Christian Pulisic traced the controversy between himself and Mauricio Pochettino and said that his relationship with the American head coach is good.
The top -american player, Pulisic, decided to skip the Concacaf Gold Cup to rest with AC Milan after two long seasons. He offered to play in a few friendly matches prior to the tournament, which Pochettino rejected because he wanted to keep one group together. Pulisic was then criticized by a few former American players.
Pulisic returned to the national team this month and started in a few friendly matches and assisted with the second goal in the 2-0 win of Tuesday evening in Japan.
«We have good conversations,» Pulisic said reporters of his relationship with Pochettino. «To be honest. Probably what you experience and what the media see is a bit not exactly what we experience. Things are good. We have spoken. We had a normal camp and everything is good between us, good between the team. There is probably not as much drama as you think there is.»
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A midfielder and winger who turns 27 on September 18, made Pulisic debut in 2016 and has 32 goals in 80 international performances. He scored the only American goal in Trinidad in the night that the Americans did not qualify for the 2018 tournament and scored in the 1-0 win over Iran at the 2022 World Cup.
«I love this team. It’s all for me. I’ve been here for a long time. I get to see a few new guys, a bond with some old players. Even seeing again (Cristian) Roldan is so cool for me,» he said. «Personally, I don’t feel that a step has been lost.»
Pulisic had no longer spoken to reporters since last spring.
By explaining in June why he would not accept Pulisic for the friendly matches against Turkey and Switzerland, Pochettino said: «I am the head coach. I am not a mannequin.»
«I think it’s behind us, everything that happened in the summer, and I think we should look ahead now,» said Pochettino last month after announcing his September schedule.
«We have all made a mistake for a while, because we read the situation in a different way,» added Pochettino last Friday. «The most important thing is that when you are intelligent people, if we want to continue and do the right things – I want to be intelligent.»
Pochettino had said before the camp that he did not speak with Pulisic in the summer.
«It is clear that the national team can be difficult because you don’t spend daily together,» said Pulisic. «So I think we got to know each other in the camps we have arrived and just start, yes, learn each other, learn the team, and, yes, how we can help each other as well as possible to continue and try to win. So I would say it’s good.»
Published on September 10, 2025
