USMNT fans are understandably getting excited and projecting a massive ceiling for the kid that will finally be the American that breaks through as a star at one of the biggest European clubs. Interestingly, online pundits are using Pulisic as a measuring stick and arguing that what Pulisic was doing at Dortmund when he was 17 was actually much more impressive, so we actually shouldn't be getting all that excited about Sullivan.

Apples to oranges

Pulisic was awesome to watch at Dortmund. What he did at 17 was phenomenal, there's no denying it. But using his Dortmund performances as a reason to downplay Sullivan is just silly. It's a completely apples to oranges situation for several reasons:

1. Many of Pulisic's appearances for Dortmund were as a 60th minute sub where they already had a lead against a far inferior team. He'd come in with fresh legs against a team that was desperately pushing forward and taking major risks at the back. His mandate was just to play quick counterattacks and use his pace and fresh legs to run at tired defenders 1v1. In many ways he was just a pace merchant/one trick pony (which we can now see hurt his development).

   Cavan Sullivan's team was one of the worst in the MLS before he came into the starting lineup. His team now is probably an average team in the MLS and doesn't enjoy close to the same superiority advantage that Dortmund does against most Bundesliga teams. Cavan doesn't have the luxury of coming in as a super sub and running against tired, stretched out defenders. He's doing it for a full 90 minutes and has to use all parts of his game to be a difference maker. He's using his passing, dribbling, pace, short space quickness, vision to make an impact on the game.

2. As previously discussed, Cavan is using many parts of his game and isn't just relying on pace and 1v1, open space dribbling. I'd argue his use of the various parts of his game has been quite a bit more impressive than what Pulisic was doing at Dortmund.

3. Pulisic played with world class teammates that made it easier for him to shine. He was regularly playing with Shinji Kagawa, Aubameyang, Reus, Dembele, and others. Sullivan is playing with a lot of scrubs. His strikers routinely miss clear cut chances that he singlehandedly creates. His production would be 2x if he just had an above average attacker playing with him.

This isn't throwing shade on Pulisic

I've loved watching/following Pulisic's career. I was waking up at 4am PT to watch his Dortmund games. I've followed every twist and turn of his career. In no way is this throwing shade on him. He's been an amazing player. With that said, I believe what Cavan has been showing recently is quite a bit more impressive than what Pulisic did when he was 17 at Dortmund for the reasons mentioned above.

Why this is probably better for his development

By the way, the way Cavan is playing and all the different areas of his game he's being forced to develop is probably better for his future development. Pulisic was/is a one-trick-pony in a lot of ways due to his severe reliance on pace. When he doesn't have the pace advantage, or is carrying a knock, he's just not effective. His role at Dortmund was a part of that lack of development.

What he has, and the one concern

Cavan obviously has a long way to go, but he already demonstrates elite short area quickness, technique, vision, passing ability, and mental makeup. In fact, his aggression and will to win is probably the most exciting part about him. In some ways he's what you would get if you combined Dempsey's mentality, McKennie's technical ability, and Pulisic's burst and dribbling.

The main concern I have is I don't see the elite top end speed yet, which could ultimately make him a mid-level Bundesliga type player vs a world class Champions League player. At the end of the day pace matters a lot. There just aren't many world class attackers that don't have elite top end speed.