Mauricio Pochettino said he has not spoken with Christian Pulisic since Pulisic opted out of the Concacaf Gold Cup. Pulisic cited fatigue and lingering injuries as reasons for his absence and faced criticism from former USMNT players including Landon Donovan and Tim Howard. Pulisic defended his commitment on the "Call It What You Want" podcast and said he offered to play in two pre-Gold Cup friendlies. Pochettino emphasized that selection decisions are his, named Pulisic to the roster for friendlies against South Korea and Japan, and said the plan is for Pulisic to arrive fresh, fit with Milan, and ready to compete.
"No, we didn't talk with Christian," Pochettino said on a conference call with reporters. "I think nothing to talk [about]. I think everything is behind us, all that happened in [the] summer, and I think now we need to look forward. I think we have a plan for every single player, and the plan for Christian now is to call [him up], and to see him in this camp and of course hope that he arrives in a good condition, fresh and in good position with Milan, with his team and ready to compete. That is the most important thing."
Pulisic defended himself by going on the "Call It What You Want" podcast saying that questioning his commitment was " way out of line." But he also said that he had offered to play in two pre-Gold Cup friendlies, only for Pochettino to turn him down. That drew a response from Pochettino saying he was the one to make decisions about who played, adding, " I am not a mannequin."
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