In a move that everyone saw coming,😂 Weston McKennie has moved to Juventus on loan with an option/obligation to buy. So what can we expect for McKennie this year from Juve and what should Juve expect from McKennie? Second question first:
What does McKennie bring?
Let’s start with a couple intangibles.
Good Teammate and Leader
Weston is a great man to have in your foxhole. One of my complaints about the USMNT is that no one stepped up to be the enforcer when Pulisic was being mercilessly hacked by CONCACAF opponents during the last World Cup Qualifying cycle. I don’t think that’s going to be a problem if McKennie is on the field with him.
Another example. A couple years ago some Schalke fans were giving striker Franco Di Santo a hard time during training. In response, the Schalke team sang/chanted Franco off the field as a group to encourage him. Take a look at the video below. McKennie is leading that group. He was 19 at the time.
After a fan critisiced @fdisanto9 in training today, this is how the #s04 squad reacted 👏👇 #SchalkeUS🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/O31aCI25nx
— Schalke 04 USA🇺🇸 (@s04_us) August 4, 2018
Aggression
His aggressiveness manifests in many ways. He’s aggressive tackling, pressing, and passing. I think more or less that’s the way he’s wired. Coaches don’t need to tell him to go get it, they have to try to rein him in a little bit and harness it.
Pressing/Tackling
I think this is one of the big reasons Pirlo wanted him. One of my favorite things is watching McKennie tackle/knock guys down and seeing those opponents get frustrated by it. Eventually, they start throwing hands up in the air with the tone being, “This guy is playing too rough.” I remember watching Arturo Vidal push Portugal around in the Confederations Cup (R.I.P.) and wanting someone like that on the US. Weston can be that guy.
Passing/Dribbling
McKennie isn’t so much interested in going backwards. Sure, he’ll play it backwards if he has to to keep possession, but he’s looking to go forward one way or the other. He’s not a super creative, line-splitting passer, but he will surprise opponents and do it on occasion.
One of the roles Berhalter tried him in with the USMNT was a sort of in the pocket play maker. Imo, it didn’t fit his skill set very well. He would get the ball with his back to goal between the lines, but you could tell he wasn’t in his element there. He’s much better coming from deep with the ball or making late runs. Box-to-box midfielder is his best role and what US soccer fans will be hoping he does at Juventus.
In the Air
I’m not going to spend a lot of time here. Suffice it to say that McKennie is about as good in the air as you are going to find in the world from a midfielder. Domenico Tedesco used to play him as a target forward once in a while because of this skill (did it against Man City in the Champions League).
Here’s an entire YouTube comp entitled Weston McKennie: Aerial Menace
Warning
McKennie will make errors. Some of them will be large, noticeable mistakes. That tends to color your viewing of his overall performance. There have been several occasions where I thought McKennie had a bad match because of this, but when I went back to grade the game I noticed a myriad of smaller positive moments that more than made up for the noticeable bad one. This isn’t to say he never has bad performances. He does, just like every other player. However, don’t let one bad moment affect how you view the rest of the performance.
Room to Improve
Can be Careless with the Ball
Since McKennie is usually looking to advance the ball he sometimes gets caught in possession or turns it over with an overly aggressive pass. It can put his team in a tough spot or lead to a chance/goal for the opponent. Here’s a couple examples:
Defensive Focus
I feel like Weston has been bludgeoned with the goal Mexico scored against the US in the Gold Cup final. Here it is for reference:
Now, McKennie needs to do better here and there’s no excusing getting outrun by Dos Santos down the field…but if a center back blocks that shot, or Bradley spots the run and slides over…are we talking about this? I’m not so sure. His natural inclination is not to stay home on defense and he didn’t look great as a #6 when he played there with Schalke (see: BVB 4 – Schalke 0 from 5/16/20), but he’s not in outer space on defense or something.
Injuries/Weight
McKennie does get hurt fairly often, but it’s not something that keeps him out long and he’s come back from some injuries shockingly quickly. (A search of Twitter will yield some McKennie/Wolverine healing jokes.)
As you can see from his injury history he does get hurt, but nothing has kept him out for an extended period of time.
The weight issue is not something I’ve noticed, but McKennie himself has brought it up in interviews. I believe he feels like his stamina is better if he keeps his weight at a certain level.
Juventus Playing Time?
Here are the minutes played in all competitions from Juventus’ midfielders last year:
- Pjanic: 3,826
- Bentancur: 3,095
- Matuidi: 2,885
- Rabiot: 2,478
- Ramsey: 1,249
- Khedira: 978
Pjanic is out, but his minutes will presumably be replaced by the incoming Arthur. Matuidi is gone, Khedira is presumed to be leaving, and Ramsey may go as well. Pirlo has never coached, so no one knows exactly how he is going to set the midfield up. If you assume a three man midfield though (that seems likely), there will be plenty of minutes to go around for everyone. A compressed schedule due to Coronavirus delays could very well lead to heavy rotation as well.
Here’s a good take on his fit with Juventus:
All in all this is a very exciting move for USMNT fans everywhere. Best of luck, Wes.
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