The U.S. star is mired in low points for club and country, but he's the player best equipped to lift his teams out of them
There's a moment in Christian Pulisic's documentary series in which he wonders aloud if he'll ever have . Ahh, the metaphorical , the thing that separates the good from the great. Sometimes it's an obsession, sometimes it's willpower, sometimes it's belief, but whatever is, the truly great ones must have it.
Even at this stage of his career, even with all of the skill and success he's shown since arriving on the scene as American soccer's most talented teenager, Pulisic can't help but wonder: does he have and, if not now, will he ever?
"I'm playing at a high level right now with some of the best in the world, but I feel like to stay on that level and to reach that level, you have to have this level of confidence that sometimes I feel like I miss," Pulisic said in the eponymous "PULISIC" docuseries on Paramount+. "I don't know, I don't have that constant cocky confidence that some of the best have, and that's the next step. That's the next step to get to the top."
Once again, Pulisic finds himself in the crosshairs in terms of confidence and, perhaps just as importantly, his ways of trying to inspire it in others. His approach as a leader has been a talking point, particularly when assessing the U.S. men's national team's recent unexpected losses to Panama and Canada in the CONCACAF Nations League.
And then, over the weekend, with Milan's season on the line, Pulisic's bold decision to let Santi Gimenez take a penalty ultimately cost his team while, once again, raising questions about his leadership. Is Pulisic as ruthless as he needs to be? And if he never finds that ruthlessness – if he fails to transition that confidence into cockiness – can he reach the highest levels of this sport?
Such a discussion requires nuance, but it's one that Pulisic himself seems to be having internally, even as his club struggles and Serie A and, from a national team perspective, the 2026 World Cup beckons.
GettyPulisic's leadership style
When Pulisic spoke to GOAL in February, he reflected on many topics, including his personality. He's an introvert, he admits, and, as he's gotten older, he's become more at peace with that. That's one of the reasons he wanted to make a documentary: to offer a glimpse into who he is as both a player and a person.
"I think with time, and with experience as well, it's definitely gotten easier in a lot of ways," he told GOAL. "I'm used to it now. I don't put as much pressure on myself. It doesn't weigh on me or make me feel like it's some burden that I need to have because I am who I am in the soccer world.
"I don't feel that I need to carry some kind of weight to show people that I need to be a certain way all the time. I don't really feel that. I'm pretty, pretty calm. I'm pretty happy with where I'm at and where I've come in life."
Pulisic, he can admit now, has never been that "rah-rah" type of leader. He isn't prone to screaming or shouting. He's the type to lead by example, to drive things forward on the pitch with his play and let that do the talking. His play has spoken plenty this season for Milan, including 15 goals and seven assists in all competitions.
It's a leadership style that many respond to, but not necessarily one that some fans admire. They look for outward showings of passion, and they are rarely found with Pulisic. It's a criticism that followed Lionel Messi for much of his career, too, due to his own introverted nature on and off the field.
It's the reason why Pulisic doesn't always wear the captain's armband for the USMNT, and why he likely won't be challenging for that Milan anytime soon – even if the legendary Zlatan Ibrahimovic, one of the most outgoing personalities this sport has ever seen, has challenged him to step up and be counted on.
“He’s known for being Captain America, yeah, But he doesn’t like to be called Captain America," Ibrahimovic said in the documentary. "He doesn’t maybe see himself like a superhero. He’s playing low profile and with his feet on the ground, but you are Captain America. I don’t give a s** what you say, you are. If that’s more pressure on you, I don’t care. It’s his own fault – if you weren’t so good, we wouldn’t ask anything from you”.
That's not to say that Pulisic doesn't have moments of overt emotion. But he generally keeps it check. Despite his general reluctance, Pulisic has always faced the media after USMNT setbacks, and he was out there again following the Nations League mess. After a number of prominent former U.S. players questioned the passion of the current squad, Pulisic stepped up and spoke.
"I promise that it's not through lack of effort," he said after the loss to Canada. "We want this so bad. I want this team to be successful so bad. So do the guys in the locker room. We're trying."
Pulisic, since he arrived on the scene, has been tasked with being the spokesman when things go wrong, the one to face the music. Yet he hasn't always had a knack for it. It's something that icon Thierry Henry reflected on during the Nations League, offering his own perspective on the American's way of leading.
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When Henry speaks, you should probably listen. There's a reason former players flock to him for advice. There's a reason he's still beloved by a generation of fans that never even saw him play. And there's a reason Panama's Cecelio Waterman hopped on the broadcast set and into Henry's arms after burying the game-winning goal against the USMNT.
As Waterman put it, Henry was his idol, and that's because Henry had everything. Arguably, his best attribute, though, is that he always understood how to think about the game and – now, in his role as a broadcaster – how to convey those thoughts.
So when Henry offers his thoughts on Pulisic's ability to lead, they come from a place of authority.
