Weston McKennie’s presence is always marked by laughter. He has crashed other players’ interviews by lurking from a high perch, visible only to his teammates while a gaggle of journalists have their backs turned towards him. In one instance, he requested two members of the media (including yours truly) duke it out in a battle of rock, paper, scissors to get the last question (and I won). Another time, he drove a golf cart at the U.S. men’s national team’s World Cup base camp in Irvine, Calif., so he and his teammates could score some cold brew before training at a truck parked inside the secure perimeter.
His teammates have a variety of words to describe him – funny, goofy, a clown. They also unquestionably know him as the team’s engine in midfield, one of the crucial cogs in head coach Mauricio Pochettino‘s fluid, attack-minded machine. He has gone from a notable player to a downright important one, doing so off the back of a transformational season with Juventus that was a career-best for goalscoring form. McKennie enters Wednesday’s round of 32 clash at Levi’s Stadium as the only one on the U.S. team to have started all three games thus far, settling into a crucial role that is his to own.
“I think he’s really important for us,” defender Sergino Dest stated. “He’s kind of a box-to-box player. He runs a lot. He helps a lot. He goes into the duels with all his efforts so that’s really helpful for the team because that’s also something we need. We need balance and I feel like we have a lot of different type of players and he’s just a really important player for us.”
Balance is an appropriate word for McKennie’s presence, his big personality uniquely matched by a hard-working, free-roaming role in the USMNT‘s midfield. There is something astute about McKennie’s game, in part because he is a well-versed and well-rounded player – his six years at Juventus have seen him play as wide a range of positions as one could possibly envision, informing his game all the more.
“To be completely honest, being moved around at his club the way he has and playing the different positions, I think it gives him a better understanding of what each position requires so when he’s playing as a whatever you want to call it, he understands what is needed from him,” defender Tim Ream noted. “Also, he understands how to put other guys in better positions to be able to succeed and do their jobs. I say with, with a lot of the group – especially in training, if it’s allowed, try to go into different areas, different positions to understand what it is that your teammate needs in those moments so obviously I think just a more complete understanding of the game and the players around him in the positions.”
It has been evident during the USMNT’s training sessions, too. In the build-up to their 2-0 win over Australia on June 19, McKennie shouted halfway across the pitch to invite forward Alex Zendejas for a rondo, an exercise in which the team is split into small groups and gets touches on the ball as a warm-up for the day’s session. McKennie was loud, his energy only matched by midfielder Tyler Adams but even as he ribbed the goalkeepers for their touches that did not compare to the outfielders, he mixed a compliment to Chris Brady for a nice piece of footwork. Later, he was guiding Zendejas on how to better head the ball, instructing him to put his arms into it next time.
The scene alone was one example of McKennie’s growth from the last World Cup to this one. He has gone from a player often deemed as surplus to requirements by Juventus to a veteran who has led the way, guiding younger players along the way. He was one of the people defender Alex Freeman spoke to before making a wintertime move from MLS’ Orlando City to Spain‘s Villarreal, a foundational moment for the 21-year-old who went from his professional debut to a World Cup goalscorer in less than 500 days.
“I think Weston’s really matured,” forward Folarin Balogun, one of McKennie’s closest friends on the team, stated. “I think this is his best club season as well and I think he’s brought that all into international level. I’m very, very proud of Weston and the strides he’s made and think he’s definitely turned into more of a senior leader within our team and he continues to lead in different ways. He’s somebody who makes the energy good in camp. He’s somebody who talks to everyone, makes sure everyone’s comfortable. I think on the pitch as well, you can see in the games we’ve played, he’s had a real impact.”
The USMNT’s road to a World Cup on home soil has been a puzzle piece of different coming of age tales, some easier to patch together than others. McKennie’s rise, though, stands out the most, the perfect example of a player whose longstanding potential is coming good at just the right time.
“I think he deserves the full credit because the talent that he has and the capacity, the quality, I think it’s him. It’s because of him, because if we go back, all that he earned in Juventus,” Pochettino stated. “In one press conference, I say, it’s him and 10 more playing in Juventus and [he’s] playing [at] right back, midfielder, striker. I think [he] only needs to play like a goalkeeper but it’s him. It’s him. [In] the end, he realized in some moments, ‘I can do. I can be better. I can cope with the demands of the game.’ That is why I congratulate him because he needs to keep going in this way because he’s a fantastic player and he’s an important player for us and I think it’s a great opportunity tomorrow to keep showing that.”
