The international window is underway, but a controversial incident in the club world continues to make headlines. On Sunday night, Christian Pulisic found himself caught in a penalty blunder with his AC Milan teammates. Despite being the designated penalty taker, the USMNT forward was twice denied the opportunity to score from the spot. Since then, it has become an issue in the soccer world, with Alexi Lalas also joining the discussion, urging manager Paulo Fonseca to ‘punish‘ the players involved.

One could say the situation has gone from bad to worse ever since former AS Roma manager Paulo Fonseca stepped forward to clarify the incident, admitting his players were wrong to ignore Pulisic. While Lalas does accept that the Milan boss was right to defend himself, he found it ‘disingenuous‘ that the players disrespected their manager’s decision.

To make matters worse, Milan lost 2-1 in a game that could have been saved by not one but two penalties, with the help of Pulisic—the man who has never missed from the spot in his career. This led Lalas to question the leadership of the Italian coach. “The problem for Fonseca, as a coach, this looks horrible for you. This looks like you have no control,” he said in the latest episode of his own-hosted State of the Union podcast along with David Moose.

Fonseca accepted in the aftermath of the loss that Pulisic was the penalty taker but was left puzzled as to why the players changed their minds. With this, Theo Hernandez, followed by Tammy Abraham disregarded his call and took the charge, only to miss it. “You gotta punish these players, You can’t let that go,” added Lalas.

Considering that Pulisic let Hernandez take the first one because it was the Frenchman’s birthday, the American skipper did try to stop Abraham from taking the second one. However, the 26-year-old was eventually shoved by the Englishman, with Fikayo Tomori also stepping in, something which Lalas had already predicted.

“Even though there was a little tussle, Christian Pulisic is not Zlatan. He’s not gonna have a fistfight with one of his teammates over the opportunity to take the penalty. That’s just not who he is.” While calling out Fonseca’s lack of management in the team, Lalas concluded, “Let’s be honest, these are children. These are young adults, acting like children out there and that’s a problem for AC Milan.”

Looks like Fonseca has some tasks to do after the conclusion of the international break. But what if we tell you that the other party is rather blaming Pulisic instead?

Christian Pulisic slammed for not ‘ripping’ up his AC Milan teammates over the penalty drama!

ESPN FC journalist Craig Burley recently weighed in on the situation, asserting that it not only shows a lack of respect for Paulo Fonseca’s decision but also exposes an ongoing lack of respect among AC Milan players. However, Burley quickly turned his criticism toward Christian Pulisic for not standing up for himself when it came to taking the penalty.

“How weak are you? I am ripping that ball on the field because that is my job,” said the former Chelsea man. Questioning Pulisic’s lack of assertiveness, Burley added, “Where’s Christian? Stood in the corner eating his candy!”

Burley argued that unless Pulisic had voluntarily stepped back due to illness, injury, or poor form, he should not have given up the chance. He stressed that if Pulisic was in good form, he should have fought to take the penalty. “That’s just disrespect, all the way around, and then weakness from an international footballer.”

Who do you believe is to blame in this situation? Should Paulo Fonseca discipline the players involved? Share your thoughts in the comments below.