Weston puts in a beautiful ball that lands right at Naldo's feet 1-on-1 with the GK. Naldo kicks it right to the keeper. VAR review shows that the pass actually hit the hand of a Berlin defender before reaching Naldo. Caligiuri takes the penalty but doesn't get it on target. Weston immediately gets beaten on a deep ball to the left wing, leading to a goal. Yikes
Naldo misses a clear chance at goal. Caligiuri misses a PK badly. Weston is completely burned on Hertha's goal. And Hertha Belin of all teams is dominating possession. Just hand Bayern the trophy already.
As a USA fan it pains me to say, but I honestly would drop Weston next game if I were Tedesco. The kid is playing too safe, not creating anything, and generally having no impact. Harit-Rudy-Serdar/Bentaleb would be alot more impactful imo. Wes has a long way to go, and needs to develop some aggression to his game a la Dempsey to be a top class Bundesliga midfielder.
All this hand-wringing over WM at RB. Terrible experiment, worthless game to draw any conclusions. And if Tedesco wanted WM off, he'd have subbed him off. I think he'll be right back in midfield next game, because today felt like an experiment more than a game Schalke were really trying to win. Certainly the players looked like they were already on International break...
Wait what.. I'm just coming into this thread after watching the game on a delay and I'm lost at what people are seeing?? Weston hit the pass that led to the first penalty and Schalke's best chance to score all game while he was playing right back, and recycled the ball well as a right back. He then shifted to CM when they went to 4 at the back and did as much as he could from a deep position. It's hard to look great when their attackers can't create anything, but that's not on Wes. That's not his responsibility. He was kept on for all 90 and was moved around in his positioning. His coach thought he was good enough to be kept on in the most important moments of the game but keyboard warriors here are calling for him "trash" and saying he needs to be benched? Bigsoccer is a trip sometimes.
I think Tedesco played him there for a few midseason friendlies last year. Definitely hasn't under any other manager, though.
Not sure about ever, but not in BL play. He was played at CB in a pre-season game and some people were (foolishly) having conniptions - a CDM dropping between the CBs when the full-backs push forward is a useful tactical option - but he's never shown the skillset or even the physical attributes of an RB. He's not really tall enough for a defender, is way more comfortable vertically than laterally, hasn't got real pace (a la Yedlin) and isn't creative enough going forward. It's not that you'd never start him at RB; it's more like you'd only do it if there's been an injury crisis and you need someone to bang his body into the opposition LM. Only two games in is a bit early for doom-and-gloom mongering, but this season's Schalke does not look good at all.
I might agree, but for a bit of confusion. From which position would you drop him, RB, CB, CM? Maybe I missed one?
He led the team in interceptions, tied for 3rd in tackles, completed the 3rd most passes of anyone on the team, and tied for the 3rd most aerial duels of anyone on the team. I don't know where this narrative is coming from that he had a trash game. The real culprit this game was only 4 completed dribbles and 4 shots on goal from the attackers combined all game.
Agree with this, he created the best chance, and would have had an assist if Naldo scored the sitter or if Caligiuri converted the penalty. However he got burned twice at RB, including for the first goal. Once he moved to CM he did well, making some interceptions and generally passing well. Baba was terrible, Rudy was terrible, Naldo was wasteful in attack. Wes did fine after he moved centrally.
In short: don't put him as RB again in the BuLi please. It's setting him up to fail. That he didn't get subbed speaks volumes. The coach knows rotating a young guy like that through three defensive positions and five different roles in 90 minutes was a brutal experiment for him.
Player rating from reviersport.de "Weston McKennie (5): The experiment with him in the triple chain was not fortunate, before the 1-0 he could not stop Dilrosun. Then advanced to midfield, where he had no good scenes."
Felt like last game where he wasn’t the weakest link but was still part of the problem. We all know his defensive capabilities which showed today, and know he’s not the best going forward. Although today he needed to show more. Honestly as long as he’s still in Tedesco’s graces we don’t have anything to worry about.