Interesting. Per an Allegri press conference this morning, he insinuated it was Wes' request to leave for Leeds and he was the one who pushed for it.
We're a delusional lot. Most of us are still living off of the fumes of the 1970's. And that moment Leeds had in the 1991-1992 season. Any Leeds fan younger than 30 only knows tales of past glories.
Sounds like Wes felt tactically limited in Italy (in ways that do not align to his strengths and in how he wants to play) and sees Leeds and the PL as a place he can enjoy his football more.
I didn't see the transcript for the interview. Curious what language was presented that led you to that conclusion? In his interview with Tyler Adams he does mention that his physicality and ability to go box-to-box consistently are traits he has that will help him succeed in the league but if I got anything from that interview it is that playing in the EPL is a top dream for him and that having a few Yank colleagues to rely on early on at Leeds was cherry on top.
TBF this am I saw an American fan characterize Leeds as generally welcoming yo all 5 yanks. Do I may not be seeing a representative sample. And Lalas is baiting them today, like the man with the middle school brain that he is
I think him wanting to leave Juve was more a product of the the back office/legal shitshow and knew he wouldn’t be playing CL anyway next year. As he said in a Leeds interview he didn’t even think he was leaving til a bit over a week ago… about when the legal stuff hit
Wasn't it obvious Allegri loves him? All the handwringing over rumors Juve had been shopping Wes around for a year were pretty baseless Even when it seemed like his form was poor, Max gave him starts and significant substitute minutes. Further proof could be seen in his actual buyout price...plenty of fans have argued whether Wes is really worth 30-40M euros but that's a sign of reluctance to sell (from my vantage point) Not saying he isn't worth that much (esp in this inflated market) but it made me feel like Juventus brass weren't desperate to let him go for a bargain to whoever showed interest.
this interview goes a bit more in depth: https://theathletic.com/4141126/2023/01/31/weston-mckennie-leeds-loan/ “I thought seriously,” McKennie told The Athletic on Monday at Elland Road. “Juventus are a Champions League club, a strong club, one of the top teams in Italy and around the world. But for me, I just felt like I couldn’t express my style or play and my full potential there. Leeds are a team who I feel like I fit toe-to-toe with everything that they want to do and accomplish. “I have friends here. Obviously I think about myself first because it’s my career, but it helps. Tyler’s a similar player to me. He fits in well here, so I’ve heard only good things. That’s how I came to my decision.” / “When I was at Schalke (from 2016-20), I was all over the place,” McKennie said yesterday. “I was playing right-back, I was playing midfield, I was playing striker, I was playing centre-back… everywhere. I learnt to play different positions. “When I came to Italy, they could see I was a bit hectic in some of my runs and pressing sometimes — running 60 yards instead of running 30 yards and doing the same thing. “I definitely learned some tactical and positional discipline. But at the same time, it became a little bit too much — where it felt like I was on a string. The string is pulled here, the string’s pulled there and I couldn’t completely have some type of freedom. “That was one of the main reasons why I came to the conclusion that I’d come to England and see how I shape up.” / “In Italy, there’s a little bit more on the serious side — not in a bad way either,” McKennie said. “They’re very presentable. I’m very, I don’t know… outgoing. I have a really big personality and sometimes it doesn’t work out. Also, the playing style. Italian football in general is very defensive and different paced to what you get here (in England). I’m a very up and down (box to box) type of guy, so that was another reason.” or it may have been from ESPN's interview which aired during Futbol Americas...i can't find the full thing anywhere outside of ESPN+ but here is an excerpt from the writeup: https://www.espn.co.uk/football/lee...s-joining-usa-players-at-leeds-cherry-on-cake "But honestly, my whole decision was based on if I fit in the system or not and can I thrive there and can I be myself and play my style of football? But obviously it was like a cherry on top of the cake having them [Adams and Aaronson] here as well," McKennie said.
was the limitation not Italy and the Serie A but how Allegri used him versus Pirlo? On another point - Pogba is still injured and his return is delayed. Wes was smart to get out of DodgeTurin .... I hope Jesse turns him loose to go box to box and wreak havoc. Tyler and Wes are tailor made for the EPL in ways that Aaronson will never be .... He and Tyler together could be stellar for Leeds. This could be massively entertaining.
