So this is what it looks like, then? A Chelsea player with immense, generational talent for his country of origin, playing with the freedom provided by less-judgement, the emergence of long-vanished confidence and just general good vibes. Without the lights and blinding flashes of the Premier League cameras Christian Pulisic once again showed what he is, and what he's not.
For USA there is a true world star, someone capable of commandeering a country through a global tournament with the will of his nation behind him. In true Top Gun style - as there is little that encapsulates so much Americanism in 90 minutes - Pulisic is playing almost always with the red, white and blue flag sketch as part of his glowing bodily aura.
When he runs with the ball the comic book strip background takes over, Spider-Man Spider-Verse art appears before your eyes and Pulisic is playing in his own video game land. For Chelsea he is stuck, miserable and bogged down. He belongs in a different world.
At 24 he has had to deal with being the country's answer to Lionel Messi since he came through the early production line of talent from a vast pool of freakish athletes. There are perhaps players that represent their country in more outlandish ways, sing the national anthem louder and portray their nationalism with a bigger badge on the chest, but few mean singularly as much as Pulisic to the individual sporting landscape in America.
For so long he has been the sport. Whereas Chelsea's other players can get away from the attention, during international breaks Pulisic emerges. Here is a player that has now scored 23 goals for his country since joining Chelsea in 2019. In four full Premier League seasons, he has just 20.
The mitigating factors exist for Pulisic perhaps more than for anyone else. His need to propel football forward for a whole country has always come naturally. The tribal feeling of the same demand at club level has never come as easily. Never has such a reality been so squarely apparent.
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After scoring just one goal for Chelsea in undoubtedly his worst personal season since debuting as a teenager at Borussia Dortmund, Pulisic doubled that tally immediately with two for his country when it mattered in the CONCACAF Nations League semi-final thrashing of Mexico.
Mortal Pulisic left himself in London and God mode, my country needs me Pulisic, put on his cloak and mask for BJ Callaghan this time. Two goals, the calmness and emotion to play the situation perfectly but also express the desired passion when required, this 24-year-old shouldered more weight than most and never so much as flinched at it.
He must wish that the world of football was not so dominated by its relentless and unforgiving club schedule but that it followed cricket's top-down approach. International sport is the rock of rugby, cricket and athletics, in that arena perhaps Pulisic would be less mocked and more admired for his role as one of the best players his nation has ever seen.
For those that live on the King's Road or that journey from further afar in London or across the continent and world, this means little when Chelsea aren't performing. There is no credit in the bank for his mediocre output or lack of connection with the club.
So as Mauricio Pochettino plans to take Chelsea into a brave new world, there is a sense that time is no longer Pulisic's friend. Although a young team in need of emergent leaders and characters with big game experience might look towards a player like Pulisic the draw is not there from either side.
He has given his early starring years to a club that threw it back at him with cries to play at wing-back, false nine and effectively everywhere but his favoured position. He has been one of the many players to fall down as tactical shapes move, ideologies come and go, and managers are in and out without unpacking.
Compare that to the simplicity and organisation of a united set-up for his country and there are evident reasons that one squad gets the player they knew they had and the other looks on wondering where it all went wrong.
Chelsea's new boss wants to create that family feeling at Stamford Bridge, one that resonates with Pulisic's best patches of work. He is a man born and driven by demanding physical excellence and emotional attachment. There is still a chance that in another world Pulisic would be given the chance to prove he can make it but at this stage the time is long gone.
After years of waiting for others to do the business and holding onto assets for season after season, the purge to the expensive squad is set to take Pulisic with it this summer. The stinging truth is far from his fault but the new dawn is coming and there's no time for what-ifs and maybes.
Whereby USA allow this dribbling frenzy to thrive, building a platform from tactical frameworks, confidence and feeling within a group, Chelsea have mixed, matched, snuck away and darted back from any sort of culture or identity that their players need.
Pulisic has shown that he can be the centre of a model founded on togetherness. It may well be what Chelsea need to become but in the wildness of getting there they can no longer wait around. Pulisic with USMNT is a mirror to the alternate reality of what Chelsea want from not only the player but the atmosphere. The chance of getting the two combined at SW6 is a fading unlikeliness that everyone can see.
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