As you no doubt noticed, the IMOTGP blog
has been on hiatus in sunny Florida making tough decisions such as whether to go to the beach or watch tennis. No one said life as the top football humour blogger in Northeastern Illinois was easy.
The much-needed break here caused us to miss another Cristiano Ronaldo wonder goal and unsurprising losses by Chelsea and Manchester United. But we return with a feature called 'The IMOTGP Enemy Report.'
In this blog's case, the enemy is clearly defined as either A - Jurgen Klinsmann or B - anyone associated with any German team not named Hertha Berlin. So today we spotlight an enemy we actually like - Dortmund teenage sensation Christian Pulisic.
As you know, Pulisic made his first start Sunday as Dortmund made five changes after a grueling Europa League win over Porto. That put the teenager in the spotlight until he was subbed off at half-time for some scrub named Marco Reus.
Pulisic was credited with 20 touches and did not honestly see much of the ball. But did he perform? IMOTGP will discuss six of his key sequences.
The left-sided Pulisic didn't quite get into the game much since many of Dortmund's attacks were on the right side. One early sequence saw him try to take on the man he was matched up with - Leverkusen right back Tin Jedvaj. Pulisic tried to get by his marker near the corner flag and failed but looked somewhat up to the task.
When you can't get on the ball, you need to do other things to justify your presence on the field. Leverkusen were attacking down the right side and Jedvaj made a run up the flank to give his side more numbers going forward. Pulisic read the situation excellently - that his man was making a run - and hustled back and nicked the ball over the touch line to thwart the attack. Credit him on that sequence - it's something you usually see American players fail time and time again under the afore-mentioned Klinsmann.
In the 35th minute, Dortmund made an adjustment and moved Pulisic to the right side and he got free and was hacked to the ground by left back Wendell for a freekick. This was a quality play by the youngster.
In the 37th, Pulisic had his worst moment when Pierre-Emerick Aubamayang played him in with a nifty back heel. Pulisic was in the clear yet did not shoot and made a hash of that chance. Rough moment for the kid.
Later on, Pulisic made a nice play when he blocked a pass by Jedvaj and gained control in his own half before Jedvaj and another B04 player bore down on him. Pulisic had options at the moment he gained control but chose to try to dribble out of trouble and lost possession. That was the wrong decision.
In first-half stoppage time, Pulisic had his best moment when he got on the end of a ball right in the center of the goal and fed Aubamayang on the left side for a mouth-watering chance that the African Player of the Year scuffed. Credit Pulisic for getting himself in a good position and making the right decision.
The 45 minutes was unspectacular yet intriguing for the youngster who continues to make a decent account of himself. Credit Dortmund for slowly mixing him in and giving him slightly more responsibility as he progresses. That's the kind of coaching we can only envy here in the country where we are led by a man who guided Bayern Munich to never even having first place at any point in the 2008-09 Bundesliga season.
