In a rare win for U.S. Soccer in recent months, the organization made the correct choice and named Christian Pulisic the 2017 Male Player of the Year. Pulisic, a 19-year-old Borussia Dortmund attacking midfielder from Hershey, Pennsylvania, became the youngest winner of the award.
Borussia Dortmund hadn’t won in nine Bundesliga matches, so they hired a manager who hadn’t won in 14 matches. And it worked, somehow. Dortmund beat Mainz 2-0 to win for the first time in league play since September to give new coach Peter Stöger his first victory this season.
Borussia Dortmund needed a change, this much was obvious. The club was in a massive tailspin in both the Bundesliga and Champions League. So Dortmund fired coach Peter Bosz on Sunday. But the man they replaced him with as Dortmund coach — Peter Stöger — was just fired from the one club that has been more disappointing in the Bundesliga this season: Cologne.
I don't think I can say anything about Christian Pulisic that hasn't already been said. The kid is good. Just ask Real Madrid.
On Tuesday, U.S. Soccer announced the five finalists for the 2017 U.S. Soccer Male Player of the Year award. The nominees include last year’s winner, Jozy Altidore, three-time winner Clint Dempsey, 2015 winner Michael Bradley, 23-year-old Jordan Morris and 19-year-old Christian Pulisic.
Counting down from five to one, here’s who we believe to be the most deserving of the award.
LaVar Ball is a knucklehead. He doesn’t know when to shut up, doesn’t know when to stop talking and also doesn’t know when he should keep his lips sealed. On Monday, he pulled his middle child out of college because he assumes he can prepare LiAngelo for the NBA better than a season with one of the nation’s best basketball programs. But it kind of makes you wonder, what if LaVar Ball was Christian Pulisic’s dad?
For those who watched any of this fall’s 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup, you might’ve noticed one distinct trait which unified the entire playing field. Whether the teenagers on show played for India, Mali, Honduras or New Caledonia, they all tried their best to look like Neymar.
With socks worn above the knees, a right wrist covered in orthopedic tape, hair shorn on the sides and left to do whatever up top, you could tell the youths were focused on the task at hand but also in a revery over what their tattoo sleeves would look like come their 18th birthday.
Leave it to 19-year-old Christian Pulisic to provide some much-needed perspective on the USMNT’s failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. In a current political climate that does not often favor communicating thoughtful, introspective sentiments, Pulisic finally spoke up on the state of U.S. soccer with a thought-provoking, well-written article in The Player’s Tribune released on Monday.
It’s just not going well for Borussia Dortmund at the moment. BVB look almost certainties for an early Champions League exit at the hands of Tottenham and Real Madrid, and the Bundesliga gap to Bayern Munich stands at six points following a 3-1 Der Klassiker defeat on November 4.