It’s switch deadline day, and with the information that the USMNT will probably be within the Copa America (until there’s some form of qualifying catastrophe, which has by no means occurred earlier than, proper?), what the members of the workforce do with their membership groups takes on higher urgency. It’s not ready three years anymore. The subsequent massive match is just a yr and a half away now, so USMNT gamers must get settled and play effectively in a a lot tighter window than we first thought. So right here comes Weston McKennie transferring from Juventus to Leeds, maybe for that motive amongst others.
On the floor, a participant transferring from the most important membership in Italy to a relegation battler within the Premier League appears like a step or two down. Nevertheless it’s most likely extra a sign of the place Serie A’s standing is on the world stage, what Juve goes to appear like of their post-Plusvalenze stage, and the place McKennie could be. Juventus clearly want to herald some cash with out the Champions League, and so they’ll must get some wage off the books.
As for McKennie, as thrilling because it was when he arrived at Juventus, it was a little bit of a wonky relationship. It’s not that he was dangerous. He acquired 70 appearances and 46 begins over two and a half seasons, scoring 9 objectives. However he arrived throughout Juve’s descent into being a basketcase, performed beneath two completely different managers, and Max Allegri this season has thrown nearly each formation and system on the wall to attempt to discover a solution. And McKennie was all the time caught up in that uneven water.
McKennie hardly ever acquired to play in his most popular place, which is probably the most superior of a midfield three. He’d been a tucked-in winger in a 4-4-2 for lots of his Juve keep, and recently, he’d been primarily enjoying fullback as Allegri put him out extensive on this mutated 3-6-1 they’ve been rolling out. When Juventus did play a 4-3-3, McKennie discovered it exhausting to interrupt into the midfield forward of Adrien Rabiot, Manuel Locatelli, Federico Bernardeschi, or others. Accidents didn’t assist, as McKennie was primarily out from February 2022 by the top of final season.
Marching on collectively… possibly
That doesn’t imply every little thing will probably be rosy at Leeds routinely, and that’s as a result of excessive stage of weirdness that McKennie is. It’s exhausting to know the place he matches in for Jesse Marsch both. In latest weeks, Marsch has despatched Leeds out in a 4-2-3-1, a formation that doesn’t accommodate McKennie anyplace. He doesn’t defend effectively sufficient to be one of many two holding midfielders, and he’s not deft sufficient together with his contact and passing to be the No. 10 in that formation. It’s not that the change in formation has introduced an amazing reversal in Leeds’s outcomes, however they’ve solely misplaced as soon as within the final seven matches, and that was away to Aston Villa the place they have been clearly the higher workforce and have been unfortunate to lose. However then, they’ve solely received two of these seven video games as effectively.
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Perhaps Marsch wants to shift back to a 4-3-3, and slot Tyler Adams back into the sole holding role, with Marc Roca being the link between Adams and McKennie. But shifting a whole team around a new signing has its perils. Leeds did sign a new striker in Georginio Rutter, which will put Rodrygo back at his more natural inverted winger on the right. But still, if Marsch doesn’t stick with a 4-3-3 solely, then McKennie becomes the same odd fit he was with Juve. McKennie still only does one thing really well, which is to arrive late in the box to score. Lucky for him, that’s a premium skill in a midfielder.
Also, McKennie’s tendency to have his give-o-shit meter drop will not fly in the Premier League or at Leeds. Especially as Leeds are going to need every point they can get to avoid relegation. Marsch’s style is about as high-intensity as it can get, and McKennie can fit into that when he wants to. He just hasn’t always wanted to. Leeds are going to do a fair amount of defending, and they want to attack at a hair-on-fire pace. Does McKennie have the want-to to get up that much of the field that quickly to do what he does best?
Still, the more USMNT players that we can get into the unquestioned best league in the world, the better for everyone. McKennie wasn’t the only USMNT starter in the transfer news, as there was some buzz yesterday that Antonee Robinson was the topic of inquiries from Manchester Metropolis to exchange João Cancelo at left-back. It seems that might have cooled till the summer time, however remains to be a tantalizing, if perplexing, prospect. Pep Guardiola doesn’t actually use his fullbacks like everybody else, scorching up and down the wing to defend and be part of the assault. Cancelo’s function was to affix central midfield when Metropolis had the ball, and the opposite fullback typically varieties a back-three with the 2 centerbacks with Metropolis in possession. Rico Lewis has taken on the previous function of late with Cancelo’s obvious banishment. Robinson doesn’t appear to essentially slot in both function, however Pep has reshaped gamers earlier than.
Issues are occurring, and so they have a complete new perspective now with an enormous match instantly a lot nearer on the horizon.
