Weston McKennie a ‘real worry’ at Leeds United – BBC journalist
Weston McKennie is a “real worry” since he doesn’t look like he is going to be part of the solution to the goalscoring issue at Leeds United, according to Adam Pope.
The USMNT midfielder has looked a solid presence in the Whites midfield since his January arrival, but amid a messy change at manager since then the club have struggled badly to find the net.
It is one goal in three games since Javi Gracia took charge, and after the 1-0 defeat at Chelsea on Saturday (4 March) BBC journalist Pope is concerned by the lack of goal-threat from the new man.
Speaking on Don’t Go To Bed Just Yet on Monday’s episode (6 March, 7m 24s) Pope said of the Juventus loanee: “He does some things really well, like the box-to-box thing, I get it, that’s the thing he’s talked about himself as being.
“And he does. He gets up and down well. He crunches into a few [tackles]. And I felt, particularly at Fulham in midweek, you saw the better side of him. He’s starting to be a bit more creative I would say…
“So some aspects of the game, really good. I think there’s a bit of bite there next to [Tyler] Adams, so in the absence of some senior players there’s some leadership there too.
“My worry is are these going to put three or four goals [in] over a season? Are they going to get 10 between them?
“He is someone who’s getting forward, he’s not deep-lying like a [Marc] Roca. And that’s a real worry for me, I just don’t see that in his particular game.”
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McKennie was never really brought in as a goalscoring midfielder so it shouldn’t really land on his shoulders to be providing a major attacking threat.
He will need to improve in the final third when he does find himself in dangerous areas though, with a couple of good chances going begging in the one game where Leeds United have found the net under Gracia, the 1-0 win over Southampton on 25 February).
Even accounting for the untimely injuries to Rodrigo and Patrick Bamford there really should be enough attacking options elsewhere in the squad to provide more.
At times during the chaos of the Jesse Marsch era it looked like the Whites’ best hope of results was to simply outscore the opponents, who were being routinely waved through by a weak defence.
It has switched entirely now, with the backline looking far more organised since the arrival of Max Wober, while absences and loss of form further forward has made scoring a real stretch.
Willy Gnonto and Crysencio Summerville have been stand-outs at different times so may be needed down the stretch, while Georginio Rutter’s luck has been out since his club-record move.
But if Jack Harrison could find a way to arrest his months-long slump and return to the form he started the season with it would be a huge boost.
In other Leeds United news, a regular starter in the first team is headed for a cut-price exit as the Whites repeat the same pattern.
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