USMNT's McKennie Reflects on Growth Under Berhalter
Weston McKennie walked into the Chicago Fire training facility on Friday with a grin and a mission. He wanted to see Gregg Berhalter again. Not the former USMNT coach. Not the man at the center of last year’s storm. Just Gregg — the guy he once cried in front of.
Next to him stood Sebastian Berhalter, who didn’t need to explain why he was hoping to bump into the Chicago Fire head coach. The family link said enough.
"He's a great person, and I'm not just saying this because [Sebastian is here]," McKennie said, laughing as he talked about the man who helped shape his international career.
McKennie had barely dropped his bags before he and Sebastian were ushered in front of the microphones. Even so, his mind was already on the reunion.
"I went to him with problems on and off the field. I've cried in front of him," McKennie said. "We've had tough times and also amazing times together, and so it'll be really nice to be able to see him around here, hopefully, today, and just to catch up and just go over some memories. I'm sure he'll probably give me some advice leading into the game and into the World Cup, because that's just the type of guy he is."
This is the thread running through this U.S. team: a generation that grew up together under Berhalter, scattered to Europe, and now returns for one more shot at a World Cup with a different man in charge — but with the old one still hovering in the background.
Berhalter’s Boys, Now Men
Gregg Berhalter inherited a broken program after the 2018 qualifying collapse and was handed a group of kids. Literally. Teenagers trying to figure out what it meant to be professionals, never mind national-team leaders.
Now he watches them from a different technical area, or sometimes from the stands, and sees something else entirely.
"I think one thing we have to remember is when I got them, they were young, they were babies, and they were just learning what it takes to be a professional athlete," he said. "Now I see them, and they're men! They have kids, and they're adults, and they know exactly what it means to maintain themselves as professionals. It's an amazing thing to see.
"I just greeted them now, and was like, 'I can't believe it, they're grown up!'. I think they'll be ready for this moment. The one thing I know about this group is that they step up to these moments."
The affection is real, and it runs both ways. The coach who once set the standards now watches to see if his former players can cash in on those lessons on the biggest stage.
Pochettino’s Dilemma and the Richards Frustration
On the training pitch, another story played out. Chris Richards joined the group on Friday, warmed up, moved well, looked like a player close to full speed.
He still won’t play this weekend.
Mauricio Pochettino confirmed as much and didn’t hide his irritation at how the defender’s recovery timeline had dragged on.
"When we decided the roster, we thought that Chris could play the final of the Conference [League] because we had designed the roster previously," he said. "There was a line of information where we were thinking that he could play that final against Rayo Vallecano in the Conference League. He was on the bench, if you remember. After, that he could maybe be [there] against Senegal. After, today, in the end, the timelines were lengthening and [it] angers me a bit. I’m not happy because we know Chris Richards is an important player, of course, we all know it, but also when I was saying is based on the information that we had, and sometimes there wasn't clarity."
"In the end, we can hope that Chris can be there. But, in the end, we’re going to find ourselves coming without competing [for a month] and after we have to make the decision if he’s in form to compete or not. There’s not a lot of time in the World Cup."
That’s the tightrope before a major tournament. Bodies are tired, knocks linger, and every decision feels like a gamble.
Pochettino knows it. He also knows the noise that comes with it.
He smiled when asked about the squad’s fitness as a whole, calling the issues typical for this stage of the season. By and large, he said, the group is fine. But Saturday’s game sits in that awkward space: too close to the World Cup to go full throttle, too important to treat like a friendly kickabout.
"The haters today with social media, they will never agree if you play normally with the players or if you play with the first team for the World Cup," he said. "If nothing happens, no one is going to say anything, good decision, but if something does happen, they say I have no clue!
"It's impossible to know what we need to do. That's why, from the beginning, it is to prepare in the best way that all the players have the possibility to play or to compete."
Whatever he chooses, the verdict will come later — in hindsight, in comment sections, in highlight clips replayed a thousand times.
Germany Again, With a Different Edge
The schedule offers no comfort. After beating Senegal, the U.S. now face Germany in Europe, another heavyweight test Pochettino openly wanted.
"We wanted to play the best in preparation for this World Cup," he said. "I think all the tests of Portugal or Belgium were amazing because they allowed us to improve and to learn what we don't need to do and how we need to approach it again. I think it's a great opportunity, after Senegal, this is going to be a beautiful team that we have to face tomorrow, and it's about approaching in the best way we can."
The U.S. know what that looks like. They saw it up close last October in Connecticut, when Germany won 3-1 despite a brilliant Christian Pulisic strike. Fourteen of the 26 players in this current squad were there that night.
McKennie hasn’t forgotten the level on display.
"I don't really remember Germany's roster for that game, and I don't know how similar it is to this roster," he said, "But I think that game showed, obviously, the quality that they have, but also the quality that we have as well. We played a good game, and we had the potential to win that game as well.
"We go into this game with a lot of players that haven't played against them yet and players that have, so I think the new energy, the new style, the new circumstances in general leading into a World Cup, I think it's going to be a great test for us and I think we go out there with the same mentality that we always go out with."
New coach, new context, same opponent. The rematch comes with higher stakes and sharper edges.
McKennie’s Form and the Role Question
McKennie arrives at this camp carrying something every manager craves: form. His season with Juventus produced nine goals and six assists across Serie A and the Champions League. The club fell two points short of a Champions League place, but his personal confidence never dipped.
That confidence now has to be translated into a U.S. shirt. Where on the pitch he does that remains the tactical question — deeper in midfield or closer to goal.
"I think any player can say that coming out of club form and being in good club form does a lot, because it's the confidence that you bring, it's the desire, the want, the everything," McKennie said. "I think the system that our coach has here, the type of player I am is a player that adapts. I'm the type of player who can play many roles, so I'm more of a guy that, wherever he needs me to do, I'll do whatever I'm called upon for.
"I try to step up and just be the best I can for the team. I think that's one thing that this team does have: no one's selfish. Everyone's here for the right reasons. Everyone's here to get a victory for the U.S., so I think it's amazing to be able to come here with confidence, and coming off a great individual season. Obviously, my club team didn't finish where we wanted to finish, but the confidence is still there."
That blend of maturity and edge is exactly what this group lacked when Berhalter first gathered them as teenagers. Now they arrive with Champions League minutes, title races, relegation scraps, and transfer rumors behind them.
They’re no longer the kids he once described. They’re the men he now watches from a short distance away, hoping the lessons stick when the World Cup whistle blows.
