Christian Pulisic, his father and Tim Weah rail against ‘evil' US soccer critics
The trio made the comments in the latest epsiode of the Pulsic docuseries on Paramount+, the final episodes of which were released this week. The new episodes cover the national team from the 2024 Copa América, in which the US underperformed by exiting at the group stage, up through the 2025 Nations League final, where the US lost against Panama and Canada en route to a disappointing fourth-place finish in a competition they had won in each of the previous three editions. Following that tournament, Pulisic kicked off a media firestorm when he announced that he would skip the 2025 Gold Cup, the team's last competitive tournament before next year's World Cup on home soil, due to fatigue after a second-straight 50-game season with Milan.
Pulisic's decision elicited strong critiques from ex-US players such as Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, Tim Howard, Charlie Davies, Jimmy Conrad and Herculez Gomez.
'In my opinion [they] disrespected me in a lot of ways, and completely forgot about what I've done for this national team for 10 years,' Pulisic said in the docuseries.
The series also includes segments focused on Pulisic's personal life, and the role his family plays within his inner circle. His father, Mark, is a former professional soccer player, and he spoke up forcefully for his son.
'These [pundits] want clicks, social media, 'subscribe to my channels,' 'listen to my podcasts' or whatever. I think they should look in the mirror and look at their last performances for the national team before they start talking shit,' he said. 'It's jealousy. People want to be in his shoes, and they'll find any reason to bring him down. But Christian doesn't give a shit what anyone says.'
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Christian also repeated a retort he used earlier this year, in an appearance on CBS Sports' Call it What You Want podcast, which had been heavily critical of his decision to withdraw from the Gold Cup
'I'd say the most annoying thing, and for me the biggest cop-out of all time, is when all pundits say 'they didn't want it,' 'they didn't have the heart,' 'back in our day we would fight and we would die on the field,'' he said, insisting again that national team results affect him deeply.
The most scathing retort, though, came from Weah.
'I think those guys are chasing checks, and for me I just feel like they're really evil,' he said. 'They've been players, and they know what it's like when you're getting bashed. Those are the same guys that'll turn around and shake your hand and try to be friendly with you at the end of the day. Don't get me wrong, I respect all of them. They were players I looked up to. But quite frankly, the guys before us didn't win anything either … Christian himself has had a better career than every single one of the guys that speak negative on us.'
Pulisic finished last season as one of Milan's best players in a season when the team won the Supercoppa Italia but lost in the Coppa Italia final, lost in the knockout round of the Champions League, and finished eighth in the Serie A table. The team will not play in European competition this year, with Pulisic missing time in preseason due to an ankle injury.
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