England manager, Gareth Southgate has come out to say that Christian Pulisic’s Captain America tag makes him box office like David Beckham and Wayne Rooney. He recently had his say while speaking to the press, and fans have been reacting.
According to him, the American’s adaptation from the Bundesliga to the Premier League has not been very straightforward till date, but he remains a quality player still.
Southgate added that Pulisic is definitely someone England has to be wary of at the World Cup.
His words, “I’ve been fortunate that I lived that life in an England camp with Paul Gascoigne at the start, with David Beckham and with probably Wayne Rooney in terms of… we had other really outstanding players that you could argue were more influential for the team than some of those guys but their world was different. They were big box office, big story, big news story front and back pages and so that is a different dynamic for a coach to deal with and also the player themselves.”
“In the end, of course, everything depends on playing well on the football pitch. But those big players do live a different life, there’s different expectations around them. I think as a manager, you’ve always got to have an understanding of their world being different to everybody else’s. But also, can you help them to deal with that? It is pressure. There’s no hiding from that. You’re on another level. That comes with great rewards, adulation and big marketing and sponsorship deals but in the end, if you don’t deliver on the pitch, everything comes down more heavily on those guys.”
On Pulisic, “I obviously watched him a fair bit at Dortmund as we had Jadon Sancho there at the time and then moving into Chelsea, I think that adaptation from the Bundesliga to the Premier League isn’t straightforward for a start. He would probably feel he hasn’t got quite to where he wants to get to yet, I’d imagine, but he’s a very good player and is a player when you’re looking at the opposition team sheet, he’s someone you’ve got to be aware of and got to be ready for.”
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