Why does Milan need Pulisic on and off the field?
Christian Pulisic is not the first American national team captain to play in the Italian Premier League; It happened before when Michael Bradley joined Chievo in 2011, and dazzled everyone with his exceptional skills and decisive goals in deadly moments of matches. Bradley was the fourth American ever to play in the Italian Premier League, and only the second since the end of World War II. The fifth player was Weston McKennie, who joined Juventus in 2020. Oguchi Onyewu moved to Milan; But he never played a single league match, and instead his time there is remembered for the altercation he had with giant Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic on the training ground.
Only recently, a large number of American players have moved to the Italian Premier League, the number reaching 10 since the beginning of this decade, including 4 players with two of the most successful Italian clubs this season. Pulisic joined Milan from Chelsea last July, followed shortly after by Younus Musa, also from Valencia. Juventus signed Timothy Weah from French club Lille.
But it is Pulisic who has dominated the headlines in Italy over the past few weeks.
The American star scored a goal in the 21st minute of his first appearance in the Premier League, and that was against Poland, with a wonderful shot from outside the penalty area, past Polish goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski. Even before that, Pulisic had contributed to Milan’s first goal, when he sent a perfect cross to Tijani Reynders, who in turn played the ball to veteran French striker Olivier Giroud, who put the ball into the net.
Pulisic has proven to be a strong addition to Milan and a good ambassador for the Italian League (IPA)
That match ended with Milan winning by two unanswered goals, a very good result in a stadium where the two teams tied last March. Milan’s opening match at home was much better; Pulisic scored the first goal and led Milan to victory over Torino by 4 goals to one.
In an interview with ESPN news network shortly after his move to Milan, Pulisic talked about going to the San Siro Stadium with Chelsea, and described the atmosphere there as “very exciting,” and said: “This may be the best place in the world.” When there is a big match. But this match was not one of the big matches; It was just the beginning of the season against a competitor that finished in tenth place last season, yet the stadium was crowded with more than 72,000 fans, a large number of whom were singing Pulisic’s name.
On social media, fans were working hard to come up with better chants and songs for the American star. Journalists also expressed their astonishment at Pulisic’s quick and strong start. The Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper said after Milan’s victory over Bologna: “He comes from the Hershey region, famous for the best chocolate in America.” During the match Christian Pulisic was pure candy too!”
The Corriere dello Sport newspaper described Pulisic as “the best real major deal” in the summer in which Milan spent more than 100 million euros to strengthen the midfield and attack. Sky Italia correspondent and commentator Federico Zancan described him as “an undoubted talent.” Arrigo Sacchi indicated that Pulisic still needs to work on developing his defensive capabilities; But the former Milan coach says that about all players!
If Bradley earned the title “Captain America” while playing in Italy, then Pulisic earned it as soon as he announced his joining Milan. To have such a huge buzz around the player is a huge advantage for Milan and for the entire Serie A, which is working very hard to expand its reach across the Atlantic; He opened an office in New York last year, and agreed to form a strategic partnership with Roc Nation Entertainment this summer, with the aim of “increasing awareness of the Italian League in the United States.”
New sources of income are needed for Italian clubs, in order to be able to compete with other clubs in neighboring countries. The European Football Association (UEFA) estimated the value of current TV rights deals for the Italian Premier League at about 1.13 billion euros ($1.2 billion) per season, in its club licensing benchmarking report published last February. This seems a small number compared to the English Premier League, where the value of television rights deals reaches 3.94 billion euros per season, and it also seems far behind the Spanish Premier League (2.03 billion euros) and the German Premier League (1.25 billion euros).
Negotiating a better financial package with local broadcast companies is now the top priority for the Italian Premier League. Especially since the current broadcast deals are scheduled to expire at the end of this season; But expansion at the international level is also necessary to ensure the strength of the Italian League in the long term.
It should be noted that North American investors own a majority stake in 5 Italian Premier League clubs (Milan, Roma, Fiorentina, Genoa, and Bologna), which further strengthens the case for expansion in the United States.
But there is no indication that Pulisic was hired primarily as a marketing tool. Stefano Pioli, Milan’s coach, has asked the club to sign players with the same specifications as Pulisic: they are good at dribbling and running in empty spaces without the ball, to give his team different options to penetrate the crowded defenses of the opposing teams.
Milan seeks to create a state of balance inside the green rectangle, by increasing the attacking force on the right, so that the competitors are not able to focus all their energies on suffocating Rafael Leao on the left.
Milan have won the Serie A title in 2022 through fast-paced attacking play that relied heavily on the brilliant collaboration between Leao and Theo Hernandez down the right flank. But during last season, the team almost completely moved away from the top four, and it became easy to predict how the team would play offensively.
Pulisic often played on the left side at Chelsea before joining Milan. But Pioli is relying on him on the other side so far; He changed the way of playing from 4 – 2 – 3 – 1, to 4 – 3 – 3. When the American player failed to score in Milan’s third match this season, which ended with a victory over Roma away from home by two goals to one, it was Leao who scored instead. .
When Pioli was asked last week about Pulisic’s fast start, he replied: “He is a special footballer. When I say it this way I mean he is one of those people who knows how to do the right thing at the right moment. “When you have a player with these qualities it makes everything easier.”
It is also good to see Pulisic as an ideal choice to increase the popularity of Milan, and the entire Italian Premier League, in the United States of America.
The season is still early. Pulisic started his career with Chelsea wonderfully 4 years ago. But his level declined sharply after that due to injuries and he was affected by the change of a large number of technical managers. However, Pulisic joining Milan looks promising; Because each of them needs the other.
He provides assistance to the club in a position where the team needs support, and is a great marketing tool in a position that Serie A is keen to target. In return, Milan gives him the opportunity to play for a prestigious club in the famous “San Siro” stadium. Pulisic was not the first “Captain America” in the Italian Premier League; But the question that must be asked is: How many American players before him were playing regularly in a stadium crowded with more than 70,000 spectators?
* The Guardian service
2023-09-10 16:47:17
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