Tag: Weston McKennie

McKennie disavows friend’s Leeds bashing on social media

File this under “unnecessary distractions during a relegation battle”

Weston McKennie has been forced to distance himself from a friend who had some rather unkind things to say about a few Leeds players during a Twitter Spaces session on Tuesday.

Diego Mendoza bashed the likes of Marc Roca, Adam Forshaw, and even McKennie’s U.S teammate Brenden Aaronson during the conversation.

McKennie himself was not spared from criticism as Mendoza said that displaying the same level of effort as Leeds and USMNT teammate Tyler Adams was “not his style.”

McKennie, who was not involved himself in the Twitter Spaces discussion released a statement on Instagram that said: “I just wanted to clarify that things said yesterday have not come from me. When people you know look to defend you, they generally do it from a place of love but if I have something I want to say it will come directly from me. As always the support in Elland Road yesterday was amazing. Let’s fight together for the next 5 games and keep this club where it belongs.”

Mendoza was already known to some segments of the Leeds fanbase due to his alleged close ties with McKennie and his outspoken criticism of the club earlier this month.

McKennie is currently on loan from Juventus through the end of the season. His performances have come in for some criticism of late as Leeds sits just two points above the relegation zone following Tuesday’s 1-1 draw with Leicester City.

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The Americans Abroad Five: Fulham wins the Yankee Doodle Derby

Like it’s been for so much of the season, Fulham’s Americans had a good day and those at Leeds did not

The preponderance of Americans in the Premier League this season meant games like Saturday would always be on the horizon.

Fulhamerica versus Leeds United States of America. The Yankee Doodle Derby. The game that we here at the Five had been salivating over for weeks.

Four Americans started, two on either side. Two more could’ve been involved were it not for injury (Tyler Adams) or getting sacked (sorry, Jesse Marsch).

In the end, like it’s been for so much of the season, Fulham’s Americans had a very good day and those at Leeds did not.

The marquee matchup for fervent Americans Abroad trackers like ourselves leads off this week’s Five.

USMNT player ratings: Pulisic dominates in Grenada rout

The USMNT’s big names sure played like it Friday night

The U.S. men’s national team was supposed to handle Grenada with ease, and it turns out that’s exactly what they did.

Returning to CONCACAF Nations League play for the first time since June 2022, the USMNT steamrolled the Spice Boys, scoring early and often in a 7-1 victory.

Just knowing the scoreline, even a person that didn’t see the game could probably divine some of the ratings here. Christian Pulisic was dominant from kickoff, Weston McKennie conjured up two goals, and Alex Zendejas marked his becoming cap-tied to the team with a goal. If you’re a USMNT fan, it was a fun Friday night.

With that in mind, our ratings for a game that was never particularly close:

Weston McKennie did the physically impossible

This seemed to break the laws of physics

Weston McKennie’s time at Leeds has been a mixed bag so far.

After joining on loan from Juventus, the U.S. national team midfielder has slotted in mostly as a starter next to his international teammate Tyler Adams. He has not, though, had the intended effect on his new team’s results as Leeds has just five points from the seven league games he has played in so far.

But on the plus side, McKennie has managed to bend space and time to defy the laws of physics.

While warming up before this weekend’s game against Brighton, McKennie received a lofted pass from an unknown distance and stopped the ball by, just, standing on it??

This does not really seem possible. And yet!

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The Americans Abroad Five: Reyna and Dortmund miss their chance

If this was a turning point, things appear to have taken a turn for the worse.

How different could Gio Reyna and Dortmund’s season have turned out had last week gone better?

We won’t know the answer to that for a few weeks, but Dortmund’s past two matches did have the feeling of a turning point.

If so, things appear to have taken a turn for the worse.

On Tuesday, Dortmund was bounced from the Champions League by a Chelsea side coming into their match in relegation form. That was followed by a damaging draw in the derby against Schalke — a team that actually is in a relegation battle.

Reyna got a rare chance to impress against Chelsea and though views on his performance are mixed, the one person whose opinion actually matters doesn’t seem to have rated him highly.

Let’s kick off the Five with a look at a disheartening week for Reyna and his club.

The Americans Abroad Five: Leeds is in big trouble

Could the Leeds America era end as quickly as it began?

Saturday was the kind of game that Leeds should have been up for.

Facing relegation rival Everton at Goodison Park, Leeds needed to show some kind of sign it can turn around the ever-worsening tailspin this season is becoming.

Instead, Leeds was lifeless. Everton wasn’t brilliant either, but it didn’t need to be. One gritty performance and one lighting-bolt of a goal from Seamus Coleman sealed a 1-0 win for the Toffees.

