massive test against a major opponent — and this time, it’s personal, because it’s against Milan’s mortal rival, Internazionale. What makes matters worse, Milan has not won the Derby della Madonnina in their past six straight attempts, so something has to give, especially as this season has not started too well for the Rossoneri under Paulo Fonseca.
At the 10th-minute mark, Pulisic steals the ball from Henrikh Mkhitaryan and once again, like the Tasmanian Devil from Looney Tunes, the Pennsylvania native drives towards goal with tunnel vision. Four Inter players crowd him, but they can’t get the ball from him. It’s a Messi-esque run. Pulisic slots it past Yann Sommer, giving Milan fans déjà vu with another early lead. This time the rot against Inter is over. Milan wins 2-1 and throughout the game, Fonseca’s gamble of utilizing Pulisic in this aggressive strategy pays off.
Then, on Friday against Lecce, Pulisic scored once again after a dominating performance by Milan in a 3-0 victory. That’s six games in a row for the American with a goal or assist, and he now has five goals and two assists in all competitions this season.
But the interesting thing is that Pulisic has been doing this even before Fonseca’s arrival, which was this summer after replacing former manager Stefano Pioli.
So you can’t call it a sudden burst. In fact, last season under Pioli, the only time Pulisic didn’t score or assist for the club was a time frame of five matches between January and February. His first campaign for Milan ended with 15 goals and 11 assists. He was involved in nearly 30% of the team’s goals. Despite the change in manager, the productivity has not slowed down. If anything, it’s gotten better.
Part of the reason for Pulisic’s success is the system, especially in baiting which is a focal point of Fonseca’s style. When Milan has the ball, they invite pressure. They ask for the opponent to press, and when it does, Milan pounce. Pulisic, who loves to be direct going forward, thrives on this. He also doesn’t need to worry about covering width when Milan doesn’t have possession as he is encouraged to be more central to Álvaro Morata, and that allows him to be more of a second striker and get involved in goal-creating chances.
But the other reason for his great form is off the pitch. Pulisic has embraced Italian football culture. His passion has been reborn thanks to Serie A.
“Being in Italy this past year, and just seeing the passion of the fans and walking around the city, the feeling that you get … it’s different,” he told CBS Morning this summer, during Milan’s preseason tour. “It’s tough to find something like that in America at the moment, it really is special, so just to be part of this historic club — you know, I’m really lucky.”
He is in a place that has welcomed his game, and the feeling has been reciprocated. So here’s to the boy from Hershey, Pennsylvania, who has finally found his home in northern Italy.
