GdS: Fonseca faces Pulisic dilemma amid demanding travels and Pochettino’s warning | OneFootball

Christian Pulisic’s excellent form means that both his club and his country want every possible minute from him, something that appears to be causing friction between AC Milan and the USA national team.

As La Gazzetta dello Sport recall, Pulisic has been a starter in all seven league games and in the two Champions League games for Milan, with six goals and two assists across those games underlining an excellent start to the campaign.

Mauricio Pochettino is the new USA head coach and he intends to build around the captain Pulisic. They have two friendlies against Panama and Mexico with the first in the early hours of Sunday morning (European time) in Austin, Texas, and the second in the early hours of Wednesday morning against Mexico in Guadalajara.

Once the match is over, he will set off again towards Milan but that means the first training session he will have with the team will be the day before the match against Udinese, which is on Saturday at 18:00 CEST at San Siro.

Pulisic (and Yunus Musah) will be at the training ground from Thursday, so Fonseca will have to consider the physical fatigue (in the hope that Pochettino will manage his minutes), hoping that the two will not be affected by the time difference too.

The former Spurs boss made reference to the fact that Pulisic has been used a lot by Paulo Fonseca this season, and that it means some care will be needed over the break.

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“A great player, fantastic player, a player that is going to help now and in the future to put the team in a place that we want. He’s a fantastic player, one of the best offensive players in the world,” he said.

“He’s playing every single game, every single minute, something that we are a little bit worried about. Sometimes we need to protect, because he arrived a little bit tired.

“But that’s something I’ve spoken about before, to be in a very good relationship with the club. When we really need him, he needs to be in form, happy, strong, because he has enormous talent, he’s a fantastic player.”

With around 20,000km to cover in total, and the potential for substantial minutes in his legs as Pochettino hopes to start his era in the best way, Fonseca will then have to decide if he wishes to risk him against Udinese.