Imagine trading Turin for Yorkshire. No thanks. Watching All or Nothing really made me want to live in Turin when I retire. Beautiful place.
But not from Leeds. They have the joint second-lowest estimated wage bill in the EPL. They're not stupid to begin with and, since the owner and a number of the directors are Italian, they'll know how much Wes is worth to Juve.
He's not going to Leeds. That's pure noise and recycled garbage from months ago prior to his uptick in form.
As they should be, gun-shy from the financial meltdown that led to the years in the wilderness. Coming back up to the Prem is the right place for a club with the size and history of Leeds, it would be a shame for them to go back down. Their form might warrant it though.
FYP. Since September, they've had between 6 and 9 first-choice/first-off-the-bench players out for 4-6 weeks at a time and unable to maintain fitness when they do return. And none of them has broken or sprained anything. That's not an injury crisis, it's a fitness crisis. Bielsa's style is famously demanding physically, which is all the more reason to invest - heavily - in medical staff and facilities.
On the bench: 💺 𝗕𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗛 | Perin, Pinsoglio, De Sciglio, Pellegrini, Rugani, De Winter, McKennie, Locatelli, Kulusevski, Kaio Jorge, Soulé.#JuveCagliari #ForzaJuve— JuventusFC 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@juventusfcen) December 21, 2021
Has to be 1 of 2 things. 1. Put the players in the shop window (Arthur and Rabiot) on the field hoping for a good game for future buyers to see. 2. Juve have a ridiculous start to the second half of the season and Max doesn't want to risk any injury before the matches again, Napoli, Roma, Inter, etc. It is a big gamble with no Locatelli and McKennie and Juve can't afford to drop points to the bottom team.
I love it when Wes is healthy. He had a couple of really nice runs/passes in the 2nd half. Really wish his final ball to Morata had come off... but Juve looks a lot bettr with Wes in the midfield IMO. Currently 5th in the table.... 4 points behind Atalanta for a CL slot.
If he didn't try things he wouldn't see the field at Juve. He was excellent today and he drives the Juve attack forward moreso than their other mids. Fans on their board really praising him for his attitude and play lately.
He also just came back from injury and played 60 or so over the weekend. Maybe just managing minutes.
no look back-heels aren't exactly why Weston gets on the field. It's his huge work-rate and dangerous runs.
If he can release the ball a bit quicker and fine tune the weight of his final passes, oh man. He was finding himself in really dangerous positions and making things happen. It is really interesting to see his transformation as a player. His attacking prowess seems to be what Max is looking for. That isn't what I would have said after watching him with Schalke.
His role has def changed under Allegri. He's no longer basically a free roaming player that makes his bread and butter with late (and early) runs but one that has more positional responsibility and that is expected to help carry the ball forward. Agree if he could just learn to release the ball a little sooner he'd really be something. As is, it's a pretty remarkable transformation. To Bruce's point I get what he's saying, he's not a player you really associate with flair and technical brilliance but I think that Allegri asks all of his attackers to play a certain way and flair and "trying things" is part of that. For his part I think that Weston's little flicks, many of them defensive in nature tactically, are a brilliant part of his game. The backheels and such not so much -- yet.
As a USMNT fan, I am extremely happy that his positional responsibility was reigned in a little, that type of discipline and understanding will really pay off throughout his career. For most of his career, his superior athleticism has gotten him really far, the mental aspect can be a game changer. As others have mentioned, the game is slowing down for him and he is really expressing himself offensively.
Wes has managed to conquer Eurosport Italia, an outlet that used to be quite critical of Yanks in Serie A. https://www.eurosport.it/calcio/ser...fa-un-regalo-di-natale_sto8681822/story.shtml Dal 64’ Weston MCKENNIE 6,5 – Impatto positivo. Rispetto a Rabiot prova a buttarsi più dentro, a cercare qualche giocata offensiva in più, a giocare verticale. From the 64'[sic] Weston Mackennie 6,5 (Rabiot had a 6) -- positive impact. He goes forward more than Rabiot, trying to find any extra attacking play, to play vertically. [Wes was subbed in at the start of the second half, so someone made a mistake in there.] Calciomercato agrees, although they give him and Rabiot the same 6 (decent): https://www.calciomercato.com/news/juve-cagliari-le-pagelle-di-cm-21952 Rabiot 6: potrebbe affondare il colpo, non lo fa mai. La curva addirittura applaude quando lo speaker annuncia il cambio. (1' st McKennie 6: dà un pò di dinamismo in più e si inserisce quando può.) Juve News reports that Rabiot was subbed due to injury ("viene sostituito a fine primo tempo per un problema fisico").
Yes, he was poised and in control today. Not frantic or trying too hard. Yet still highly dynamic. That was the most impressive for me.