Leeds is now 19th after a damaging weekend that also saw fellow strugglers Southampton and Bournemouth win. The club’s decision to sack Jesse Marsch a couple weeks ago wasn’t necessarily wrong, but doing so without having a potential replacement has been disastrous.

After being turned down in embarrassing and repeated fashion, the club is still being led by the caretaker trio of Michael Skubala, Chris Armas and Paco Gallardo. The Everton performance has, apparently, made Leeds hierarchy reconsider the wisdom of letting that trio continue much longer.

Leeds has become appointment viewing for American fans, but that may not last if things continue down this road.

Let’s explore that and a few other pressing topics in this week’s Five.

USMNT player ratings: Adams, McKennie, Ream help secure World Cup draw vs. England

A smart adjustment from Gregg Berhalter ends with an impressive draw

The U.S. men’s national team stepped it up against England, securing a 0-0 draw in which they had the better of the game’s few chances.

The USMNT may have been slightly disappointed with one point against Wales, after dominating in the first half and leading until the final stages, but it’s hard to have too many serious complaints after they held the Three Lions to virtually no serious chances.

We’ll have deeper analysis in the future, but during the World Cup we’ll be giving a quick breakdown of each USMNT player’s performance.

Our scale:

  • 1: Abysmal. Literally any member of Pro Soccer Wire’s staff would have been been able to play at this level.
  • 6: Adequate. This is our base score.
  • 10: Transcendent, era-defining performance. This is Maradona vs. England in 1986.

McKennie: It sucks we couldn’t score against England

The midfielder was happy with his team’s display but knew they left some chances on the table

Weston McKennie was proud of the U.S. national team’s display in a 0-0 draw against England on Friday, but admitted it “sucks” that his team was unable to find a winner.

The USMNT controlled much of the game against vaunted opposition, going toe to toe with a team many consider to be among the World Cup favorites.

But Gregg Berhalter’s men were unable to find a winner, and now go into their final group-stage game knowing only a win against Iran will get them into the last 16.

Despite playing an overall excellent game, McKennie was one of the guiltiest parties when he missed an excellent chance to score the opener in the first half.

Speaking to Fox Sports after the game, the midfielder said his team couldn’t be disappointed with their performance, but conceded that they did leave some chances on the table.

“I don’t think we’re really disappointed. I think we knew that we would come out here and put up a fight. And as you guys could see, I think we felt it, I think the fans felt it,” McKennie said.

“We were all in, we held the ball really well. I think we had the majority of the chances. We were more dangerous and it just sucks we couldn’t get it in the back of the net. But obviously our goal is to try and play our best. And I think that’s what we did.

“That was the one thing that was missing, just putting the ball in the back of the net. The final passes were there. But unlucky and we take away the point. The most important thing is that it’s in our hands.”

The USMNT will move on to its final group stage game on Tuesday, where it will face an Iran side that lost its opener 6-2 to England before stunning Wales with a 2-0 victory on Friday.

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Cameras hilariously caught Weston McKennie using a photographers vest as a wipe for his hands

Somebody get Weston McKinnie a towel

Thank goodness USMNT’s Weston McKennie wound up being healthy enough to make it to the World Cup this year.

Not only is he a joy to watch on the pitch but he’s also absolutely hilarious. And I’m not even sure if it’s intentional at this point. He just kind of does these things.

On Friday he needed to find a towel to wipe his hands while on the pitch but, obviously, there was no towel around for him to use. So what does he do? He reaches for the closest photographer he can find and uses his vest as a wipe instead.

Amazing content right here.

This isn’t a huge deal. The photographer didn’t seem to mind at all so that isn’t anything anyone needs to be worried about.

This is hilarious, though, mostly because it’s relatable. Shoutout to the photographer for coming in the clutch with the bib. He’s a real one, y’all.

USMNT player ratings: Adams, Weah the best from World Cup draw against Wales

The USMNT needed one more standout, and one less mistake

A strong start from the U.S. men’s national team wasn’t quite enough for them to get their first World Cup win since June 16, 2014.

The USMNT dominated the first half and took a deserved lead through Tim Weah, but fell under progressively more pressure and conceded a late Gareth Bale penalty kick, sealing a 1-1 draw that is neither satisfactory nor a disaster.

It’s a bit of a tough game to parse, with many players doing an adequate job, a couple being outright good, and one major mistake undoing their efforts. We’ll have deeper analysis in the future, but during the World Cup we’ll be giving a quick breakdown of each USMNT player’s performance.

Our scale:

  • 1: Abysmal. Literally any member of Pro Soccer Wire’s staff would have been been able to play at this level.
  • 6: Adequate. This is our base score.
  • 10: Transcendent, era-defining performance. This is Maradona vs. England in 1986.