McKennie backs Pulisic against his difficulties

has been struggling for playing time at the club, and his friend and teammate at

has defended him, insisting that the entire squad in the national team are willing to support their friend and teammate.

"A lot of people will say what they want, a lot of people have their own opinions and I think, as a player, you can only truly understand what another player might think or what he's going through,"

he said

.

"All of us have had our ups and downs, all of us have had difficult times, and the most important thing is that we're there for each other and obviously, with the situation that he's in, maybe the amount of playing time that's involved, it's just catching his footing again and building his confidence.

"I think, in general, he is still an important piece because he's one of those types of players that might have one spark in a game, he could maybe not do anything all game, and then have one spark. He's one of the players that are very unpredictable to the opponents and I think he's just someone that adds another type of dangerous and one-on-one ability in the final third.

"Everyone's gonna have their opinions. Everyone's gonna say what they want to say, but the team here and the staff we all have his back and we all just want to put him in the best position to succeed."

McKennie himself has been through the same thing at some point and has explained the situation insisting that he has learned his lessons from the hard times he has experienced.

"I think it was just a learning lesson," he said. "I think as I went back, it was just important for me to put my head down and work and Juventus definitely helped me out with that a lot. I struggled for a bit, lost my confidence and, like I said it was a learning lesson.

"I felt like let my team down and let my country down and my family and myself, so whenever I got called back, I was just going to try and rebuild the relationships and the trust with everyone and just perform and show that I'm there for the team and I'm there to try and win.

"I think the best thing as a person to do is to be available. I think that was my biggest thing: just to be available and not have a situation like that again."

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