Yeah, watching the series and seeing a bit behind the scenes and then seeing the financial scandal unfold now is pretty interesting!
Lol, McKennie is not skinny fat. Skinny fat is being skinny with a lot visceral fat. I don’t think he’s old enough to have fatty organs. When I was competing in Brazilian jiu jitsu, my body fat was ~18%. I can confidently say I was in world class shape. I trained with world champs almost every day and competed against some of the best conditioned athletes in the world. Being chiseled doesn’t necessarily mean your conditioning is good.
Hard to describe how thoroughly Juve dominated today’s game despite the scoreline being only 2-0. I don’t think Allegri will be fooled into thinking he doesn’t need Wes in the lineup — Genoa is just abysmal other than the excellent Sirigu — but still a bummer that he didn’t take part in such a comprehensive win.
So far Wes has always been back before expected, in contrast to other Yanks. Let's hope it continues that way, and he's back before Allegri gets replaced or Juve is sent to the B again.
Something kind of cool/interesting: I’m watching the last episode of All or nothing with Juventus, and They are preparing for the Italian Cup final, which had the possibility to be decided on penalties. Pirlo asks Buffon, arguably the greatest GK of his generation (or others), to help him pick out who his 5 best PK takers are after a day of training. To my surprise, he votes for McKennie to be one of the takers, and I was not expecting that. Has Wes taken a pen for the US or club in competition? He must have done well in practice. I realize that cameras were rolling, and maybe Pirlo and Gigi were just putting a show with scripted banter, but it seemed genuine to me. If it was, that’s high praise coming from Buffon.
I came to type *almost* the same thing. It floored me and is *exceedingly* high praise from Buffon in particular. Neither Pirlo nor Buffon seem like the kind to say something like that just for cameras...which makes the moment even more surreal. I watched the final episode this morning and have been kinda stunned all day. Seeing this post made me rewatch the scene and, in context i'm even MORE amazed by the exchange. For those who haven't seen it yet: Assistant coach Tudor (current manager of Verona) tells Buffon to chat with Pirlo about his picks but leave final say on selections up to the boss. In his words, Buffon should be able to tell which guys just score because of luck and who are better...basically who they want to rely on. After watching some kicks (not shown in the doc) Pirlo joins Buffon and Rabiot to discuss their observations. Rabiot actually suggests Wes 1st! Pirlo agrees and Buffon rattles off Cristiano, Morata and Dybala. His sentence is either incomplete or not fully translated but it seems like he's saying Morata and Dybala should be subbed on to participate even if they aren't already in the match. Pirlo agrees and adds Cuadrado to the list. Buffon agrees and the two speak over one another. Pirlo throws out Danilo at the same time Gigi repeats Mckennie (showing he's in total agreement with the earlier suggestion). Buffon's last choice is Arthur. Pirlo is fine with using him for PKs if he's already on the field. I know Wes is really confident and comes across as unflappable under pressure but if he hadn't shown high level of technical skills on the field there is NO way these guys all suggest him as a candidate for PKs with a trophy on the line. Not sure what it will take to convince MNT fans that McK isn't as technically deficient as rumors suggest but I hope more americans watch the series. Comments like this from three WC winners with years of experience are very impressive and speak volumes to me. There have been other parts of the doc which made clear how well integrated in the squad Wes has become but i'm still sort of shocked (apparently he understands more Italian than we fans might realize...only Ronaldo speaks English to him onscreen and he never seems lost or confused after receiving tactical instructions and advice).
I already did I'm the guy who said (before he played a single game for Juve) that McKennie would score important goals for Pirlo. Apparently Allegri and Buffon agree with my assessment because both have highlighted BIg Mac's scoring prowess.
"What do they call a Big Mac in Italy?" "A Big Mac is a Big Mac, but they call him....Il Big Mac" (paraphrased obviously ) On a side-note, one of the people my girlfriend and I hang out with pretty regularly when we visit Italy - really the picture-perfect stereotype that Americans have of Italian guys in nearly every way possible - is utterly obsessed with McDonald's. His dedication is impressive, and a bit disturbing. We've been dragged into McDonald's from rest stops on the side of the highway, to the Viterbo countryside, to downtown Rome. I can say that the words of Vincent Vega are true - a Big Mac is a Big Mac - but a McDonald's in Rome, which is set up to look like it's built into ancient Roman ruins (I think it's only a facade) is quite a sight to behold.
Agreed with that last bit. Also having low body fat does not make one conditioned. But it would probably help his mobility on the pitch to be carrying even 1-2 less kg of fat. It’s purely biomechanics. Carrying 175 pounds versus 185 pounds around for 90 minutes takes less energy.
It seems like Juve is resting McKennie for another game - not listed in the squad for this evening against Malmö. https://www.juventus.com/it/news/articoli/i-convocati-per-la-sfida-al-malmo They're reserving his energies for the Venezia game....
Why rush him back? They are already thru in the CL and they probably don't need him to beat Venezia. Perhaps we will see him on the bench this weekend but I doubt he will start. You never know though. <fingers-crossed>
Not playing, but still featuring ... 🪄 @WMckennie casts the𝘞𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘶𝘮 𝘓𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘴𝘢 in Camp Nou! ⚽️#GoalOfTheDay #UCL pic.twitter.com/1dVkkLwogb— JuventusFC 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@juventusfcen) December 8, 2021
Taking Venezia's recent form into consideration you're probably correct. .....although considering Juve's form this whole season, they could just as well come out and struggle against Venezia's U12 team.
Interesting that Futmob is showing return of early January. I'm guessing that's pure speculation as I haven't heard of a longer timetable from the club.