Dortmund Thrill vs. Leverkusen, Pulisic Not So Much

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Dortmund played Bayer Leverkusen today in Leverkusen in the most exciting match of matchday six. I didn't know how to feel about it, however, much like I don't know how I feel about this blog moving to wordpress.com. I really don't like Wordpress themes. They all look the same. They're all ugly. And so I think I might be going back to Blogger. Hopefully you will follow me there. The reason I didn't know how to feel about today's game was because even though the game was thrilling, and Dortmund came from behind, and from a Dortmund fan perspective the game was a 10 out of 10, from a Pulisic fan perspective it was a bit of a letdown because not only did he not play that well, he was also was subbed off in the 60th minute. And so I felt kind of how a dad might feel if he was watching his son's violin concert, making eyes with the cute mom of the girl who plays the cello from across the aisle. On the one hand it's titillating, I might not be going home alone tonight, but on the other hand when my son touches the violin strings it sounds like dogshit and everyone in the concert hall cringes. Which is not to say Pulisic played like dogshit. He played OK. But he was instantly overshadowed by Jadon Sancho when he came on, who played like a young Dumbledore, roaming around Hogwarts and using all kinds of weird spells to flirt with the girls. Sancho looked like he was having fun out there. Pulisic looked like he was struggling. And here's my real issue with this: This seems to have been happening ever since the USMNT failed to qualify for the World Cup. Pulisic started off banging last Bundesliga season, and though he's had some wonderful moments since then, he seems to have sort of lost some form ever since the USMNT didn't qualify. I think he's getting through it. I honestly do. He's showing more and more of his old self, beating defenders, making them look silly. But then sometimes he looks tentative. He loses the ball. He's not aggressive enough when he should be; he's too aggressive when he shouldn't be. Granted, it's a lot harder to start games and perform well for 60-90 minutes than it is to come off the bench with fresh legs and look good for 10 to 20. But still. Pulisic is still not enjoying his best form. When he does, it will be scary.

Jadon Sancho is so, so special.

What an assist just SEVENTY seconds after coming on as a sub for Dortmund. Incredible counter-attack. The hype is real 🔥 pic.twitter.com/jeGbhxahyh — Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) September 29, 2018

Anyway, it was a cracker of a game. Lucien Favre looked like a genius for bringing on Mo Dahoud, then Jadon Sancho and Paco Alcacer. That was my first real glimpse of Paco Alcacer, and I was impressed. The thing that most impresses me about him is not his ability to score goals, however. The thing that most impresses me about him (and all Barcelona players) is the way they control possession at the top of the opponent's box. It's one thing to pass it around calmly at the half line; it's another to calmly control possession at the top of the box, a vantage point from which you can easily make dangerous things happen, i.e. goals. So how do we (aka Dortmund) move forward after this? Who starts?  Jadon Sancho is not quite ready to be a full-time starter yet. He hasn't shown nearly the magic when starting as he has off the bench. But if not him, who? Jacob Bruun Larsen was essentially a non-factor today. And don't get me started on Marius Wolf. Wolf of course didn't play today, and should never play again. Max Phillip was also a non-factor today. Again, Dortmund shows that it has an abundance of insanely talented players, but Favre, like Stoger and Bosz before him, still hasn't figured out the magic 11. He still hasn't figured out how to get the most out of his players. For now Dortmund lead the Bundesliga. It's a momentous day. But it's marred a little bit by an underwhelming performance from Christian Pulisic. And also by the fact that Josh Sargent didn't play for Werder Bremen today, proving that Florian Kohfeldt might be clinically insane. We look forward then to the Champions League match against Monaco on Wednesday. We look forward for improved performance from Christian Pulisic, which is surely to come. I leave you, then, with a song: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mf9LUNB-JsM]