USMNT: Hold Off On The Christian Pulisic Hype Train

The moment that Christian Pulisic scored his first goal for the U.S. Men’s National Team against Bolivia on Saturday night, the internet exploded with questions of whether or not Pulisic could be “the guy” for American soccer in the near future.

The 17-year-old has looked fantastic for a top European club, Borussia Dortmund, and has played well enough to earn himself a consistent spot in BVB’s 18. But should fans put all hope in a 17-year-old just coming into his club side and the national side?

As difficult as it is to explain, there just seems to be something about American soccer fans in which we latch onto whatever young player we see in the years between World Cups.

Remember Gedion Zelalem? A technical player with tons of potential, he continues to work on his game in the Scottish second division with Rangers. Although he has seen playing time, he has been less than spectacular.

But for a brief moment, the U.S. Soccer community truly believed that he was the next “great” player. I mean, there was a whole two or three month period in which Zelalem was the most talked about figure in American soccer. This is absolutely crazy when you think about it, especially when our best players over the past few years have been older players who are peaking at the right time.

It should be noted that I am not saying that Pulisic might be a bust. I watch the Bundesliga, and I know there is something special in this young player. Pulisic will be a staple in the U.S. side for years to come and I am irrationally excited to have someone of this much talent playing for the Stars and Stripes.

However, no national team should be in a position where a 17-year-old is talked about like he’s the team’s savior, and we need to hold off on the hype train for now. There will be plenty of time for that when Pulisic, DeAndre Yedlin and Bobby Wood lead the USMNT to the 2022 World Cup.

Share On FacebookShare StumbleUpon