Weston McKennie was forced to slide into the centerback role for FC Schalke after Salif Sane’s exit, but that doesn’t mean he should stay there.
It’s impossible not to love Weston McKennie. He’s that friend that you call no matter what you need done. Leaky radiator? He’ll fix it. Just want to hang? He’s got you. Feeling adventurous and want to try that new dim sum place? He’s down. FC Schalke are truly blessed to have him, and they saw it again against Augsburg in the thrilling comeback win.
Weston McKennie returned to the FC Schalke midfield after a couple matches out due to injury and held down the fort for a whole eight minutes before Salif Sane went down with an injury and had to be taken off. Naturally, it was McKennie they called on to take over.
McKennie has deputized in so many positions for Die Knappen, from rightback to centerback to No. 10 and, of course, at his natural central midfield. So it was with great confidence that he took that central defensive role again.
Moving forward, it wouldn’t be that far-fetched to ask him to play centerback, but just because he can play the role doesn’t mean he should. With Both Sane and Benjamin Stambouli out with injury, the only remaining options are Matija Nastasic and Ozan Kabak.
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It’s a bit of a question mark back there, but it beats having McKennie on the back line. Not because he couldn’t handle it (we all know he could), but because he needs to be utilized further up the pitch.
There were times against Augsburg when McKennie took the ball, saw space, and nearly blew the opposition wide open with his determined forward runs, but he would check himself, turn around, and get back to defending. Some call it maturity, I like to call it… well, maturity I guess. But I want a McKennie that has license to razzle-dazzle and he is tragically stripped of that as a centerback.
McKennie is a creative player. Not necessary a creative attacking midfielder, but someone who makes things happen from his central midfield spot. That’s how he is best utilized, and I hope that David Wagner will keep utilizing the young American that way rather than calling on him to deputize at centerback again.
Of course, as long as Weston McKennie is on the pitch, I’m happy. So centerback is better than nothing.