"Christian Pulisic is a good player – very good player – and for the first time, is playing week-in, week-out, and delivering in a good team in Europe," Henry said on CBS. "But you also have to stop that narrative that maybe he's not that type of leader. Stop, don't force him to be that. He is a technical leader, but is he that enforcer type of leader? [Gennaro] Gattuso wasn't [Andrea] Pirlo, Pirlo wasn't Gattuso, if you know what I mean. That doesn't mean he's not the best in this team as a player."
And as Henry put it, that should be enough.
"He is very good at a lot of things, but he doesn't have maybe that type of leadership, and it's OK, right?" Henry said. "Stop making him something that he is not because when it comes to that, you're going to highlight his weaknesses. Concentrate on what he can do. He's a very good player."
Part of Pulisic's personality that isn't always discussed is his ability to relate to his teammates. Many players who make up the USMNT have grown up with him, been on the journey with him throughout it all. He's not the type to confront them in anger, but he does tend to hold them accountable.
“I don’t think he wasn’t willing to embrace it, I think we just labeled a 17-year-old the next big thing,” said Pulisic's longtime friend and 2022 World Cup captain Tyler Adams. “I mean, you had to give the kid some time to kind of grow and mature.”
Even so, sometimes even well-meaning efforts to uplift teammates up can backfire.
AFPA gift gone awry
Following Milan's 2-1 loss to Napoli last weekend, everyone wanted an explanation. Down 2-0, Milan had been awarded a penalty, and the chance was handed to newcomer Santi Gimenez. It was saved, and it ultimately proved decisive as Milan's comeback fell one goal short.
For much of the season, Pulisic has been Milan's penalty taker. He's made 11 of the 12 he's taken in his senior career. So why, then, was Gimenez handed the ball?
“There are three players who train to take them," Milan boss Sergio Conceicao explained to DAZN. "Pulisic left it to him to give confidence to Gimenez, who hasn't scored for a while and, at that point, it's not up to me to decide. However, this means that the dressing room is united, there is frustration because in my opinion we didn't deserve this outcome.”
On the surface, Pulisic's decision is admirable. It is a form of leadership and, more importantly, of empathy. It was a selfless call to help build up a new teammate, but also a forward-thinking one. If Gimenez can get going, Milan will be better for it, and Pulisic was no doubt thinking that when he opted to give the Mexican star a chance to see the ball hit the back of the net.
However, there's a time and place for that – and down 2-0 to Napoli wasn't it. With Milan's season on the brink, what the Rossoneri needed was someone to step up and seize the moment. They weren't winning and, as things stand, this team isn't in a good place. In that moment, Milan needed ruthlessness and accountability. Pulisic instead opted for empathy and selflessness.
By putting his teammate first, Pulisic didn't put his team first.
Milan needed a goal at that moment. Milan needed him.
There was another penalty incident this season, one that was far more selfish. Back in October, under prior coach Paulo Fonseca, Milan fell to Fiorentina after both Tammy Abraham and Theo Hernandez demanded to take penalties. They both missed, leading Fonseca to blast his team for not giving the ball to Pulisic while also criticizing the American for not demanding the ball.
“Our penalty taker is Pulisic," he said. "I don't know why the players changed their minds. I spoke to him and said that it must not happen again.”
It did happen again, though. Pulisic's generosity was punished. Even so, it was a sign of leadership – albeit one that didn't work out in the end.
ImagnA chance to save the season
Pulisic, more than anyone, knows that this all ebbs and flows. When he spoke to GOAL in February, he was riding something of a high. Mauricio Pochettino had recently arrived and energized the USMNT. Milan, fresh off a Super Cup trophy, were looking ahead to the Champions League and a Serie A push.
The wheels have fallen off since then. The USMNT fell flat during the Nations League, putting the team into a new level of doubt with the World Cup on the horizon. Pulisic and his teammates have come under fire as a result, with fans, media and former USMNT players taking aim at this current team for a perceived lack of passion and effort.
Milan have arguably been worse. They fell to Feyenoord in the Champions League to get knocked out of Europe, and their hopes of returning to any European competition next season hang by a thread. They currently sit ninth in the league, five points behind sixth-place Roma and nine points behind fourth-place Bologna, who occupy that vital Champions League spot.
That dream seems dead at this point, and Milan's best opportunity to make it into Europe may just be the Coppa Italia. Up next is a two-legged semifinal clash with Inter, and those two games will likely define Milan's season.
Milan will certainly need Pulisic, and they'll need him at his best. This season, Milan have generally gone as far as Pulisic can carry them. It's something he can do on the field, even if he doesn't love talking about it much before or after.
That's Pulisic's style. He won't go down as an all-time great captain, but he can still be a great teammate, one that does what he can to help lift those around him. It won't always work, but nothing ever does.
As Henry said, you can't make him something he isn't and, with that in mind, it's worth acknowledging what Pulisic is: a damn good player that, leadership notwithstanding, will likely be the difference between success and failure for both his club and his country.