Will Christian Pulisic's Goal Drought End Against Weston McKennie And Juventus?
In 2022, Christian Pulisic never looked happier. The U.S. national team headliner was sat at a podium in a tent next to the Americans’ training base in Qatar basking in the glory of his first World Cup goal — a game winner against Iran that sent the Americans to the round of 16. Normally almost painfully reserved, Pulisic was all smiles as he joked with reporters in the room. The contrast was stark a few days later, when a devastated Pulisic, with tears in his eyes and his voice barley above a whisper, blamed himself for missing a potentially outcome-altering chance early against the Netherlands before the U.S. was eliminated by the powerful Dutch. Like many elite soccer players, Pulisic is streaky. When he’s up, he’s the most dynamic attacking player the country has ever produced, a truly world-class talent who can win matches at the highest level all by himself. When he’s down — right now, the 27-year-old is mired in a 17-game goalless streak for the U.S. and Italian club AC Milan — Pulisic is a shell of his best self. Pulisic was at the height of his powers earlier this season when, despite playing mostly as a winger or play-making midfielder, he had the best goals-to-minutes ratio of any player in Serie A. His current drought isn’t even the longest of his career. He went 21 games between goals with Chelsea in 2020-21 but ended the season in triumph, scoring against Real Madrid in the Champions League semifinals as the Blues went on to win Europe’s most coveted trophy. The following year, his last in London, Pulisic didn’t score in his final 20 appearances. “Like, I know a ball will hit off my knee and go in and then things will change,” Pulisic said in Atlanta last month after a 5-2 loss to Belgium in a World Cup warmup. “I’m not gonna panic. Better now than in the summer. Things are going to change.” They haven’t in his four games since. May is just around the corner. Summer will be here in a flash. Fun as it is to dig into the weeds and argue about who’ll be the 25th or 26th player on Mauricio Pochettino’s World Cup roster, how far the tournament co-hosts go on home soil hinges on the performance of its best players, Pulisic chief among them. His next chance comes on Sunday, when the Rossoneri welcome rivals Juventus and fellow USA star Weston McKennie to the San Siro. For Pulisic, Pochettino and U.S. fans, his next goal can’t arrive soon enough. With just over a month to go until Pochettino drops the Americans’ World Cup squad, here’s how other roster hopefuls are faring with their clubs. Stock Up 📈 The 25-year-old speedster’s career season continued on Wednesday, when he went 84 minutes in Leeds’ 2-2 Premier League tie with Bournemouth. (Tyler Adams was a second-half sub for the Cherries.) Aaronson notched his fifth assist of the campaign the game prior, a 3-0 victory over Wolves. He and Leeds next face Chelsea in Sunday’s FA Cup semifinal. With 10 goals in his last 10 contests at club level, Balogun is in the form of his life right now. He’s also scored in eight straight games in France’s top division, putting him just one away from tying the Ligue 1 record. U.S. teammate Mark McKenzie will try to prevent that, as Balogun & Co. head to Toulouse this weekend. Johnny played all 90 minutes of Wednesday’s 3-2 loss to Elche, just the fifth time since joining Atleti last summer that he’s gone the distance for Diego Simeone’s side. With their Champions League semifinal first leg against Arsenal looming next week, don’t be surprised if Simeone goes right back to Cardoso when Athletic Bilbao visits the Spanish capital on Saturday. Dest wasn’t in uniform for the Dutch champs’ match versus Zwolle on Thursday, but the 2022 World Cup vet insisted this week that he’ll soon return from the hamstring issue that has sidelined him since March 7. “I’m almost back,” Dest said with the 2026 event now in sight. “I’m gonna be there. I’m gonna be fine.” PSV coach Peter Bosz said Dest should return before the Eredivisie season ends on May 17. The Dutch champs have three more games after Thursday, including Sunday’s trip to historic nemesis Ajax. Somebody asked me this week if Dike, in the wake of Patrick Agyemang’s Achilles tear, has any chance of sneaking onto the World Cup squad. I said no. But with two goals in his last two outings for the Baggies, the Oklahoma-born target man is clearly heating up. West Brom hosts Ipswich on Saturday. The little playmaker made it two straight games with a goal last Saturday, the second in his first start of 2026 for RSL. In Wednesday’s 2-0 loss to Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami, Luna went all 90 minutes for the first time this campaign. On Wednesday, the lanky Texan celebrated his 13th league start with two goals, his 15th and 16th across all competitions this season for PSV, in a 6-1 trouncing of Zwolle. He now has 13 in the Netherlands top flight, a new career high for Pepi. Roldan followed up on his two assists in Seattle’s Concacaf Champions Cup win over Mexican power Tigres on April 15 with two goals in the Sounders 4-1 drubbing of St. Louis three days later. He’s surely headed to a second straight World Cup, though don’t tell him that. “I don’t see myself as a lock by any means,” Roldan said postgame. “I have to keep performing here with the Sounders to give myself the best chance.” What a week for Wright, who celebrated the Sky Blues promotion to the Premier League last Friday, then scored his 17th goal of the Championship campaign on Tuesday as Coventry officially clinched the second division title with a 5-1 win over Portsmouth. Stock Down 📉 Horrible news out of Italy where the 29-year-old son of former U.S. coach Jürgen Klinsmann suffered a broken neck in a second-tier match against Palermo last weekend. He underwent surgery in Germany on Wednesday, ruling him out for the rest of the season and ending whatever chance he had of making the World Cup roster. The uncapped Klinsmann, called up twice by Pochettino last fall, was not included on the coach’s most recent roster. Since scoring against Wolfsburg in a late cameo off the bench back on April 4, Tillman has logged just 16 minutes over Leverkusen’s next three games, including Wednesday’s 2-0 German Cup semifinal loss to Bayern Munich. Now Bild is reporting that the German-born Tillman could be on the move just a year after returning to the Bundesliga, with Premier League Brentford and Fulham among the potential landing spots. The 23-year-old has eight goals and one assist in 38 appearances across all competitions this season for Die Schwarzroten, who face Cologne on Saturday. A groin injury forced the 38-year-old to leave last Saturday’s 2-1 loss to NYCFC at halftime, and the same ailment kept Ream out of Wednesday’s 4-1 defeat at Orlando City. It’s hard to imagine the veteran center back returning when Crown’s road trip continues in Nashville on Saturday. After that, he’ll have just six more matches remaining before the national team’s pre-World Cup training camp opens in the Atlanta area on May 27. Musah’s nightmare stay in Bergamo is mercifully almost over, with Italy’s Gazzetta dello Sport reporting that Atalanta will not exercise its option to buy Musah from AC Milan following his season-long loan. Musah, a World Cup starter in 2022 who would need a miracle even to crack Poch’s 26, has gone unused in four of the club’s last five Serie A games. Where the 23-year-old lands next is anyone’s guess; he’s not in Milan’s plans either, per Gazzetta’s report. The towering center back has made just one 64-minute appearance for FCC since sustaining the groin injury that prevented him from playing against Portugal and Belgium last month. Robinson didn’t dress for Wednesday’s 4-4 tie with NYCFC with what was listed as a leg injury. Cincy hosts Michael Bradley’s New York Red Bulls on Saturday.
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