While U.S. men's national team striker Timothy Weah scored the second goal in Juventus' 2-0 win against AC Milan at the Allianz Stadium in Turin on Saturday, and while Christian Pulisic missed the tie due to a minor injury, the two other Americans started and played in two surprising roles that are helping their development.
Juventus midfielder Weston McKennie, after playing multiple games as left back, started against the Rossoneri on the other side of the defensive line and played as right back. Yunus Musah, despite the disappointing team performance, played as right attacking winger, marking again why his versatility is becoming a key factor for his game time at the club.
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The new tactical and surprising role changed drastically how McKennie played against AC Milan, as he almost completely lost his attacking presence and was fully dedicated to containing the left side of the Rossoneri where Theo Hernandez and Rafael Leao tend to be the most dangerous.
While the numbers of McKennie are different from his usual ones, he was the Juventus player that recovered most balls (seven), but most importantly, he was able to let us forget he's not usually starting in that role, especially in a game where he was facing Leao, one of the best talented and fast players in the league. He looked natural in that position.
On the other side, Musah's game wasn't easy at all, also considering the disappointing performance of the team coached by former FC Porto coach Sergio Conceicao, who showed his anger about the attitude of his players to DAZN in the post-match interview.
"I am the one who has to try to change the attitude of the players, I take responsibility for the defeat because it was not good to see this decline in the second half. As a coach, I have to change their attitude, there is a lack of anger to win every single duel here," he said.
Musah played as right attacking winger, but he was second to last in terms of touches (27), and only English striker Tammy Abraham had fewer with 25. It wasn't his fault, though, as the team lacked cohesion. Despite the disappointing team performance, Conceicao showed again he trusts Musah and decided to play him where USMNT star Christian Pulisic should have played if he was fit to play. It wasn't his best day, but there are still a lot of reasons to think his game time will increase in the coming matches.
Once again, the clash between Juventus and AC Milan saw a big number of American players facing each others. While Pulisic wasn't available and Weah shined as he scored the second goal of the game, McKennie and Weah demonstrated how their tactical flexibility helped to increase their game time this season, which is only a good sign for their futures for club and under Mauricio Pochettino with the U.S. men's national team.