Journalist Beren Cross has slammed Leeds United January signing Weston McKennie amid his “poor” recent performances for the club.
What’s the latest on Weston McKennie and Leeds?
The American midfielder was signed on loan from Juventus in the winter market and will remain in England until the end of the season.
Since then, he has played five times in the Premier League and has started the last four games in a row. This weekend, he played the full 90 minutes as Leeds claimed a vital 1-0 home win against Southampton.
However, even though he has immediately come into the team, it seems as though not everyone has been impressed. Indeed, when speaking on a LeedsLive Facebook stream, Cross singled out McKennie for some criticism.
The journalist said (10:03): “McKennie [has] just started to show up a little bit with a poor passing game. Don’t doubt his endeavour. But his tackles are a little bit mistimed at points.
“He’s rarely, what’s the phrase… he always seems to be half a yard off it in terms of being where it needs to be. He’s always chasing rather than sort of being… [Tyler] Adams is a good anticipator, Adams sort of knows where to position himself whereas McKennie is very reactive rather than proactive.”
Have you been disappointed by Weston McKennie so far at Leeds?
Has McKennie been underwhelming since joining Leeds on loan?
As per WhoScored, McKennie has an average match rating of 6.48 in the league so far for the Whites. This means only four players in the team have played more minutes than him and averaged a lower average score.
What’s more, against the Saints he lost the ball 11 times while midfielder partner Adams lost it just seven times, and also won two fewer ground duels – although did actually complete more accurate passes (via SofaScore).
Still, McKennie has only just arrived in England and has been thrown into a team badly struggling for form in the midst of a relegation battle.
With that in mind, it’s understandable that he hasn’t quite been at his best and fans will no doubt be hoping he can adjust better as the weeks go on, perhaps buoyed by this hugely important win over Southampton.