USMNT's Tim Weah features at striker for Juventus: Here's what Mauricio Pochettino can learn from it

The USMNT winger played as striker in the second half of the match against Napoli, but how did it go?

If U.S. men's national team manager Mauricio Pochettino watched the game between Juventus and Napoli (0-0) that took place on Saturday, he probably noted down that winger Timothy Weah has some versatility. In the second half of the Serie A game, the American international played as a central striker as he replaced Dusan Vlahovic at halftime. He's featured as a wingback and a winger in the past, and that versatility can open the door for more options for his national team. 

Weah didn't have many chances to score as he touched the ball just 21 times, but it still more than his teammate in the first half who only had six touches. Juventus played with a 4-2-3-1, and Weah played as a central striker, with Nico Gonzalez, Kenan Yildiz and Teun Koopmeiners to support the USMNT player. However, more than the Serbian striker, Weah was more central in the attacking plays of the Bianconeri, often shifting his position with the former Atalanta midfielder. 

Juventus are still facing the injury of striker Arek Milik, who is the natural backup option of Vlahovic, but the decision of Thiago Motta was interesting, as both Yildiz or Nico Gonzalez could also play as a number nine as they did before. Instead, the Juventus coach decided to go for the American player, who played his last match as a No. 9 nine when he played at Lille in 2022, more than two years ago. When the Italian giants decided to sign Weah in the summer 2023, he played in multiple positions as winger and midfielder, but never as a number nine. 

It will be important also to see if Motta decides to play him again in that position, as Weah has shown he can play there occasionally. When he played for youth national teams, Weah mainly started as a right attacking winger but also occasionally featured as a number nine. With Pochettino, he can now also play in another position of the attack, especially if he continues to do so in his club, as the Argentinian likes to test the versatility of his players. 

From our Pardeep Cattry:

Over the course of his managerial career, Pochettino has not been afraid to mix things up and maximize a player's versatility. One such example is former Tottenham Hotspur player Eric Dier, who joined the club as a center back but played right back at times to fill in gaps and ultimately enjoyed some of his best years in North London as a defensive midfielder. Pochettino's approach to versatile players, though, was mostly to recruit and spotlight players with varied skillsets. Harry Kane is perhaps the most obvious example – he's a natural goalscorer but his particular strength is in his wide skillset, which includes comfort playing deeper. Cole Palmer similarly served a multipurpose function for Pochettino's Chlesea, but Pochettino valued versatility in every area of the pitch – the agile goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, for example, was stylistically crucial to his Spurs team.

It's likely that if Motta will continue to play Weah in the attacking central position, especially when Vlahovic is not on the pitch, so we will have more chances to see him playing there also for the USMNT in the near future. For sure, this is a good news for Pochettino, knowing that one of his most talented players has the potential of playing in that position once again as he did in the past before, offering a greater sense of depth to a team that needs it.