Schalke: What Weston McKennie misses most is no surprise

Weston McKennie has always been an outspoken presence for Schalke, and his recent comments about what he misses most should come as no surprise.

Schalke 04 midfielder Weston McKennie is one hell of a spokesperson for the club. In these dull times, he has always been good for a comment or a word of encouragement. With so little else going on, he’s only growing his ever-expanding fanbase.

It only gets better, as it often does with Weston McKennie. In a recent interview with the Bundesliga website, McKennie was asked what he missed most about training with other players, and having actual contact plays. His answer won’t come as any surprise.

“I’m really missing fighting for the ball and making a slide tackle,” he said.

Weston McKennie’s tackles are a Schalke 04 treasure

If you were to ask me what McKennie would have said in that situation before he said it, I would have given you a nearly identical answer, and I’d wager all of his teammates, David Wagner, all of the fans, and his dogs would have said the same thing too.

It was just a couple weeks ago that Weston McKennie pointed out how his style of play reflects the city he plays in, and that is why they are such a good fit for each other. Gelsenkirchen is an old mining town that has been raised on decades and decades of grit and determination and fight, and true to form, so is Weston McKennie.

This has been a massive year for McKennie, as he continues to thrive in a powered-up midfield alongside Suat Serdar and Omar Mascarell, both of whom are fighters themselves. But for McKennie, he figures to be a fighter for another decade at this club, at least. While the future of Serdar and Mascarell is not as guaranteed, nothing is as guaranteed as McKennie’s long-term stay at Schalke 04.

Honestly, I’d wager that if you asked a group of fans what they missed most about Schalke football, a bunch of them would also say that they miss McKennie’s slide tackles most of all. And they aren’t reckless tackles either (at least not most of the time). Weston McKennie has done a tremendous job maturing in his role on the pitch. He’s never been dribbled past less in his career and he’s committing less fouls and getting less yellow cards.

Which is just all to say that McKennie is still everything Schalke 04 thought he was going to be. Always fun when things work out.