Ruben Amorim Sees Frustration as a Positive Sign for Pulisic

Ruben Amorim likes what he sees from Christian Pulisic – and it’s not a goal, an assist, or even a training-ground dribble. It’s frustration.

The AC Milan head coach knows his American winger is angry about watching the first three games of the 2026-27 Serie A season from the bench. For Amorim, that edge is a good sign.

Pulisic has not played a single minute so far, still working his way back after a micro-fracture and bone bruise in his right leg suffered at the World Cup. He only returned to full training last month. Milan, meanwhile, have moved on without him – at least on the pitch.

“I think you’re going to see Pulisic”

Speaking before Milan’s trip to Rome, Amorim made it clear the wait for “Captain America” is almost over.

“I think you guys are going to see Pulisic,” he 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 and I like Pulisic. I really like him as a player. He’s upset because he’s had zero minutes so far, and I like that in my players.”

That irritation has been brewing for weeks. Pulisic is used to being central, not peripheral. Since joining Milan in the summer of 2023 on a four-year deal, the USMNT star has stacked up 134 appearances in all competitions, scoring 42 goals and providing 27 assists. He helped the Rossoneri lift the Supercoppa Italiana in the 2024-25 campaign and became one of the faces of the project.

Then came the World Cup. Pulisic featured in four matches for the United States, missing only the group-stage clash with Australia through injury and recording one assist before the USMNT went out in the round of 16 to Belgium. The leg injury he carried back from that tournament has stalled his momentum at club level.

A new rival on the left

While Pulisic healed, the left flank did not wait for him.

Nineteen-year-old Alphadjo Cisse has burst through the door Pulisic’s absence left ajar. The Italian youth international has seized his chance, scoring twice already and attacking defenders with the kind of fearless, straight-line dribbling that electrifies a stadium. In a matter of weeks, he has gone from prospect to phenomenon, a breakout story of Amorim’s early reign.

San Siro has noticed. So has his coach.

Asked how he plans to juggle two high-profile options for one starting spot, Amorim didn’t bother dressing his answer up.

“I won’t remove anyone who’s doing well just to name a player,” he said. “This is my way of managing the group, and I’ll die with these principles.”

No promises. No sentiment. Perform or wait.

A different kind of test

For Pulisic, this is a new kind of challenge in Milan. The numbers say he has already been a success: goals, assists, a trophy, leadership for club and country. But returning from injury into a team where a teenager has just lit the fuse on his own career is a different equation.

Amorim has made his stance clear. Merit rules. Cisse keeps his place if he keeps delivering. Pulisic plays when he proves he’s ready – and then, he has to prove he should stay on the pitch.

The American is close to pulling his boots on in Serie A again. The question now is not whether he will play in Rome.

It’s how long it will take him to reclaim a position that suddenly belongs to someone else.