Pulisic, Weah slam 'cop-out' criticism by ex-U.S. players - ESPN

United States stars Christian Pulisic and Timothy Weah have called out «evil» and «cop-out» criticism from former national team players in a recently released episode of the Paramount+ «Pulisic» documentary.

«I'd say the most annoying thing, and for me, the biggest cop-out of all time, is when, especially, you know, all pundits want to say: 'They didn't want it. They didn't have the heart, you know, back in our day, we would fight and we would die on that field,'» said Pulisic in the eighth episode of the docuseries, which was filmed earlier this summer.

In the episode, which chronicles a poor run of form from the U.S. in 2025, as well as Pulisic doing «the best thing for myself» by taking a break from the summer's Gold Cup, Weah also chimed in about the growing criticism from pundits and former USMNT players.

«Those guys are chasing checks, and for me, I just feel like they're really evil, honestly, because they've been players, and they know what it's like when you're getting bashed,» said Weah. «Those are the same guys that will turn around and shake your hand and try to be friendly with you.»

The quotes from both players and Mark Pulisic (Christian's father), who said that former U.S. pros «should look in the mirror» before they «start talking s---,» have added more fuel to the public spat between the current and previous generation of USMNT stars.

Ahead of the Gold Cup, U.S. icon Landon Donovan took a verbal jab at Pulisic and other USMNT key figures that would be absent from the tournament, without specifically naming any players, stating: «I can't help but think about some of our guys on vacation, not wanting to play in the Gold Cup. It's pissing me off.»

Without Pulisic, among others at the Gold Cup, a USMNT