USMNT, Juventus coaches continue to doubt McKennie and he continues to win them over

It has become something of an annual event Weston McKenney. Every year, he reports Juventus For the preseason, where there’s usually a new manager — and said manager comes with healthy doubts about the American midfielder’s game.

Perhaps the club’s books need some balancing, or there is a new prospect that the manager feels will replace the American. Perhaps some of McKenney’s old off-field missteps further entrenched the manager’s reservations.

But rather than fold, McKenney delivers. every time

“I think I’ve been used to it throughout my career, not just at Juventus,” McKenney told ESPN of the skepticism that surrounded him at promotional events for Truly Hard Seltzer. “I think just (in my career), even in my youth, I’ve had that. So, I think I’m pretty comfortable in that position and I know how to get out of that position.”

This season, McKenney has done much better than just “get out of that position.” By any measure, he is having a dream season with the Italian giants, and good for them too. US Men’s National Team At this summer’s World Cup.

McKennie’s contribution of 15 goals for Juventus in all competitions erased his previous season’s high of 10, which was set in 2023-24. That current mark is also second on the team, trailing only 20 contributions Kenan YildizAn attacking midfielder.

McKennie’s versatility has also been vital for Juve — he has played almost every position on the pitch except for center back and goalkeeper. Perhaps most impressive, though, is how he has earned the trust of Juve manager Luciano Spalletti, leading to McKennie signing a new four-year contract and keeping the US international in good spirits ahead of the World Cup.

“It’s a strong person who makes a strong footballer,” Spalletti told reporters earlier this year. “McKenney has this attitude, this way of meeting you halfway, like he says: ‘You ask, I’ll do.’ He started and became effective.

“You can tell he faced his fears when he was younger because to be brave, you have to face what scares you. He tries plays that normally wouldn’t be part of his game, but he still tries.”

McKenney’s U.S. teammates noticed, too, though the overriding emotion was more comfort than surprise. They know that when the whistle blows at the World Cup this summer, McKennie’s form means they can rely on him to raise his game to the required level and he may even drag the team with him.

“Weston is someone you can never count out,” the US teammate Christian Pulisic said ESPN during a promotional event for the degree. “I mean, Weston is always talked about, even when he wasn’t sure if he would go back to Juventus. But then he comes back and he plays quietly and does his job and everyone sees how good he is.

“I mean, it’s just Weston. I don’t really doubt him. We all know what he can do, what kind of person he is. So it doesn’t surprise me. It’s impressive, but at the same time, it’s not surprising knowing him.”

Pulisic doesn’t doubt McKenney, but plenty of coaches do. In fact, almost every manager who has taken the helm at Juve since he joined the club in 2020 from Little Elm, Texas, has wanted to get rid of him at one point or another.

Under Massimiliano Allegri, Mackenzie was sent out on loan Leeds United Fast forward to 2023, where he became a lightning rod for fans in Leeds’ ultimately doomed bid to avoid relegation. When McKenney returned for the preseason later that year, he found he had lost his locker and his parking spot.

The following season he was told by then manager Thiago Motta that he would not be needed. The following year, Igor Tudor was less skeptical but still had his share of criticism about the American player. McKenney eventually triumphed over them all, a result the 27-year-old had long been accustomed to.

“That’s normal life,” he said. “You have to constantly try to prove yourself and show why you need to be there or why they should have you there. So, I don’t always see that as a bad thing. I think it is. It comes with the territory, it comes with a job and competitive sports.”

How a player of McKenney’s talent and background continually finds himself in such a position, there is some reason to doubt.

Perhaps the biggest reason is that at times he has shown a lack of discipline off the field. In 2021, he was Face fines and sanctions By Juventus after he hosted a party with two teammates in violation of COVID-19 protocol. Later that year, he was suspended by US coach Greg Berhalter before the World Cup qualifiers. Another similar violation.

for Austin FC Coach Nico Estevez, who saw McKenney as a U.S. assistant during the 2022 World Cup cycle, said it was part of the maturation process.

“We’ve all been young, we’ve all had moments where we didn’t do the right thing,” Estevez said. “But I think the good thing about Weston, when you know him, you know he’s such a good guy, that he doesn’t act with any bad intentions.”

