For one USMNT star playing his trade in Europe, the goals kept coming over the weekend, while two younger prospects also made notable progress with their clubs.
As the World Cup finals in the United States, Mexico and Canada edge ever closer, welcome to this week’s USMNT player tracker.
Weston McKennie has played for a lot of different managers in his career so far.
Since he joined Italian side Juventus in 2020, the American has worked under six different head coaches. There were four alone during his five-month loan with Leeds United in the Premier League.
He even admitted he had a nagging suspicion that one of those revolving cast of Leeds managers during the Yorkshire club’s tumultuous relegation season in 2022-23 did not know who he was.
To some extent, that’s modern football. Some clubs change managers frequently, and McKennie has played for two who have certainly not been shy to make changes at the top. He even had a different boss every season across his four in the first team at Bundesliga outfit Schalke.
But rarely, if at all, has he been as invigorated by a head coach as the USMNT midfielder appears to have been by Luciano Spalletti.
After his latest impressive goal-scoring display for Juventus — he has scored six goals in his last 14 appearances for the club — during their 2-2 draw with Lazio on Sunday, Opta underlined the impact Spalletti has had on McKennie. They noted that since Spalletti joined the club on October 30 last year, the American is the Serie A midfielder with the most goals in all competitions (seven).
Whether it’s the Champions League, where he scored three in consecutive games during this season’s league phase, or in Serie A, he cannot stop scoring. McKennie’s father even took to social media to praise the Italian manager’s use of his son.
He’s finally being utilized properly and given the freedom to analyze the game
— john mckennie (@airborne69) February 9, 2026
Still, Juventus remain a work in progress. Their fans expect them to be challenging for the Scudetto every season, not just focusing on Champions League qualification.
But the latter is undeniably important, and McKennie helped ensure they stayed in fourth spot as he led the comeback at the Allianz Stadium on Sunday.
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“We want to be this kind of team that goes ahead through playing style and movement,” Spalletti said in his post-match press conference yesterday, underlining why he relies on McKennie’s flexibility.
“A team that perceives what is an advantage and what is a disadvantage. Sometimes we use McKennie in the build-up, other times we use him as a target man because we need to beat the press, and he knows how to do it. So we use him in different areas.”
All this will be music to Mauricio Pochettino’s ears. Going into a World Cup year, it is important that the bedrock regulars of his USMNT team are settled and performing well, and McKennie is certainly ticking the latter box.
Prospects on the march
There were two modest (but still significant) steps forward for two exciting young U.S. talents over the weekend.
First, 2024 Olympics standout U.S. performer Kevin Paredes put a prolonged injury hiatus further behind him by making his first start of the season for his Bundesliga club, Wolfsburg.
Paredes, 22, started just two games last season after surgery on a complex foot fracture that required a lengthy rehabilitation.
This season, he had been limited to just three substitute appearances until Saturday, when he was finally able to start for the team’s home game with Borussia Dortmund. Wolfsburg lost 2-1, and they will need Paredes back to his best soon after three defeats and a draw in their last four league games.
Sitting on the bench in the away dugout at the Volkswagen Arena for the first time was another young American prospect.
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Mathis Albert is just 16 and, although he was an unused substitute, the fact that he is in the senior squad for Dortmund at such a tender age speaks to his huge potential.
Youngster’s clean-sheet reward
Elsewhere, another youngster made some progress. Former Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Gavin Beavers kept a clean sheet in his first start of the season for Danish club Brondby.
The 20-year-old is a USYNT international and had previously made just one appearance, last season, in the Danish Superliga championship round, when he also recorded a shutout.
No wonder that Brondby were not interested when, as reported by The Athletic’s Tom Bogert, New York Red Bulls looked into signing him during the winter window.
USYNT goalkeeper Gavin Beavers kept a clean sheet today in his first start of the season for Brøndby.
Beavers, 20, broke through with Real Salt Lake before heading to Europe.
New York Red Bulls looked into signing him but Brøndby wanted to keep him. pic.twitter.com/K8iy3Vsmb2
— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) February 8, 2026
He certainly seems to have the right mindset. In 2023, he told the Salt Lake website: “Sometimes I get caught up in the day-to-day stuff, you know: focusing on who we’re playing this weekend or training. But at the end of the day, all my buddies are just getting done with high school. I’m not supposed to be here.
“I just need to have fun and just remember all the work that you and your family put in. I’m just so happy this is what I get to do.”
His humility appears to be serving him well.
Robinson concern
If McKennie is a USMNT regular whose form is on song, then the situation for another starter is a little more worrying.
Antonee Robinson initially picked up right where he left off for Fulham after returning from injury earlier in the season. The rampaging left-back did not look rusty in his comeback against Burnley in December after missing 12 games with a knee injury.
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He remained in the team for Fulham’s following nine games, proving his fitness. But Saturday saw the unusual sight of him named among Marco Silva’s substitutes.
Robinson had not looked like himself in the previous defeat by Manchester United, and both USMNT and Fulham supporters will be hoping he can quickly recover his consistent top form.
What’s coming up this week?
(All times ET)
After helping Crystal Palace half their worrying slide down the table with a 1-0 win at Brighton on Sunday, Chris Richards can breathe a sigh of relief.
He lost his fellow central defender Marc Guehi to o Manchester City during the winter window, and the news of manager Oliver Glasner’s summer exit has also proved unsettling.
But Richards was back to his best at the Amex over the weekend. See if he can keep it up on Wednesday when Palace host Burnley (2:30pm, Peacock Premium).
Brenden Aaronson put his body on the line for Leeds on Friday in their 3-1 win over Nottingham Forest.
He was the game’s most fouled player according to Opta (with six), but weathered the storm to keep Leeds’ drive away from the relegation zone going. More of the same will be needed on Tuesday when they head to Chelsea (2:30pm, Peacock Premium).
Lastly, see if Christian Pulisic can overcome his injury concerns and return to Milan’s team as they look to close the gap on table-topping city rivals Inter by beating Pisa on Friday (2:45pm, Paramount +).