Jesse Marsch on WHY Christian Pulisic is not being optimized at AC Milan | CBS Sports Golazo Network

Good to see ya Jesse..

Jesse ruined his own career. He had a chance to take over Southampton and got above his station and rejected it after he failed out Leeds and no other club came in after him after that. This has turned out to be a huge mistake.

I really enjoyed this commentary, but there's one phrase Jesse used that has always stuck in my craw. "Flood the box with numbers." There are two ways you can think of "flood." One way is to think of an area filled with standing water. The other way is to think of the overwhelming force of water moving quickly and unexpectedly into an area with great speed and power. In soccer terms, the first one depends on height, physicality, tenaciousness, and luck. The second one depends on speed, precision, anticipation, and coordination between players. For the longest time, American teams, including the national team, seem to have been fixated on the former, perhaps contributing to their reputation as being physical and scrappy and often content to ping balls into a crowded box. Meanwhile, great teams around the world have demonstrated the latter. And not just when counter-attacking – you can actively flood the box with numbers by having attackers at the perimeter of the box ready for a ball to be sent in so that they can shed the defense and meet it in stride. I think Leão played that cross extremely well, and he has the ability to put that in. He just wasted the chance. In my view, the inner area of the box should be like the key in basketball. Go hard in the paint if the situation is right, but otherwise get out of there. To be fair, I'm not sure which meaning Jesse was going for, and in any case he is way more qualified to speak on this topic than I will ever be, but like I said, that phrase just stuck in my craw and I'm curious if anyone else agrees (or disagrees, or thinks I'm out of my mind – it's all good).

Love Jesse! Great American coach!

Pioli wants CP to play a lot of defense though. And CP’s defense has been the best of his career (loads of room to improve still though). But I think Milan isn’t asking CP to be the 20 goal a year guy. 10/5 and solid D and CP is going to start for Pioli as long as he is the coach.

I see Jesse Marsch is doing live video sessions to help him land a new job. Unfortunately, he clearly doesnt watch Milan. Puli in the last 5-7 matches is rarely, if ever hugging the touch line. He lives in to the half spaces with either Musah (when hes playing) or Calabria or Florenzi overlapping. That is his first critique and then in the remaining videos Puli is in the half space lol.

The last 5 games there’s been a clear tactical change and positional change given by Pioli to pulwiic. For the first part of season he was allowed so much freedom and was playing tight like an inverted winger. Which is his true strength. He’s not leao or saka or mbappe. His pace isn’t what Makes him serie As best 11 or elite winger. Whatever you wanna say. If anything we’re gonna see him play as a 10
When chuk comes back bc even tho RLC has been great last two games. There was a ten game stretch when he was awful. Bc he’s really not a 10. He’s an 8/6

As an Italian Milan fan I totally agree: Pulisic has a much higher football IQ than some of his teammates' and Pioli's. especially.