‘I can’t do that’: £30m player says he failed at Leeds United because he just wasn’t fit enough
Weston McKennie may go down in history as one of Leeds United’s worst signings.
In January, he was signed on loan with a £30 million buyout option to help save the team from relegation, but he was ultimately unable to help the Whites rise up the league.
The American put in a spate of terrible performances and, to be honest, did not appear to be up to the task of playing in the Premier League.
McKennie has been candid about the fact that he wasn’t good enough at Leeds, saying on The American Dream podcast that he’s not going to make excuses for his performances for the Whites, stating that he just wasn’t fit enough to compete at the time.
McKennie wasn’t in good enough shape.
The midfielder discussed his time at Leeds.
“I’m not one to make excuses, but I don’t think my physical fitness was the best it could have been because I was so used to being at Juventus and playing every three days.” For me, game fitness is vastly different from training fitness. I get game fit by playing games, something you can’t reproduce in training. You can try, but I can’t. “With only one game per week, I didn’t feel like I was in the best shape to last a 90-minute game,” McKennie explained.
Shocking
There is no excuse for a lack of fitness as a professional footballer.
As McKennie points out, game fitness differs from training fitness, but there are methods around this.
To summarize, fitness is more about science than mentality, and if you work hard enough, you will be fit enough.
Leeds were previously the fittest club in the Premier League despite only playing one game a week under Marcelo Bielsa, so we’re not buying McKennie’s excuse.
