AC Milan and United States men's national team midfielder Christian Pulisic said that comments from former U.S. players criticizing him for opting to skip the Concacaf Gold Cup are "way out of line."

U.S. soccer star Christian Pulisic responded Thursday to critics of his decision to skip the Concacaf Gold Cup to recover from his AC Milan season.

And while the USMNT was thoroughly embarrassed in its friendly against Switzerland, much of the discussion focused on the player who wasn't there: Christian Pulisic. Ever since the AC Milan star elected to skip the Gold Cup — the USMNT's only competitive tournament before the 2026 World Cup — the backlash had been impossible to ignore.