Christian Pulisic’s summer of work ahead of 2018/19 season with Borussia Dortmund
Despite qualifying for the UEFA Champions League, Christian Pulisic and Borussia Dortmund were left unsatisfied after 2017/18. The USA international took the fire of his frustration onto the training pitch this summer with former USMNT star Eddie Johnson, and is ready to help push Dortmund onto bigger and better things this coming season.
Despite four goals and six assists during 2017/18, in his third season with Dortmund at only 19, an “up and down” campaign for the team – in his own words – left Pulisic with a desire to improve himself during his summer break.
The American has spent time with former USA striker Eddie Johnson working on his already astronomical talents. And after a summer of change back in Dortmund, with Lucien Favre’s arrival as head coach, Pulisic is now excited for the club’s tour to his home country – starting this week – ahead of the new season.
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“I’m excited to play in Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania, a lot of my family will be there,” Pulisic told reporters at Dortmund’s training ground. “For them to see my club team here will be special, a lot of them don’t get to come to Dortmund so I’m excited that my family will get to see.”
It will be the first time that Pulisic has played in the US with Dortmund, and his status as a player in his home country is constantly rising. Even NBA superstar LeBron James showed off his own Pulisic shirt during his holidays.
“Honestly I wasn’t expecting it,” Pulisic said when asked about James’ post on social media. “I sent him a jersey and it’s pretty cool for me, he’s one of my biggest sporting idols so to see him wear my jersey is unbelievable because I wear his jersey, so it’s cool how that works.”
Dortmund will face Manchester City, Liverpool and Benfica over the next week in three different US cities – Pittsburgh, Chicago and Charlotte providing the Bundesliga side with strong tests in various ways.
After returning to training in Germany with his new teammates and new coaches, Pulisic says great excitement is already brewing ahead of the 2018/19 season’s start, which for Dortmund will be on 26 August against RB Leipzig in a blockbuster opening game.
“We’re still continuing to learn more about each other as a group and continue to grow with our coach and understand our style,” Pulisic explained. He [Favre] is working a lot on our shape and how we want to start the season. I think we look really good so far. We can still learn more, but it’s a really good start.
“I want to continue to be as much of a part of this team as I can. I want to be on the pitch as much as I can so I have to earn my position.”