For roughly half a decade, and for the vast majority of his groundbreaking career, Christian Pulisic could be confidently described as a winger. He was a versatile attacker who often wore a No. 10 shirt, but he wasn’t yet ready for the vaunted role of central playmaker. He’d start wide left or wide right. He’d sometimes star, but sometimes struggle. He was, more often than not, a peripheral figure — until now, his breakout season.
In just over three months, Pulisic has already contributed to 16 goals for club and country; he scored his 10th of the campaign on Tuesday, in AC Milan’s 3-1 Champions League win over Slovan Bratislava.
And he did it, for the fourth time this month, from a classic No. 10 position — the position that is quietly become his.
On Tuesday, he did it in transition. He combined with striker Tammy Abraham, and burst through the heart of Slovan’s defense.
For the U.S. men’s national team over the previous two weeks, he excelled in a similar role, and in multiple phases of the game.
In the first leg of a CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal against Jamaica, he drifted from his typical position on the left wing, and floated between Jamaica’s lines in search of space. In the fifth minute, he found it, and slipped a through-ball to Ricardo Pepi for the game’s only goal.
Four days later, in the second leg, his new role seemed to crystalize. With Tim Weah on the left and Yunus Musah on the right, Pulisic played centrally in a 4-2-3-1. This time, he spotted a gap in the Jamaican defense, sprinted through it, and latched onto a Weston McKennie pass to open the scoring.
He later doubled the U.S. lead with a shot from the top of the box — which deflected past Jamaican keeper Andre Blake for an own goal.
And throughout his 68 minutes on the pitch, he looked dangerous, confident and free.
Pulisic, of course, is no stranger to central areas. He often played there as a teen. He was a No. 10 for U.S. youth national teams. He was a central creator in the early days of previous USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter. “I’ve played in the middle a lot, and I’m comfortable there,” he said in 2019
But at Borussia Dortmund, and then Chelsea, he wasn’t prepared for or trusted with the responsibility that comes with a central role in elite European leagues. He wasn’t strong enough on the ball, nor intelligent enough off it, nor sharp enough in tight spaces. So he was shunted out wide, and tasked with creating goals from less coveted areas and less dangerous positions.
With the national team, meanwhile, he was still afforded some freedom. But as the USMNT roster solidified around him, his role crystalized. For years, almost invariably, he played on the left of a 4-3-3. In possession, he’d shift inside, but his base position was that of a winger.
Then Mauricio Pochettino arrived, and began to tinker.
Simultaneously, in Italy, AC Milan manager Paulo Fonseca has moved Pulisic to the middle. In his last four Serie A and Champions League starts, he has played between two wingers, as something in between an attacking midfielder and a second striker. He does not come deep to get on the ball, as some old-school No. 10s would; rather, drifts in search of space, and detects opportunities to dart in behind the opposing defense.
In his biggest game of the season, at the Santiago Bernabeu, against Real Madrid, he created a goal by combining with striker Alvaro Morata and bursting into the half-space.
For the USMNT, he ran beyond Pepi, but also supplied the young striker with quality chances.
For both club and country, his movement has been diverse. His actions have been dynamic and clever. As a winger earlier this year, he was already playing the best soccer of his career. His evolution back into a central position seems to be the next stage of his ongoing development.
