Juve’s Spalletti sees McKennie as ‘perfect’ striker

Juventus coach Luciano Spalletti advocated for United States midfielder Weston McKennie to play in a more offensive position after his team beat Napoli 3-0 on Sunday.

“McKennie is a perfect central striker,” Spalletti said. “He fights, he’s strong in the air and he can jump high. He plays to get results because he makes decisions. He would be a perfect striker.”

Juventus’ win over the defending Serie A champions saw Spalletti’s side, which is now in fifth, keep pace with the teams chasing the top four, as well as leaders Inter Milan, who are in first with 52 points after 22 games.

McKennie, who played all 90 minutes for Juve in the win, was not the only North American called in for praise after the win for Juventus, as Canada standout Jonathan David scored his third goal in four games, also causing his coach to take notice.

“[David] showed that he can hold his own in a duel in the box where there’s no space, so it has to be taken away from the opponent,” Spalletti said. “If you put all your strength into those moments, it’s fine, otherwise you don’t get there. He scored a goal as a proper striker.”

Both McKennie and David are expected to be key players for the United States and Canada, respectively, as their countries prepare to host the World Cup this summer.

The result meant that Spalletti got the better of Antonio Conte with both coaches meeting former squads.

Midway through the first half, David chested down a pass over the top from Manuel Locatelli and pushed it in.

Three minutes earlier, Juventus midfielder Khephren Thuram had hit the post, and three minutes after the goal the Turin club had another chance when Francisco Conceicao’s shot was cleared off the line by Napoli defender Alessandro Buongiorno.

Kenan Yildiz and Filip Kostic added second-half goals for hosts Juventus.

Napoli dropped from third to fourth, level on points with Roma, which drew 1-1 with second-place AC Milan.

Spalletti coached Napoli to the Serie A title in 2023, while Conte led Juventus to three straight Italian league titles after also playing for the club.

David scored in his Serie A debut for Juventus in August but then had a long drought before rediscovering his form this month with a goal and an assist against Sassuolo and another goal against Cremonese. He also had an assist in Juve’s victory over Benfica in the Champions League on Wednesday.

The Canada international’s season has also had to weather a coaching change, with Spalletti replacing the fired Igor Tudor in October.

The only good news for Napoli was that Romelu Lukaku came on in the second half for his first action since getting injured during a preseason friendly.

Lukaku wasted his only chance after a nice setup from Rasmus Hojlund.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.