With the final round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying roughly a month away, it appears the United States will have to prepare for a Weston McKennie-sized hole in midfield.
McKennie, who has been the United States’ best player for large stretches of qualifying, exited Juventus’ 1-1 Champions League draw with Villarreal on Tuesday after suffering two fractures in his left foot, sources confirmed to ESPN’s Jeff Carlisle. Juve are yet to provide an official confirmation.
It is unclear how long the Texas native will be sidelined, but it’s hard to allow for the possibility he will be ready for any of the USMNT’s final three games against Mexico (March 24), Panama (March 27) or Costa Rica (March 30). Injuries similar to McKennie’s usually take between eight and 12 weeks to heal.
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The news leaves U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter with a difficult question: How to replace McKennie in the center of the park?
The quick, and obvious, answer is he can’t. There is no one in the U.S. pool who can replicate what McKennie does or anyone who has been playing anywhere near his level of late. If there were a player on the roster the U.S. could least afford to lose, it was McKennie.
With that understanding, there are interesting options.
Let’s start with another player in the news this week because of an injury, Borussia Dortmund midfielder Giovanni Reyna. Reyna recently returned to the field for Dortmund after suffering an injury in the first match of World Cup qualifying on Sept. 2, but the 19-year-old left Sunday’s match against Borussia Monchengladbach in tears after picking up an injury.
On Monday, BVB announced that Reyna’s injury was not as bad as initially feared and he was expected to return to training in two weeks. If Reyna is fully fit and playing regularly ahead of the World Cup qualifiers, he will be the obvious…
Source : espn
