Making the Case: Weston McKennie, 2018 Male Player of the Year

A rock in central midfield, Weston McKennie became an emerging face for the U.S. Men's National Team and German Bundesliga club Schalke in 2018.

November 27, 2018

On Tuesday, Nov. 20, U.S. Soccer announced the five nominees for 2018 U.S. Soccer Male Player of the Year. This year's nominees include midfielders Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie and Will Trapp; defender Matt Miazga and goalkeeper Zack Steffen. ussoccer.com continues “Making the Case” for each of the candidates, with MNT midfielder Weston McKennie.

After debuting for the senior team at the end of 2017, McKennie used this year to establish himself as a regular in the MNT midfield. When available, the 20-year-old was a fixture in the center of the park for head coach Dave Sarachan, starting each of his six appearances and logging 460 minutes.

RISING: Weston McKennie’s Path to the U.S. MNT and Schalke

Tough in the tackle and always working to muck things up in the middle, McKennie put in a memorable shift on June 9 in France, going the full 90 minutes as the USA secured a well-earned 1-1 draw in Les Bleus’ final game before their championship run at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

On the club side, 2018 has been a revelatory one for McKennie, with the midfielder ending the 2017-18 campaign with eight matches down the stretch to help Schalke to a second-place finish and qualification to the UEFA Champions League.

WATCH: McKennie Scores Dramatic First Goal for Schalke

Weston McKennie wins it for @s04_us with his first goal for the club 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/crF0EFmebl
— Bleacher Report Live (@brlive) October 3, 2018

Already appearing in 15 matches across all competitions, McKennie has picked up this season where he left off. He memorably scored his first UEFA Champions League and Bundesliga goals in back-to-back matches, tallying a late winner in a 1-0 victory at Lokomotiv Moscow on Oct. 3, before putting home the first goal in a 2-0 win against Fortuna Düsseldorf three days later.