United States men’s soccer is in complete disarray as alumni are now at each other’s throats over star Christian Pulisic’s unceremonious exit from the World Cup.
Everyone is still talking about Monday’s embarrassing 4-1 loss to Belgium — a match that that felt like a 10-goal loss as it was noncompetitive from the opening whistle — and Pulisic’s performance in the defeat.
USMNT legend Landon Donovan had been critical of Pulisic for the last several years, questioning Pulisic’s commitment to the international team last year when Captain America chose to skip the Gold Cup to be fully healthy for this year’s World Cup.
Though Pulisic was anything but healthy, Donovan still let him have it, saying Pulisic “is who he is” at age 27 and added that he’s disappointed in the star forward.
Former USMNT midfielder Jermaine Jones the entered the fray to defend Pulisic as seemingly everyone is piling on.
“I strongly believe Christian Pulisic is the greatest American player of all time,” Jones said in a post on X. “I had the privilege of playing with some of the U.S. players, and for me, no one matches him. What I find disappointing is seeing former players try to downplay his career or talent. Be careful throwing stones when you live in a glass house. Respect what Pulisic has done for U.S. Soccer and outside of America.”
Jones was Donovan’s teammate on the USMNT, though they never played together at a World Cup.
No one denies Pulisic’s talent as he’s shown glimpses of greatness, including during the first half against Paraguay in the group stage, where Pulisic absolutely annihilated them en route to a 4-1 win.
Though Jones says that Pulisic is their best player of all time, it is surely something that is up for debate, given he has not led the USMNT to new heights and has struggled to stay healthy.
It is unclear what Jones, a former teammate of Donovan, is referring to when saying that critics (presumably Donovan) should be careful “throwing stones when you live in a glass house.”
Donovan has since taken a second swipe at Pulisic for his demeanor and public handling.
“People are fed up with the way things are handled around him,” Donovan, a Fox broadcaster and one of the best US Soccer players ever, said on his “Unfiltered Soccer” podcast alongside USA legend Tim Howard. “And it’s not necessarily him, but it’s his agents, his family, his hangers-on, the people who are influencing. People are fed up with it.”
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Donovan has had issues with Pulisic’s father, Mark Pulisic, in previous public encounters, and may be who Donovan is referring to.
“They treat people poorly,” Donovan continued. “They do things poorly. It’s always a ‘No’ whenever you wanna ask, ‘Can we do an interview?’ It’s always a, ‘No, you can’t get near him.’ He doesn’t say, ‘Hi’ to the commentators who do all the games all the time when they walk by.”
Mark defended his son for skipping the 2025 Gold Cup and posted on social media that Donovan had also taken a sabbatical from the USMNT in 2013 after years of intense competition, although Donovan only took three months off and did not miss any major tournaments as Pulisic did.
Donovan added that Pulisic does not like him, but that he speaks to Pulisic’s sponsors, agents, teammates and USMNT officials, who he alleged are all fed up with Pulisic’s antics.
Pulisic has pulled himself out of four of the last nine USMNT games with injury and received significant criticism for reportedly asking out of the Belgium loss with an ankle issue.
“I just twisted my ankle and sprained my ankle,” Pulisic said. “It’s frustrating to end like that, of course, but now I get time to rest, so I’ll be OK.”
Those nonchalant comments following the crushing loss have ignited furious blowback and is now causing division among the soccer community.
