Did not watch but McK and the 2Loose pitching the shut out as they head into injury time, Up 2-0. Webz have him LB in a 3. Assuming this holds McK and co will be at 10 in Ligue 1, and McKenzie has 9 apps on the year.
Top 6 in Belgium <==> Ligue 1 Bottom 6 so Toulouse is a horizontal move in level in terms of being a starter, but the opposition every weekend is far, far stronger. And he is progressing well. After 10 games, some of them against big boys like Marseilles, Toulouse have conceded 11 goals or 1.1 goals per game compared with 1.37 goals per game last season. They sold 4 CBs in the simmer for a combined €52m to Villareal, Bologna, Sevilla and Stuttgart, Replacing then with McKenzie from Genk for €3m and Cresswell from Leeds for €4.5m. I'd say scouts are sitting up and paying attention to Mark. Close attention
Yeah - so far Toulouse have gotten decent attention for their stingy defense in French footie circles (to the extent my terrible French gives me access). Looks (knock wood) like a very decent mid-career move for him.
Starts: (Re)découvrez le onze toulousain ce soir !Le coup d'envoi de ce #PSGTFC est imminent ⌛️ pic.twitter.com/UfSR09fhXQ— Toulouse FC (@ToulouseFC) November 22, 2024
An early red card complicated matters for Toulouse against 5th tier amateur side Hauts Lyonnais. However, McKenzie and the defense manage not to concede a shot on goal and win in a shootout to advance.
McKenzie goes the full distance in a 0-1 victory, Lens going a man down in the second half and then conceding a PK, converted. Toulouse and Lens are now tied for 7th place, with only 1st-place PSG out of reach.
Since moving, he's started 14 out of 16 Ligue 1 games, missing the first game due to signing late and another due to illness, going 90' in all but one appearance. So far, Toulouse have conceded 17 goals in 16 games or 1.06 goals per game. Last season it was 46 in 34 games or 1.35 goals per game, which is why they're only 3 points off the UEFA places now as opposed to 10 points last season. If only they could score a few goals . . .
Not for long if he keeps this up. If you're a coach assembling a tournament squad, Trusty and CCV being the CB pairing for their club - where they're playing well in the CL - will weigh heavily on your mind, as will Richards being an EPL player. That leaves 1 more CB to take and I haven't seen anything from Zimmermann or Robinson that makes them must-haves while Ream is, well, Ream: vastly experienced, a great dressing room presence who's also approaching 38 and has no pace. Meanwhile, Lund is primarily an LB and plays for a mid-table Serie B side. That leaves you with McKenzie and if Sand's move works out, then it'd probably be be between the two of them for that final spot but McKenzie definitely has the edge.
I don’t think trusty and/or ccv are anywhere near locks to make Poch’s best 23. I kind of doubt either of them does. Neither was in the squad against Jamaica, IIRC, while McKenzie started. to me it stuck out that he knows ccv very well but hasn’t played him.
I mean, not to derail this thread, but McKenzie started v. Jamaica. He's for sure on any national team radar. The issue for McKenzie (and Balo and Tessman and Weah previously, among others) around here is Ligue 1 just doesn't have the same level of English language fan interest that EPL, Champs, Bund, Serie A or even the Ered generally do. Add to that he's at Toulouse, which doesn't even have the advantage of being a name-brand Ligue 1 club and that McK is a defender and it results in "BS YA is just not that into you - at least relative to other YA players."
Poch left Tottenham 5 years ago and when he was there, CCV was on loan. Unless they had really bad chemistry back then I can't see how it'd have any bearing on whether and how he'd use CCV.
I, for one, am super impressed McKenzie made the jump to Ligue 1 and quickly became a starter. Not a lot of CBs in the usmnt pool with a better situation right now IMO.
McKenzie subs on against second tier side Stade Laval in a 63rd minute triple sub, leading 2-0. They conceded and he got a yellow card but they hold on and advance.