Apologies if this has been posted before. Super entertaining video of Wes being interviewed by Polish media along with Szczęsny. A lot of good nuggets here (i.e. being fined 50k Euros for being late...yikes)
He was very candid with some of those answers. Also, jesus, I was one too at his age but dude is a ********ing partier. He's one of those guys, and he's rich so it really helps, whose first thought in a new city or situation is "where da party at"? Nothing wrong with that and given his football trajectory can't be affecting him that much -- other than maybe some of the baby fat.
I laughed pretty hard at the "teammates" video with Turner & Acosta where they were both groaning about how much Wes talks. "it gives me a headache" I'm gonna guess being in Italy doesn't slow him down. 5:15 mark
I know you're joking, but is Puli's sister supposed to be "Puli's girl" in this scenario? Not aware of any other rumored hookups that were considered "notorious".
Szeczesny asked a great question about the two euro leagues not suiting his skills...I wasn't expecting what came next
Maybe a bit off topic but had we qualified for the WC in 2018, do you think Wes would have made that roster and got PT in Russia?
Wes nemesis is not going to be the parties but the food at the parties. Guys who look like him balloon up early. He's going to need a lot of extra-training after 25. He's going to be in good company. https://www.casino.org/blog/10-fattest-footballers/
I don't think so Definitely not as a starter but in a midfield with Bradley, Jones, Kljestan and Nagbe still playing the young guy closest to making it on the plane to Russia would've probably been Acosta Wes might've been taken as a depth guy but I don't think they were ready to sacrifice a spot for those old guys for a relatively unproven player like him
I think so. There were a number of articles written in June 2018 of what the roster would have looked like had we qualified and they almost all included McKennie. https://www.espn.com/sports/soccer/...nal-team-starting-11-been-russia-according-us https://soccer.nbcsports.com/2018/06/05/who-would-have-made-usmnt-squad-for-2018-world-cup/ https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/armchair-analyst-my-us-national-team-2018-world-cup-squad Bruce Arena also said in his book that he would have revamped the roster for the World Cup and that McKennie (along with others) would have been a “strong candidate” to be there.
Which part did you not expect? That he thinks his game is best suited for the prem or them comparing him to Nainggolan and Vidal? I really liked their comparison and agree that non-traditional players can really do well. There is strong examples to that both in the prem and the ones made in Serie A.
Both McKennie and Adams would have made it on Arena's squad IMO, although I suspect Adams would have been more of a utility man who provided as much cover at fullback as in the midfield. Edit: remember that 2017-18 was McKennie's breakthrough season, making 14 starts and 11 sub appearances, and this was for a 2nd place Schalke. He would be going to Russia.
Old guys pontificating. So be it. Juventa's locker room supposedly loves Wes. The energy he brings on the field is obvious. He keeps improving and that doesn't happen without dedication to training, etc. But the rumor mill....
Wes has been and is and will be fine. Training standards and data are so much higher than any of those above examples. Mario Gotze allegedly has a similar issue to Ronaldo and is still playing as a professional to this day. The amount of detail and precision and expertise put into today's training is nothing like those yesteryears. We have so much more precise data, so much better and more thoughtful facilities and exercises and recuperation. I laugh thinking of Jan Molby or Maradona ever doing one of those banded explosive things or one footed volleys on a half medicine ball thingy. Maradona, without a doubt, would've pulled some outrageous shit from that position and been a delight in those training videos we all watch. And with modern surgery, recovery, and training, who's to say what kind of different career he could've had. But back to Wes: He plays a ton of games, covers a ton of the field, and generally stays on the field and makes a big time impact for pretty long stretches of the year. He just about lapped every other major USMNT player last season. He knows I'm sure better than any one of us what he needs to do to get and stay on the field and we can all presume that he'll continue to do those things, and change, and evolve. Maybe he'll do that minimum, but so far he can also say that if he's been doing any minimum, well, it's gotten him to the top of the game and he's gotten the sweet life and he certainly isn't going to let go of it so easily.