Juventus: Weston McKennie just keeps on producing

Juventus took care of business on Serie A’s Matchday 23, defeating Crotone 3-0 at home to avoid any slip-ups after their Champions League loss to Porto. The Bianconeri need to be just about perfect in the league in order to keep up with Inter Milan in the title race, as the Nerazzurri look like clear favorites to take home the Scudetto.

But Juve still have a shot at catching up. The season is far from over. For Juventini, it is the youth who are giving them the greatest hope of a comeback. Federico Chiesa and Weston McKennie joined Juve on loan this summer and have been even better than advertised, with both men playing starring roles in Monday’s win over Crotone.

McKennie scored the third goal to seal the deal at the Allianz Stadium, calmly volleying home and showing the kind of technical quality that manager Andrea Pirlo wants to see more of. The young American is now the highest-scoring Serie A player of all-time from his country, and he is also Juve’s third-leading scorer in the league this season after Cristiano Ronaldo and Chiesa.

There are so many kind words that can be written about McKennie. The 22-year-old has wholeheartedly earned a permanent move from Schalke to Juventus. He works incredibly hard and fits what Juve need perfectly. There has not been a better midfield for the Bianconeri in the 2020-2021 season – not even Arthur has matched McKennie’s contributions as a whole.

Weston McKennie has as many goals in Serie A (four) as all of the other Juventus midfielders do together

But what matters the most to Juventus right now are the goals. Outside of Ronaldo, Juve have had trouble finding a secondary scorer. Morata has been struggling in front of goal and isn’t really a prolific goal-scorer. He’s been valuable to Juve, but moreso as a link-up man for the main man Ronaldo, who is aiming for the Capocannoniere.

Ronaldo needs help, and McKennie has been there to join forces with Chiesa in supplying some goals. Getting goals from midfield was a major issue for the Bianconeri last season, so McKennie’s involvement matters.

In fact, McKennie has as many Serie A goals as all of the other Juventus midfielders combined. Aaron Ramsey has two, Adrien Rabiot has one, and Arthur has one. And with two assists, only Ramsey surpasses McKennie in this category.

McKennie is an all-around asset to the Juventus midfield. He attacks, he defends, and, yes, he scores goals of his own. The Crotone match was another fine example of McKennie’s clinical efficiency in the box, and the Bianconeri will continue to hope that the 22-year-old can be a key contributor in the goals column this campaign.