McKennie admits Juventus players didn’t like his attitude after defeats

Weston McKennie admits he struggled when he arrived at Juventus but refuses to go into details on why USMNT dismissed him in September.

The American midfielder has scored goals in two consecutive Serie A games against Sassuolo and Hellas Verona, but it was not enough for the Old Lady to avoid defeats in both games.

McKennie joined Juventus on a temporary deal from Schalke 04 in 2020 and the Old Lady made his move permanent in March.

“To be completely honest, I struggled a bit with balancing that when I first came to Juventus, not in humility part but just that in Italian football has a different culture than,” the 23-year-old told NBC Sports.

“I’m used to and Juventus is a different stature than any club I’ve played for. Here, you’re expected to win and if you’re not winning games and still joking around and having a good time, it’s looked down upon and you can say that’s a good thing or bad thing but for me it’s like, crap, because I’m a person who, if we lose a game I’m mad, but I can’t dwell in the past too long.

I have a whole new appreciation for @WMckennie after this talk.

On walking into a Juve team w/ Ronaldo, Bonucci, Dybala:

"You can be a fan boy but it can be gone just like that if you don't perform and show them why the next person who comes in should be a fan boy of you." https://t.co/pEq0UNnb4v

— Nicholas Mendola (@NicholasMendola) November 4, 2021

“Let it hurt for the rest of the night, maybe a little bit of the morning, but after that life and football goes on and you have to focus on the next game.

“When I first came here, I was a little bit looked at like, ‘Ehhh, what are you doing kid? You’re out here trying to laugh and joke and play music loud and we just lost yesterday?’

“I’ve learned to pick and choose the right moments when I can let my full personality out, and when I can tone it down a bit but still be myself at the same time.”

However, McKennie had a positive first season in Turin, where he scored six goals in 46 appearances with the Old Lady.

“It’s definitely crazy,” he said.

“If you would’ve told me five, six years ago I’d be playing with the guys I play as on FIFA, I would never said, ‘Yeah.’ If you would’ve told me I’d play with Cristiano, Dybala, Szczesny, Chiellini, Bonucci, I would never say, ‘Yeah, of course.’ But now that I look at it. I understand why at home people ask me what it’s like in the locker room.

“What is Dybala like? I’d probably be the same if I weren’t here, but these are my guys, this is my team. If I need them, I just walk down the hall and knock on their door.

“When you come to teams like this, you don’t have time to stay in that awe moment, to stay in that fan moment because that’s your level now. That’s what you’re trying to be. You’re going to make it, or your not.

“You can be a fanboy, but it can be gone just like that if you don’t perform and show them why the next person who comes in should be a fanboy of you.”

However, he also had tough times off the pitch as he broke COVID rules at Juventus and USMNT.

McKennie’s future at Juventus remains in doubt with Tottenham interested

In April, he attended a party with Arthur and Paulo Dybala in Turin, breaking curfew. Therefore, Juventus excluded them three from the following Turin derby.

McKennie was also punished by his national team in September when he was excluded from USMNT, once again for breaking COVID rules.

“Honestly, I won’t go into detail on how I saw it, but for me it was a big, big mental test and a big, big challenge to overcome because you make a mistake, and you’re automatically looked at as someone who is letting the team down or someone. That is selfish,” McKennie said.

“People sometimes forget that we’re human, you know? We’re not robots and we are allowed to make mistakes. Everyone has a severity or terrible timing in their mistakes, but everyone makes them.”