Jeff CarlisleApr 30, 2026, 06:00 AM ETCloseJeff Carlisle covers MLS and the U.S. national team for ESPN FC.Multiple Authors
play3:16Do USMNT have a problem vs. European teams?The ‘Futbol Americas’ crew discuss the USMNT’s form going into the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Is Weston McKennie USMNT’s most important player? (2:58)The ‘Futbol Americas’ crew debate who is USMNT’s most important player going into the 2026 FIFA World Cup. (2:58)
Do USMNT have a problem vs. European teams?The ‘Futbol Americas’ crew discuss the USMNT’s form going into the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Perhaps the club’s books need some balancing, or there’s a new prospect who the manager thinks will supplant the American. Perhaps some old off-field missteps from McKennie result in the manager’s reservations taking further root.
McKennie’s 15 goal contributions for Juventus in all competitions have obliterated his previous season high of 10, set in 2023-24. That current mark is also second on the team, trailing only the 20 contributions by Kenan Yildiz, an attacking midfielder.
“It’s a strong person who makes a strong footballer,” Spalletti told reporters earlier this year. “McKennie has this attitude, this way of meeting you halfway, like he’s saying: ‘You ask, I’ll do.’ He starts and becomes effective.
“You can tell he faced his fears when he was young because to become brave, you have to face what scares you. He tries plays that wouldn’t normally be a part of his repertoire, but he still tries them.”
McKennie’s U.S. teammates also have noticed, though the overriding emotion is more comfort than surprise. They know that when the whistle blows this summer at the World Cup, McKennie’s form means they can rely on him to raise his game to the level needed, and he can even pull the team along with him.
“I mean, that’s just Weston. I never really doubt him. We all know what he can do, what kind of person he is. So it just doesn’t surprise me. It’s impressive, but at the same time, knowing him, it just doesn’t surprise.”
Under Massimiliano Allegri, McKennie was sent out on loan to Leeds United in early 2023, where he became a lightning rod for fans in Leeds’ ultimately doomed bid to avoid relegation. When McKennie returned for preseason later that year, he found he’d lost his locker and his parking spot.
“That’s life in general,” he said. “You have to continuously try to prove yourself and show why you need to be there or why they should have you there. So, I don’t always see it as a bad thing. I think it is what it is. That comes with the territory, it comes with a job and competitive sport.”
As for how a player of McKennie’s talent and background continually finds himself in such a position, there are reasons for some of the misgivings.
Probably the biggest factor is that at times he has shown a lack discipline off the field. In 2021, he was fined and faced sanctions by Juventus after he hosted a party with two teammates in violation of COVID-19 protocols. Later that year, he was suspended by U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter ahead of a World Cup qualifier for another similar violation.
For Austin FC coach Nico Estevez, who saw McKennie up close when he was an assistant with the U.S. during the 2022 World Cup cycle, it’s part of the maturation process.
But sources told ESPN that McKennie also developed a reputation for not maintaining his fitness and enjoying the nightlife too much. McKennie himself acknowledged during an interview with TNT that it was at Tudor’s urging that he pay closer attention to his diet, which set the table for his success this season.
The partying wouldn’t seem to be the kind of dealbreaker that would cause a manager to give up on a player, but an inability to stay fit can collectively stick to a player’s reputation like flypaper. Shedding that perception this season required McKennie to put in extra work.
“I got out of it by doing what I do best, and kind of putting my head down and working, and then continuously believing in myself,” McKennie said.
But the other key factor comes off the field: McKennie is a likable guy. Teammates and coaches say he brings a light, wise-cracking vibe to the locker room. Chris Armas, who now coaches the Kansas City Current in the NWSL, saw both sides of McKennie’s personality even during the difficulties of the relegation fight at Leeds, where Armas was an assistant coach during McKennie’s brief spell at the club.
“In the team, he just was a guy that brings a lot of joy every day to the group,” Armas said. “So if you see him, you see him smiling a lot and laughing a lot, but he turns the switch on quickly because he’s so competitive and wants to win at everything he does. That’s what I was able to see.”
But there’s one surprise X factor helping McKennie’s rise: He appears to have hit it off with Spalletti in a way that he hasn’t with previous managers. It obviously helped that McKennie was already enjoying a fine season when Spalletti replaced Tudor in November, but in this instance, the new manager arrived without the usual skepticism.
The ‘Futbol Americas’ crew discuss the USMNT’s form going into the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
McKennie was among the U.S. players who delivered a poor performance at the 2025 Concacaf Nations League finals. Defeats to Panama and Canada saw the U.S. finish in a disappointing fourth place, at which point coach Mauricio Pochettino essentially started from scratch, vowing no player was guaranteed anything.
“I think [Pochettino] brings a different vibe, a different outlook on things, which I think he really wants it to be a family environment, but also be a healthy, competitive environment as well,” McKennie said. “And I think that’s something that probably needed to change or that is helping us as well, because nobody has a secure spot, nobody is safe, and you have to compete for the spot that you want.
“I think that’s an amazing thing to have because then you get healthy competition, but at the same time, you guys are all fighting for the common goal, and that’s for the team to have success because nobody is bigger than the team.”
Pochettino also seemed to question where McKennie belonged. McKennie had been a No. 8 in the midfield under Berhalter, but in Pochettino’s system, he has been pushed further forward, closer to the central striker.
It’s a move that seems to suit McKennie, given the player’s stronger attacking instincts. But one now senses that Pochettino, for all of his insistence that the team is the star, now has a greater comfort level with McKennie.
“It’s not new for us. And being in the level that we have seen him, he’s a good player and he can have the option — no, the big option — [for him] to be on the roster.”
Is Weston McKennie USMNT’s most important player? (2:58)The ‘Futbol Americas’ crew debate who is USMNT’s most important player going into the 2026 FIFA World Cup. (2:58)
The ‘Futbol Americas’ crew debate who is USMNT’s most important player going into the 2026 FIFA World Cup. (2:58)
Jeff CarlisleApr 30, 2026, 06:00 AM ETCloseJeff Carlisle covers MLS and the U.S. national team for ESPN FC.Multiple Authors
McKennie says the two have bonded on a deeper level.
“My best position is wherever the coach tells me to play,” he said.
But rather than fold, McKennie delivers. Every time.
CloseJeff Carlisle covers MLS and the U.S. national team for ESPN FC.