Christian Pulisic discusses Gregg Berhalter's firing, USMNT's Copa Amrica flop

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. — As a 25-year-old whose overspilling résumé already includes appearances in a World Cup, three FA Cup finals and a UEFA Champions League title game, Christian Pulisic long ago stamped out any nerves on soccer’s grandest stages. But the bright lights of a late-night television studio? That’s an altogether unfamiliar field.

When Pulisic popped up on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” on Thursday, he acknowledged feeling pangs of unease as the curtain pulled back. But like a second-half substitute thrown into the fray, the AC Milan attacker promptly settled in. Soon enough, he was hitting talking points about his Pennsylvania roots, youthful indiscretions and would-be goal celebrations over six minutes of bits and banter.

“I think if I had to do that when I was 17, 18, at the beginning of my career, I would have struggled a lot more,” Pulisic said during an interview the next day, before Milan’s 3-2 friendly win over Manchester City on Saturday at Yankee Stadium. “My agents always gave me a hard time. I struggled to kind of open up, and I kept to myself, and I didn’t want to really talk to people ever in interviews or anything. So I think I’ve improved in that way.”

That said, Pulisic still calls himself a “pretty simple guy off the field,” one who would rather spend his spare time relaxing, catching up with friends and decompressing on the golf course. Ruben Loftus-Cheek, an English midfielder for Milan who also played with Pulisic at Chelsea, confirmed that the Hershey, Pa., native isn’t one to crave the spotlight.

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“He doesn’t want all the attention off the pitch,” Loftus-Cheek said. “He’s a quiet, calm guy. It’s nice to be around a person who is kind and who you’d want in a good friend.”

But exposure comes with the territory for the most influential and recognizable star on the U.S. men’s national team for the better part of a decade, especially when Pulisic is repping his Italian powerhouse club on its preseason tour of the United States. That means manning the media front lines and gamely addressing uncomfortable topics, such as the U.S. squad’s group stage exit from Copa América this summer — a reverberating result that cost coach Gregg Berhalter his job.

Reflecting on the Americans’ abbreviated run, Pulisic emphasized the fine margins by which his team’s tournament turned. He referenced the disallowed strike, rash red card and late goal conceded in a pivotal 2-1 loss to Panama, then the relentless but fruitless pressure in a 1-0 defeat to Uruguay. And he stressed the importance of wielding such a setback as a learning experience.

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“We just couldn’t hold on barely in that second game and then had all the pressure in that last game,” said Pulisic, who captained the squad at Copa. “We wanted to play better. Those were definitely not the results we wanted, but I think there’s things that we can do to improve as a team. Everything happens for a reason.

“It was difficult to take, definitely, how it ended in Copa, but I think it just makes me especially and the team hopefully just more hungry to go on and do bigger and better things coming up soon.”

Pulisic demurred when asked about the qualities he would like to see out of the next coach, whom the U.S. Soccer Federation hopes to have in place before a pair of September friendlies. When it came to Berhalter, the coach who led the U.S. team for the better part of six years, he was more forthcoming.

Pulisic said he will “always be thankful” for the time spent with Berhalter, who coached the Americans to the World Cup round of 16, two Concacaf Nations League titles and a Gold Cup crown. He stressed that “we did improve as a team” during a tenure that began with Berhalter sifting through the rubble of the Americans’ failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. But Pulisic also acknowledged feeling optimistic about the program’s potential under a fresh perspective.

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“We had a good relationship with Gregg, but now moving on, I think it’s the right —” Pulisic said, before pausing and reframing his thought. “Yeah, the federation is going to make the right decision and know where to go moving forward.”

While Pulisic won’t decide whom U.S. Soccer appoints, whether it’s a buzzy foreign hire such as Spain’s Luis de la Fuente or an upstart American candidate such as Los Angeles FC’s Steve Cherundolo, he can ensure he’s at the top of his game to impress whoever does take the reins.

On that front, Pulisic’s outlook with the Rossoneri seems rosy. For arguably the first time in his career, he’s entering his club season not scrapping for his spot in the lineup but ready to retain it. In league play last season, he hit career highs with 36 appearances, 32 starts, 12 goals and eight assists as Milan finished second in Serie A. A propulsive dribbler and crafty finisher, he added another three goals over 12 matches in the Champions League and Europa League.

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“It is not easy for a foreigner to arrive in the first year and perform like Christian,” said Paulo Fonseca, the new Milan coach who joined from French club Lille. “It’s difficult for a player like him to find space in Italy. So if he did so well in the first year, I believe he can do better in the second year.”

Zlatan Ibrahimović, the ex-Milan great who last year rejoined the club as an adviser, added: “With Christian, I think he’s happy. You see when a player is happy outside the field because if you’re happy outside, you’ll be happy also [on the field].”

After spending a 3½-week offseason taking his mind off soccer while visiting family in Pennsylvania and Florida, Pulisic linked up with Milan and took part in his first training session under Fonseca on Friday. Following his 10-minute cameo against Manchester City, he will look to ramp up his involvement and impress the new staff in exhibitions against Real Madrid on Wednesday in Chicago and Barcelona on Aug. 6 in Baltimore.

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“I’m really happy with last season, but that doesn’t give me any reason to be complacent or comfortable with where I am,” Pulisic said. “We have a new coaching staff as well, and from the first training today, I wanted to go in and give a good first impression and show what I’m all about. Of course, I feel a lot of confidence and a lot of ease from my performances last season, but I have to take it to another level and show that I deserve to be on that field always.”

When Pulisic returns to Milan ahead of the club’s Aug. 17 season opener, he will do so immersed in an Italian culture he said meshes with his easygoing lifestyle — though he knows this time around to be conscious of the Ferragosto holiday that partially shuts down the country for much of August. “Last season I was, like, trying to get WiFi for my house and trying to get this, that, whatever, and no one wanted to help me,” he said through defeated laughter. “That was just funny to me.”

As for the national team, Pulisic is ready to get to work under the new coach, who will have less than two years to prepare the U.S. team for a World Cup it’s hosting alongside Mexico and Canada. Although the Copa América exit still stings, Pulisic knows this generation of players’ legacy will be defined by how the Americans fare at home in the summer of 2026.

“It’s an awesome opportunity for us,” Pulisic said. “It’s an opportunity for us to really change the sport in this country forever. That’s been a goal of ours. I think we’ve come a long way in recent years, for sure, with the national team, but there’s a whole ’nother step that we can take — and we need to take.”

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