With the Bundesliga back in action during the COVID-19 pandemic, several key US men’s national team players are logging valuable minutes for whatever adjusted format lies ahead in Concacaf World Cup qualifying.
Even if the first match back for FC Schalke 04 midfielder Weston McKennie was “awkward,” he feels it’ll benefit the USMNT's eventual return.
“I think as far as the Hex and that coming around, I think all of us will have to (adjust) – it is what it is,” McKennie said in a FOX Soccer segment of Indoor Soccer. “We have to adapt to it, we have to play and we have to be prepared for it as best as we can. I think the coaching staff for the national team, Gregg Berhalter, they’ve had a lot of time and have this whole off time to think of the best ways to get us prepared for it.”
That comes after Schalke returned against rivals Borussia Dortmund in last weekend's Revierderby, a 4-0 loss that nearly featured USMNT hopeful Giovanni Reyna's first start until the attacker sustained an injury in warmups. The jump from isolation to training fully for “about a week, week-and-a half” to games isn't easy.
“You have to really depend on your self-motivation and your self-drive to really give your 100 percent in the game,” the FC Dallas youth product told Taylor Twellman on Monday. “Obviously we took a big L this past weekend in the Revierderby. In that game, you could really tell that we’ve been out of it for quite a long time.”
As McKennie logs more matches with Schalke – they host Augsburg this coming Sunday and then visit Fortuna Dusseldorf next Wednesday – he’s also hoping to develop. When USMNT games come around, an in-form McKennie could do wonders.
“I could easily go and say my effectiveness, my goal scoring and my assists, but I think for me it’s just completing my easy passes,” McKennie told FOX Soccer. “There are many times – I know it myself, I’m pretty good at self-evaluating – there are times when I get hectic and I lose or miss a pass by one or two yards because I’m not fully concentrated or something like that.
“The next thing I’ll be working is completing passes and the long balls and diagonal balls. The next thing after that would be my shot. There's many situations where I get caught where I could take a shot. Instead of doing it, I give it off to the next player (instead of) taking that responsibility.”