No, I'm talking during European competition. And games in the Premier too. It was all over the media at the time, because the Leeds hooligans attacked the locals wherever they went: Germany, Denmark, Netherlands, France. Then one time they tried their antics in Turkey and it ended with a couple of dead and a dozen in the hospital. Finding that old info online in English is hard, now, of course. But there's still some left. Due to cultural bias, most of the hooligan crap done by English fans in Europe receives very limited reporting in the English language, though. Even now. https://www.sierraleonefootball.com...leeds-fans-shouting-sieg-heil-us-hatred-eyes/ https://www.theguardian.com/football/2000/aug/23/newsstory.sport9 https://roblufc.org/2018/10/12/leed...rabble-rouser-tommy-robinson-by-rob-atkinson/ The Robinson case was a big one. Even recently there was an issue with the logo they used: https://deadspin.com/leeds-united-admit-that-ugly-vaguely-fascist-looking-c-1822383831 Leeds, Lazio and Zenit (St. Petersburg) are three clubs in Europe with a long history of Fascist sympathies. But Leeds has been working hard at trying to change it in the last years: https://www.planetfootball.com/in-depth/leeds-united-racism-fanzine-forced-change-elland-road/
Hard to say but I think it was more general than even what the manager might've asked of him...to have the trust of your mates you gotta follow some basic agreed upon rules. I always thought he played a bit restrained and couldn't figure out if it was his own fear of making a mistake, or something else. Now we know, at least according to him
There was a video here last year of Wes guesting on a show in Poland with Wojciech Szczesny where Szczesny talks about how Weston is made for the Premier League.
Wow I wouldn’t have guessed that McKennie was driving this, only that he may have tried to steer the selling ship that Juventus was driving towards Leeds. We’ll see if this move pays off for him which will mostly be dependent on if they stay up of course.
IMO he learned a lot with Juve. He's correct about the discipline and the formality, I can see Wes hating the excessive formality, but that is the culture of old countries, and the Mediterraneans have a very old civilization. Culturally, England, Scotland, Scandinavia, and to a lesser extent Germany and the Netherlands are a good fit for Americans. The Mediterranean is very different, everything is more planned --even the social interactions, even the words you say are more loaded with nuance. But the tactical improvement with Juve have made of Wes the kind of player who can be a much greater asset in England. Let's hope he doesn't forget what he learned under Pirlo and Allegri.
I thought these two charts were also interesting when it came to McKennie (also Musah not far off from where McKennie is in chart 1)
It's interesting with him being such a free spirit that he had such a rigid military upbringing. Have to imagine those two poles pull at him constantly in a hierarchical setting like Juventus and both helped prepare him and helped pull him away.
Wow, this is eye opening for me. I would have thought it’s the opposite: that is, Mediterranean cultures would be more laid back because of the sun/beaches while Northern Europe would be more formal/standoffish.
This has Titanic written all over it if Leeds don't stay up (pun intended) head coach+3 of our best if this thing goes pear shaped Americans in the PL might be set back forever...!!!
Yeah, Germany is as standoffish as you get, in some parts in many ways. I've always thought one of the ironies of Italian soccer is it's about the only thing in Italy that is sometimes well organized. Well, footie and kitchens.
At first I thought Weston was stepping into a potentially prickly schemozzle. Upon reflection I am recalculating my bearings and lean towards a gingerly optimistic outcome.
I see a lot of this kind of take, that this is risky and things could go south. Probably the right take but imagine what will happen if this doesn’t go off the rails, if they’re successful. This will be fricken awesome for the guys and for the rep of US soccer in general. Gonna be wildly optimistic over the next week or so.