Former U.S. women's national team captain and two-time World Cup champion Carli Lloyd isn't afraid to put Christian Pulisic on blast.
Despite being considered the best player on the U.S. men's national squad, Pulisic was a no-show during this year's World Cup. He had arguably his worst performance in Monday’s loss to Belgium, which led to him receiving criticism from Lloyd.
“You wanted some of those big-time players to step up in big moments,” Lloyd said. “I gotta be honest, I was a bit disappointed with Christian Pulisic. Whether he wants to be the star of this team or not, we didn’t see enough from him in this particular game and, really, the whole World Cup. Little glimpses here or there.”
© Gary Vasquez-Imagn Images.
Those remarks from Lloyd were made before Pulisic discussed his health after the USMNT's 4-1 loss to Belgium.
"I just totally twisted my ankle and my knee in one play," Pulisic said. "I mean, whatever. I have time to rest. It's just unfortunate way to finish."
That comment from Pulisic clearly caught Lloyd's attention. She went on social media and posted this not-so-subtle message: "You rest when your playing career is over. Period."
Lloyd's post already has over 3.1 million views in less than 12 hours.
Rough week for Pulisic.
Former U.S. soccer star Landon Donovan has also criticized Pulisic a good bit this week.
“This was a game where you needed him to go, ‘Give me the ball, I’m gonna stick it in the back of the net, it’s 2-2, let’s go.’ And he just didn’t. And he wasn’t even close to it," Donovan said, via Awful Announcing. "And in fact … there’s reporting that he asked to get subbed out of the game. I can’t confirm that, so I don’t know if that’s true or not. But the reality is, he came out of a World Cup knockout game at home, with his leg still intact. Because … you would have had to [expletive] drag me off the field. And I would have punched the doctor in the face and said, ‘You’re not taking me off the field. Put whatever you need to put in me, and I’m staying on the field.'”
One of Donovan's former teammates, former U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard, was a bit more cryptic with his remarks about Pulisic.
"What I would say about him is when someone shows you who they are, you believe them. I think he’s a nice footballer. I still think he’s the best player on the team," Howard said. "Outside of that, you’d have to ask me very direct questions to which I could give you very direct answers."
