7 goals and 3 assists in 11 games—something has definitely gotten into Christian Pulisic. It has been a couple of months since the 24/25 season began, and we already see these impressive numbers from Mr. Captain America. However, when it comes to USMNT, we rarely see him perform at this level. Could this be because of the ‘different‘ way Pulisic is utilized by his domestic and international managers? Well, Paulo Fonseca seems to think so!

One can say the AC Milan boss is partially responsible for Pulisic’s scintillating form so far. That’s because Fonseca just might have found the 26-year-old’s superpower, precisely, his best position on the pitch that usually brings the best out of him. “Honestly, Pulisic doesn’t have the same impact as a winger that he does when he plays centrally, and when we changed the formation, the team was different,” said Fonseca while speaking to Sky Sports.

Sounds weird, right? Pulisic playing more centrally rather than running like a road-runner on the wings. Well, it’s not like he’s completely forgotten that role; it’s just Fonseca’s system at AC Milan gives him a certain kind of freedom on the field to rotate in both areas. But how exactly does that happen? Well, the Rossoneri likes to play a typical 4-3-3. On the attacking front, we have mostly seen Pulisic start on the right wing, Alvaro Morata taking the center forward role, and Rafael Leao on the left side.

However, during the game, the team kind of shifts into a 4-3-2-1 formation, which sees Morata retain his No. 9 role while Leao and Pulisic play a double attacker role. Even if the Portuguese winger doesn’t, the American forward does, by seeing Morata dropping deep on most of the occasions. Furthermore, the gameplay sometimes transitions to a 4-2-3-1, where Pulisic plays the role of an attacking midfielder.

These two central positions make it much more favorable for the former Borussia Dortmund man. Rest, it’s all about gameplay, timing, precision, and most importantly, luck that defines whether Pulisic gets into a goalscoring position or not. However, the biggest question of all is; can we expect this at the US Men’s National Team?

Can Mauricio Pochettino play Christian Pulisic by following Paulo Fonseca’s tactical plan?

In short, no. Since Mauricio Pochettino has a different yet similar system to that of Paulo Fonseca, we can’t see Christian Pulisic play the exact same way for the Stars and Stripes as he does for AC Milan. Well, technically, he can, only if Poch is willing to make a wee bit of sacrifice, and most importantly, the dare of experimenting. For starters, he can first pair Pulisic with either Haji Wright or Ricardo Pepi on wings, by keeping any of the center forwards of his choice, considering the No.9 is responsible for dropping deep.

That way, we can see Pulisic take the central role and unleash his goalscoring abilities better. Then again, Pochettino’s tactical history suggests it wouldn’t work pretty well. While it did work a little bit at Paris Saint-Germain with the likes of Lionel Messi, Neymar, and Kylian Mbappe, or at Chelsea, his Tottenham days remind us how the gameplay mostly involved the work of center forward. Harry Kane used to deliver with wingers like Lucas Moura or Son Heung-Min creating on the flanks.

Whether he implements this similar system or not is Pochettino’s decision, but the harm in giving Paulo Fonseca’s style a try. After all, the results are in front of you.