But sources told ESPN that McKenney also had a reputation for not keeping up with his fitness and enjoying the nightlife too much. McKenney himself admitted during an interview with TNT that he paid close attention to his diet at Tudor’s request, which set the table for his success this season.

Partying may not seem like the kind of dealbreaker that would make a manager let go of a player, but not being fit can collectively stick to a player’s reputation like flypaper. McKenney has had to work extra hard to shake off that perception this season.

“I got out of it by doing what I could, and putting my head down and then just constantly believing in myself,” McKenney said.

McKenney’s cause was helped by a pair of factors, the biggest being his versatility. There is much to admire in his game, including his box-to-box runs, his late runs into the box and killer play ability in the attacking third. All this happens regardless of the position he plays.

“He’s more of a street player,” Estevez said of McKenney. “It’s in tight moments where he doesn’t feel that pressure, he can make plays. In the final third, he’s very creative in the way he attacks the box. He has the instincts that are needed. And when he’s in tight spaces and he can make some different plays and make a difference in that moment, it’s a no-brainer.”

But the other key factor comes off the field: McKenney is a likable guy. Teammates and coaches say he brings a light-hearted, wise-crack vibe to the locker room. Chris Armas, who now coaches the Kansas City Current in the NWSL, saw both sides of McKenney’s personality even during the difficulties of relegation battle at Leeds, where Armas was an assistant coach during McKenney’s brief spell at the club.

“On the team, he was just a guy that brought a lot of joy to the group every day,” Armas said. “So if you watch him, you see him smiling a lot and smiling a lot, but he quickly flips the switch because he’s very competitive and wants to win at everything he does. That’s what I’ve seen.”

But McKenney has a surprising X factor helping his rise: He’s hit it off with Spalletti in a way he hasn’t with previous directors. It obviously helped that McKenney was already enjoying a good season when Spalletti replaced Tudor in November, but in this instance, the new manager arrived without the usual skepticism.

McKenney said the two bonded on a deep level.

“He’s been the best coach in my career so far,” McKenney said. “It’s not just because I’ve played well under him and I’ve been successful under him. I just think he really knows the game and understands the game and has the ability to (connect). So when he walks in the room and talks about the game and talks about life in general, he can control the room. Everybody wants to hear what he has to say.”

More recently, McKenney has navigated similar challenges with the national team as he faced at club level.

McKenney was among the U.S. players who underperformed in the 2025 CONCACAF Nations League finals. defeated by panama And Canada A disappointing fourth-place finish saw the United States, with coach Mauricio Pochettino essentially starting from scratch, promising that nothing was guaranteed to any player.

McKenney was next Excluded from the list For the September window but back to October. Spalletti’s arrival just before the November window meant Pochettino opted to let McKenney settle in with his new manager. For a spell, it created some uncertainty in terms of what Pochettino thought of the midfielder. What is not in question is that McKenney got Pochettino’s message.

“I think (Pochettino) brings a different vibe, a different approach to things, which I think he really wants to be a family environment, but also a healthy, competitive environment,” McKenney said. “And I think that’s something that probably needs to change or it’s helping us as well, because no one has a safe space, no one is safe and you have to compete for the space you want.

“I think it’s an amazing thing because then you get healthy competition, but at the same time, you’re all fighting for the common goal and that’s for the success of the team because no one is bigger than the team.”

Pochettino also questioned where McEnany was. McKenney was a No. 8 in midfield under Berhalter, but in Pochettino’s system, he has been moved further forward, closer to the central striker.

It’s a move that seems perfect for McKenney given the player’s strong attacking instincts. But one can now sense that Pochettino, for all his insistence that the team is the star, is now more comfortable with McKenney.

That could prove critical to the United States’ hopes at the World Cup this summer. If the U.S. is to achieve its dream of a deep tournament run, McKenney needs to be at the heart of it.

“When the team needs some different options in different positions, he can provide that. Yes, I’m very happy,” Marche Pochettino said of Mackenzie. “I think he’s very focused and he’s been training really well and yes, I think he’s an important player.

“It’s not new for us. And at the level we’ve seen him at, he’s a good player and he may have options — no, big options — (for him) to be on the roster.”

What does McKenney think is his best position?

“My best position is wherever the coach asks me to play,” he said.

On that front, there is little doubt.