Trying to stay in the race for a European place in Italy, Milan coach Paulo Fonseca delivered some worrying news in his pre-match presser ahead of their clash with Roma on Sunday regarding Christian Pulisic. The coach said the American suffered a setback in his recovery from his calf injury and will not be available until after the new year due to another knock. Although no official timetable has been given, Pulisic has already been out since early December due to injury and Milan have struggled to score during that time.
“I expected that we could have Pulisic. He is doing well but the last two days he has a problem with his ankle, which is another one,” Fonseca said. “He hasn’t trained with us. It’s a problem that happened during the recovery process, he’s not ready for tomorrow, not even for the bench. Not for the previous problem but for this new one that appeared.”
Milan’s struggles without Pulisic make sense when the American has eight goals and six assists in all competitions so far this season and no one has stepped in to fill the void left by his absence. In fact, Milan could be without Pulisic, Yunus Musah, Rafael Leao, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Noah Okafor for this match against Roma.
Any team would struggle to maintain production without such absentees, but the trio of Alvaro Morata, Tammy Abraham and Samuel Chukwueze must step up during this period. They have combined for just seven goals and one assist in Serie A, which doesn’t even come close to what Pulisic alone has produced.
While Milan have turned things around after a start under Fonseca saw them winless in their first two matches under new management, Pulisic’s form has however been a significant reason behind the improvement. A player with a history of muscle injuries, Milan and the U.S. men’s national team did their best to manage Pulisic’s workload, with him even missing a friendly against Mexico because Mauricio Pochettino could see that he was tired in training.
Despite this, injuries do happen as they are a part of football, but the aim is to ensure that Pulisic returns to the form he left the game in as this will be critical for Milan in the Champions League. Ranked eighth in Serie A and eight points behind Lazio for a Champions League place, Milan are unlikely to finish in the top four this season, but they can make some noise in the UCL to ensure they don’t. is not a lost campaign.
To do this, Milan will need Pulisic back as soon as possible, but taking their time also ensures that their talisman will be healthy in the long term, where both club and country will look to him to score goals.
