Christian Pulisic has never missed a penalty for club or country, so Milan coach Paulo Fonseca was distraught that the USMNT star didn’t take spot kicks against Fiorentina on Sunday.
Fonseca’s Milan lost 2-1 against Fiorentina on Sunday, seeing Theo Hernandez and Tammy Abraham miss one penalty kick each.
The Rossoneri boss was fuming after the final whistle, saying he didn’t know why his players decided to change the designated penalty kick taker, Pulisic.
Pulisic’s penalty kick record increases Milan regret
The American star’s record from the spot further enhances Milan and Fonseca’s regrets, given that the ex-Chelsea winger has never missed a penalty in his career.
Pulisic converted nine spot kicks for the USMNT and one for Milan in a recent Serie A victory over Venezia. Therefore, fans and pundits in the USA were surprised not to see Pulisic take at least one of the two Milan penalties in Florence last night.
At the same time, Fonseca warned his players it must happen “never again” that they change the designated penalty kick taker during a game.
AC Milan have missed two penalties in their match against Fiorentina (Taken by Theo Hernandez and Tammy Abraham)
Meanwhile, Christian Pulisic has never missed a penalty for club or country (including Milan) in his career before with a 10/10 record 🤷♂️ pic.twitter.com/fNlQRNj074
— Golazo America (@GolazoAmerica) October 6, 2024
The players went against the coach’s order on the penalty taker, so basically they did not respect him at all.
Dear Fonseca,
What do you mean by you didn’t know? The first penalty, perhaps, I’ll give the benefit of the doubt there – but how about the second? You should’ve already be furious about the change in the hierarchy on the first missed pen and should have already stomped the authority to force the designated kicker to take it the next time around. Lo and behold, the players did it again in the same freaking game!
To let 2 undesignated kickers take it, and we ended up losing, is showing that there are no respect whatsoever towards the coach and towards your fellow teammates. This is what happens when you have no leader in the pack – you even have to roll the captain armband like a participation trophy lmao.
If Fonseca wants to stay beyond Christmas, he really ought to do something here. Stamp his authority (if there’re still any). In the end, management would have to pick a side, to defend and stick with the amazing coach they dearly chose, or to defend the players they’d love to make capital gain for. It is clear that we’re not a TEAM any longer, and that’s no surprise at all.