Westin’ away again in Margheritaville: McKennie at Juventus

started and played 90' in the 4-0 win against Pisa. Played CAM, RWB, RW, and ST.

 

On Thuram's goal Wes won the ball back far of the pitch from a Pisa player and played a clever little touch over to Locatelli who fired it off the post right to Thuram to bury. Was a great play by Weston. He was really all over the place today. Amazing how much Spalletti trusts him.

 

Juventus-Pisa 4-0, pagelle e tabellino:
Yildiz trascinatore, Thuram onnipresente, Conceicao elettrico, Boga frizzante, David fantasma | Goal.com Italia

VOTI JUVENTUS: Perin 6; Kalulu 6, Bremer 6, Gatti 5.5 (46' Kelly 6), Cambiaso 7; Locatelli 6.5, Thuram 7 (77' Koopmeiners sv); Conceicao 6.5 (77' Miretti sv), McKennie 6, Yildiz 7.5 (82' Kostic sv); David 5 (46' Boga 7).

Pagelle di Juventus-Pisa 4-0: esce David e i bianconeri dilagano. In gol Cambiaso, Thuram, Yildiz e Boga

 

On the reverse angle you can clearly see what a great touch he made, falling over after winning the challenge just nudged it perfectly for his team mate.

Juve somehow are still hanging on to hope of UCL qualification. Roma stumbled on Sunday and Como and Roma play each other this Sunday. Somebody has to lose, a draw would be great too for Juve supporters. Como have a difficult schedule including home Inter and Napoli with some match congestion from the Copa Italia final against Inter in April.

 

So how much is Weston making again?

I remember following NT players moving abroad to Scandinavia/Championship and they would be bappy to be making low six figures yearly which was still more than in MLS.

 

Weston will be on an average post-tax NET of €4 per year over 4 years, I do believe.

 

allegedly now on €4m/yr net (roughly €7.4m gross).

But also, things have gotten much better in MLS. League minimum is $80k, and the majority of players are on at least 6 figures. I think around 1/4th of all MLS players earn $500k or more now. It's not at NBA levels of "you can have a career here and not worry about working again", but it's also not like it was in the early 2000s when it wasn't entirely uncommon for non-DPs to have 2nd jobs

 

This was a thing in the Beckham Experiment book. A lot of players were mad when they split the bill at an expensive restaurant when Beckham was wealthy, and some of his teammates also worked part-time at Sports Authority.

 

Yeah, I probably oversold how long ago that time was. It's really only gotten better (...or even 'feasible to live in most US cities') for the low-end players since the 2020 CBA, although it had been trending in the "right" direction ever since the introduction of TAM/GAM (~2015, IIRC) imo

 

I remember when some of the players were making super low amounts. Wish I could remember the exact amount but seems less than 20k. Then I remember seeing A and AA baseball guys were sort of the same. MLS has increased dramatically and gives no signs of slowing down. It's just never fast enough for many even though that slow steady pace is because NASL showed the error of being like Icarus.

 

Pete Vagenas used to follow Beckham around the locker room until Beckham finally asked why and Pete said, "in case you drop any cash."

 

For many years there were several $17k salaries on every MLS squad.

 

Will get better in less than a couple years with the next CBA. I expect a $150k/yr minimum among other things.

 

I was always pleased/amazed when I was making more than the lower part of the league. Sadly their wages have exploded while mine have not

 

Same. I was in grad school in NYC at the time and my stipend was higher than the MLS minimum salary.

 

MLS was barely over ten years old when Beckham arrived, it’s easy to forget those were still relatively early days. Soccer’s come a long way since then, both domestically and in the ability to have a guy like Wes thriving at Juve.

Fulham isn’t the pinnacle anymore.

 

Disagree. Fulham is still the pinaccle.

The pinnacle on the side of a mountain. Like a nipple.

 

I've been a Fulham fan since George Best and Rodney Marsh played for them.

 

That remains my favorite jersey of all time.

 

I understand why, the details are incredible. That crest is drool-worthy...

 

Oh man. You and me have beef now. Them's fightin' words. (They might be true, but still fightin' words)

 

What I would give to own one. And wear it to the Cottage. And sit in the Hammy. Oh my.

 

Would be funny to buy one and put Dempsey on the back. Or McBride or .....

 

It's great that despite Juventus' recent troubles, an American field player is dominating and excelling there among coaches, fans and the media. Really is trailblazer, has come a long way since Lalas some decades ago.

 

there are 10 games left in the season, plenty of time to gain hope, lose hope, gain it again and then learn their fate