Christian Pulisic is angry. And Ruben Amorim is delighted.
The AC Milan head coach made no attempt to hide it on the eve of his team’s trip to Rome, lifting the lid on the American’s growing frustration at a season that, so far, has passed him by.
“I think you guys are going to see Pulisic,” Amorim told reporters on Friday. “I don’t know if he is going to start or he’s going to get on the pitch from the bench. I think he’s going to play at least a few minutes now… He’s upset because he’s had zero minutes so far, and I like that in my players.”
For Pulisic, it has been a jarring comedown.
A micro-fracture and bone bruise in his right leg, suffered at the World Cup, pushed back his return to full training until last month. While he recovered, the 2026-27 Serie A season kicked off without him. Three league fixtures have come and gone. Not a single competitive minute for the man Milan fans christened a cornerstone of their attack.
In his place, a new storyline has exploded down the left flank.
Cisse’s rise, Pulisic’s problem
Alphadjo Cisse is 19, fearless and suddenly very hard to drop.
The Italian youth international has treated Pulisic’s absence as an opening and driven straight through it. Two eye-catching goals, direct running, and a swagger on the ball have turned him into the early revelation of Amorim’s tenure. Every touch on that side of the pitch now comes with a murmur of expectation inside San Siro.
That surge has sharpened the dilemma. Pulisic’s pedigree is not in doubt, but he is walking back into a dressing room where competition has teeth.
Amorim, true to form, did not dress it up.
“I won’t remove anyone who’s doing well just to name a player,” he said, his stance as clear as it was uncompromising. “This is my way of managing the group, and I’ll die with these principles.”
No promises, no sentiment. Reputation will not trump form. Not even for “Captain America”.
A heavyweight résumé, a fresh fight
Pulisic did not arrive in Milan as a prospect. He arrived as a finished article expected to tilt big matches.
Since signing in the summer of 2023 on a four-year deal, the USMNT winger has become a central figure in the Rossoneri attack, amassing 134 appearances in all competitions. His return — 42 goals and 27 assists — underlines his impact, numbers that helped drive Milan to the Supercoppa Italiana title in the 2024-25 season.
The World Cup reminded everyone of his status back home. Pulisic featured in four of the United States’ matches, missing only the group-stage clash with Australia through injury and providing one assist before the USMNT bowed out in the round of 16 against Belgium.
That workload, and the injury that followed, set the stage for his current standstill. While he healed, the team evolved. Now he must chase it.
Hunger as a selection weapon
For Amorim, that frustration is not a problem to soothe. It is a tool.
Coaches often talk about “good anger” in players — the kind that drives extra sessions, sharper duels, a refusal to accept the bench as a new normal. Pulisic’s irritation at having “zero minutes so far,” as Amorim put it, fits that mould.
The message is blunt: channel it, prove it, and the shirt can be yours again. Fail to match the intensity of a teenager playing like every game is an audition, and the bench will feel familiar.
The return, though, is no longer theoretical. Rome should mark the first step back, whether from the start or as a late injection of pace and craft.
Pulisic has already shown he can carry Milan attacks and deliver in decisive moments. Cisse is showing he can change games now, in real time, in front of a fanbase quick to adopt new heroes.
Amorim will not protect either from the other. One left flank, two compelling cases, and a coach who has nailed his colours to the mast.
Someone is going to have to win this job the hard way.
