Earning his stripes: Timothy Weah at Juventus

Thought he had four goals for Celtic.

 

I've always seen him as a forward and have been surprised by the past few years, with manager after manager moving him farther and farther away from goal. Though the red card was not a great way to repay him, Weah owes some thanks to Berhalter for playing him high up the pitch when his club managers did not.

 

I was only counting league goals for each club. He had 3 in league play for Celtic (and 1 in a cup tie against a lower division side). But also, he was only there for half a season.

 

Putting a player further back from goal is sometimes done for brainy players who know when and how to approach the goal and take advantage of where their teammates are. I.o.w., give them time to analyze before acting. Other players will play purely on action/reaction and take advantage of space when they beat their mark. Conceicao is typical. He doesn't do it because he's stupid, he does it because he's a tough little battler with a heck of a shot on goal if you let up against him for a second which is going to happen eventually. When it does, Weah will be in the right place as in Weah's goal v. Parma with assist from Conceicao.

Weah + Conceicao = more skills on the pitch.

Credit Italians for knowing how to take advantage of Weah's "9" qualities without actually making him a 9. That's good economics

 

Credit Gregg too? Though I think he is a 9. At least he is one in the making. Yeah, he can cross. Yeah, he can get up and down the wing. No, he isn't great in the air. But he's got the instincts and skills that translate nicely to a career as a 9.

 

Ok, but his goal production wasn't the greatest for the USA and he was troubled getting to the end line as a winger and making something of it. Look at his WC goal. He's on the right and the USA builds left thru Musah, Sarge, Pulisic and here comes Weah with the perfectly diagrammed run for Pulisic's assist.

 

Wingers don't generally score a lot of goals. Weah had more defensive responsibilities partnered with Dest than Pulisic did with Jedi. Put Weah closer to goal and he will score. The ability is pretty damn evident.

 

That disallowed WC goal was the smoothest I had ever seen from a USMNT player.

 

I'm old enough to have seen his dad play (and score) live. But I get the sense most of us here are.

 

Not for Weah's low production, no, which has been remarked on by others, not so much me. Reason? Gregg's offense with high fb's carrying the ball generally gummed up Weah's position in the forward wide area and Weah just isn't the squirrely type like a Concecaio. Weah is perfect as wb for Allegri or lwf for Motta. People underestimate Weah because he was screwed in lille, playing wrong tactics for Berhalter, injured and scared over his hammy for Allegri, thus not getting a lot of quality time to actually score, and now excelling and entering fine form after the summer break while also reaching the age where players are nearing their peak performance level. Great role player. These types tend to anchor a team and give it confidence.

 

Weah has been a first team professional since he was 17.

He's never shown to be a prolific goal scorer.

He had plenty of opportunities over the years. He regularly played high up on the wing in Lille and hardly ever scored.

I doubt he's transforming this season. His career moving forward is still probably a utility player who will start at RW/RWB/RB depending on what the team he is on needs.

The three goals in 6 games to start this season is likely just a nice purple patch for him. That happens sometimes for players.

 

Weah is consistently delivering very decent crosses from the wing. He's been a very good winger most of his career. He likes real estate to run into. He's getting smarter every season I watch him. If he stays healthy, (spit, touch wood, cross myself, toss salt) I can't see him moving to CF on a top side. But I can see him playing wide for a decent little while.

 

He's playing better this season than I have ever seen from him at a club, including Celtic. He seems more confident, and I have to give Motta credit for backing him. Will he continue to score regularly? Who knows, but he's doing all the right things so far, so it's certainly possible that he's made a jump in class. (Especially if he can cut out the brain fart turnovers.) Sometimes it just takes the right situation to get the most out of a player, look at Pulisic in Milan for example.

 

Interestingly at U17 and maybe U20 he played left winger and had a lot of goals because he's right footed and he hits bangers. With the full team he has played almost exclusively on the right where he puts in very hard and usually low crosses and occasionally scores. just depends on what the team needs. I enjoyed watching him, Dest and McKennie run little triangles near the corner until one of them would get sprung. Weah would look a lot better if both of them were healthy (as would the team).

 

At the very least, he's proving he belongs at a high standard club. On top of that, his utility player abilities make him a pretty valuable squad player.

 

How'd he play.

 

Tidy with the ball. Put some crosses into dangerous areas. Lots of running. Good shift.

 

Weah goal.

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He had another very decent game today. Feel like his position and anticipation are getting better. Syncing with the team better.

 

He's always lacked a nose for a goal. If he could add that to everything else he's built -- that's a top player

 

His coach says he sees him as a goal scorer... and he starts scoring. I think he just needed someone to believe he had that trait and put him in positions to score.

 

4 goals, 2 assists in 8 league matches so far this season. Our boy has made it!

 

Sounds like daddy issues! Lol

 

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SempreMilan has a piece on Saturday's all-American contest, Milan v Juventus.

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On the flip side, Weah has returned transformed after the injury at the beginning of the season. When Tim starts, he often scores and that is what happened on Monday night with the USA. He actually has three goals in the last four league games (four in total for the season) too.

Weah scored against Inter in the 4-4 draw a few weeks ago and he is looking for an encore, especially with Dusan Vlahovic out and even more so at the stadium where his father George won the Ballon d’Or with the Rossoneri.

https://sempremilan.com/stars-and-stripes-battle-milan-juventus