AUSTIN, Texas -- It has been seven months since Weston McKennie was last here in U.S. men's national team camp, simultaneously competing and joking, building toward a World Cup.
It has been seven months since March, since the Concacaf Nations League losses to Panama and Canada, since a week-long camp that head coach Maurico Pochettino recently described as a "wake-up call."
In those seven months, McKennie has captained Juventus at the Club World Cup, then seemingly been pushed out of the Juve starting 11, only to fight his way back in. He's been left off a USMNT roster and missed 10 national team games for multiple reasons.
So, when he spoke here Thursday, and when a TV reporter asked him, as "a key leader in this group," what his "message for the younger players" would be, McKennie paused.
"Ah, for the young players coming into this camp?" he said. "I mean, I've been gone for seven months, so it feels like I'm a new player."
He chuckled, then gave his serious answer: "I would say: just put your head down and work, and really immerse yourself into the environment, into the group, into the guys and the ideas."
That, in a way, is what McKennie has been doing, or must do, this week. He took part in Pochettino's first three A-team camps, but missed a summer of culture-building that Pochettino and players have hailed as a crucial part of the coach's "process."
When asked Thursday about the team's first year under Pochettino, McKennie said: "I mean, I've only spent a couple camps in with the group. So, probably a better question to ask someone else."
McKennie did start all four Nations League matches in November and March. The latter, though, convinced Pochettino that "we needed to start a different process and different approach." It wasn't just the losses to Panama and Canada. "All that happened helped a little bit to realize that the most important thing is the national team; it's the federation, and [the U.S. Soccer crest,]" Pochettino later said. "This is more important than any single name."
Over the coming months, he omitted several notable names from rosters, in an apparent attempt to create internal competition, by sending a roster-wide message that nobody's place in the USMNT is guaranteed.
McKennie wasn't one of the discretionary omissions in June; he was, rather, with Juventus at the Club World Cup and unavailable for selection. But he was then left off Pochettino's roster for September friendlies against South Korea and Japan.
Pochettino, when asked to explain McKennie's omission at the time, indicated that McKennie's delayed offseason, and his precarious place in Juventus' squad, were two factors. "We wanted to give him the possibility to be more settled in his club," Pochettino said.
But, at the same time, he did call in Tim Weah, who had also been with Juve at the Club World Cup, then transferred to a new club, Marseille, just weeks before the roster was named.
McKennie was asked Thursday about his interpretation of and reaction to the omission. How did it hit him? Did it motivate or inspire him?
"Nah, I just stayed at my club, focused on what I had to do there," he said. "And, yeah, just waited to have the opportunity to come back in."
At his club, meanwhile, he was once again battling to prove his worth. Offseason after offseason, he has been pushed "out of the project" at Juventus -- and,on at least one occasion, stripped of a locker and parking spot. But he has always played his way back in,and 2025 felt no different.
"The summer is always a roller coaster for me. So,nothing's really changed," McKennie said Thursday with a smile."I'm kind of used to it now."
When asked about the mentality required to win back his place,again and again,he grinned and said:"It's year after year,so it's years of practice."
"I don't think anyone wants to have their head messed with every summer.But,I’m used to it,"he continued."Whenever it comes around to the summertime,I know it’s just the best time for me to put my head down and do what I do best and work,and hopefully prove people wrong,but mostly prove myself right."
He is,it seems,en route to doing that at Juve.After struggling for minutes over the season’s first few weeks,he has now started four games—including two in the Champions League—and played five over the past month.
The one difference,now,is that his place in the national team seems less secure than ever.The player pool,at least in midfield,is deeper.And the coach has been willing to call upon less-accomplished,less-heralded and arguably less-talented players ahead of established figures if the stars don’t perform.
When asked if,having been away from the team for several months,he now feels like he has to win back a starting spot here too,McKennie said:“That’s for the outside people to think,and the coaching staff to feel like.I just come in and do my best.If the coach thinks it’s a good fit for the starting 11,it’s a good fit.If it’s not,then it’s not.”
When asked about the March “wake-up call,”and whether he saw it as such,or whether Pochettino has explained that to him,McKennie began with a “nah,”and reiterated that he hasn’t been around the group enough to “know how people are taking what they take,or how they do what they do,or what not.”
“I’m just here to do my job whenever I’m called upon,” he said.“And that’s that.”