Christian Pulisic looks like he has Landon Donovan’s speed with Clint Dempsey’s technical ability and creativity.
Pulisic starts for Borussia Dortmund in an attacking position, and that already puts him ahead of all other American players in the past in terms of the skill required to play at that level.
Pulisic is playing in the Bundesliga, which is a league with much more skill than the English Premier League. Playing in Germany, Spain, or Italy has always been more impressive than playing club soccer in England.
Pulisic’s game on Matchday 1 for Dortmund was something of a statement game. The American teenager was impressive for Dortmund last season, but on Matchday 1 he was one of the focal points of a squad with the German playmaker and forward, Mario Götze, who scored the winning goal of the 2014 World Cup, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, a striker that everyone wants because he’s one of the best scorers and Number 9s in the world.
The USA Number 10 has a lot of flash to his game, and more so than Dempsey, Pulisic is able to use that flair and skill to fake out defenders and blow past them off the dribble.
I can still remember how Donovan told the press after Benny Feilhaber scored his 2007 Gold Cup winning volley against Mexico that he (Donovan) was thinking “No!” when he saw Feilhaber about to hit his volley, and this illustrates how Feilhaber and of course Pulisic and Dempsey were more willing to go for big plays without overthinking them. Donovan was thinking no, but Feilhaber was thinking “I can smash this volley in with the outside of my foot.”
In the same way, Pulisic is an aggressive and bold player who plays with flair, and flair is unpredictable and hard to defend. Bruce Arena was right to start Pulisic as the United States’ playmaker and Number 10 behind Clint Dempsey and another forward. It’s possible that the leading role Pulisic played for the U.S. recently emboldened him to be more aggressive for Dortmund.
The way that Pulisic scored his goal on Matchday 1 by firing his shot between a small gap between two defenders to the far post is a perfect example of how Pulisic is the real deal. That goal required the boldness to take the shot where there was only half a chance, and it required the skill to be able to execute the shot in the Bundesliga from the run of play.
The most notable thing about the American teenager, Pulisic, is definitely the combination of skill, creativity, speed, and a big-game mentality. Dempsey didn’t have the extra gear of speed that Pulisic has.