How important is Reyna?

[MLS Insider]

According to this piece, he is the most important player we have. Anybody agree?

Irreplaceable Reyna (http://northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk1NzAmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTY3NjUxNDMmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk5)


Reyna is the most important player on the U.S. national team. Sure, it can
be argued that goalkeeper Kasey Keller has saved the Americans too
many times not to be considered Mr. Indispensable, but there is a
difference between saving a team and making a team and what Reyna does
for Bruce Arena’s team is invaluable. He is both the team‘s rudder,
helping guide the team in the right direction, and its transmission,
always making sure the squad is operating at the right speed. Without
Reyna, the American team would struggle for direction and would play out
of control at times.

[Heathens '87]

I've been to six games this year, 2 with Reyna, and 4 without. There's little doubt in my mind that our ball control, transition to attack, and intelligence in terms of midfield play were all tremendously improved with Reyna. The only other time I saw glimpses of that ability was watching O'Brien in 2 games.

Kasey is a rock and we'll keep us from losing, and our attack will rest on the shoulders of DMB and Landon. But the midfield makes both offense and defense happen, and is the key to winning football. Reyna is our best 2-way player there, so I'd say he's pretty key.

Against WC-level competition, yes, Reyna is very important, and the only other player I see with that type of ability at that class is injury-prone........

[rgli13]

i believe he is the most important player we have- especially with o'brien out.

we can win with anyone else out- but if we dont have reyna (and no o'brien) its a crapshoot. job is the only player we have who can fill reynas role for us. every other player we have we can replace without a major dropoff.

[Heathens '87]

i believe he is the most important player we have- especially with o'brien out.

we can win with anyone else out- but if we dont have reyna (and no o'brien) its a crapshoot. job is the only player we have who can fill reynas role for us. every other player we have we can replace without a major dropoff.


Somehow, I think John O'Brien is going to get mentioned an awful lot in this thread......

[CbR]

lets not jinx him, he's haveing a career year in the EPL so far

[JohnR]

According to this piece, he is the most important player we have. Anybody agree?

This has been written throughout Reyna's career, although many of our biggest wins (Mexico '01, Honduras road game '01, Portugal '02) have been without him. And he's been on the field but crummy for many of our biggest losses (the entire WC '98, Poland '02). So I've never believed this stuff. Sounds like mindless cheerleading to me.

However, for the first time ... well, forever ... we have a heathy, in-form, and seasoned Claudio. Not a Claudio who will fold after being hit, as in the '98 World Cup, not a Claudio fighting nagging injury, but a Claudio who is playing very well at the club level, and who is now starting to do the same at the national level, too.

That guy, yeah, he might well be the most important player that we have.

[Scoobs]

1.
EJ--the only consistent scorer we have at the international level
2.
Keller--the only proven keeper at the international level
3.
Gooch--the only dominant center back we have at the international level.


Frankly as long as one of O'brien/Reyna is healthy we'll be OK in the midfield and that's been the historical trend imo.

The above three have shown themselves to be fairly unique in the US team.
I excluded Donovan because his prime value is at a-mid which Arena doesn't use often when JOB/Reyna are available.

[Nermalthecat]

I think it depends heavily on the opponent and whether the US is favored in that game. If we are the superior team, we don't need Reyna "controlling tempo" and slowing the attack down, because we don't have enough talented pieces around him to rely on consistently breaking teams down in a (borrowed from basketball) half-court offense. We need to attack with speed, something Reyna has not shown the desire or ability to do consistently with the Nats.

If we're the underdog in a game against a team with superior technical ability, Reyna is a very important cog that allows us to keep some semblance of shape and possession, provides a much-needed link from the back four (if they are composed enough not to hoof it from the back) and generally has the respect of the other top-playing nations, which always helps, as perhaps they will focus more on Reyna and slightly less on Donovan or Beasley or GAM.

FWIW, I don't think Reyna is a "definitely start every WC game" guy, given his age, injury history and somewhat special purpose to the Nats, but he will be a very crucial component in certain games, especially if the Nats escape group play (see Mexico and Germany games, out of position, in 2002).

I agree with the above poster that GAM might be the most important piece, because he is the only truly dangerous striker we have and if he's not there, you might see Donovan again misused in an attacking role, which hurts us in two positions. I also think Keller absolutely needs to stay healthy. He's not quite what he once was, and I still think Howard will be something special in the long term, but for 2006, there would be a HUGE dropoff from Keller to anyone else.

[Motterman]

There's no doubt that there are some important things that Reyna brings to the team...

However, he frustrates me when he slows the pace of the game down when I would rather us to be hitting the other team on the break, utilizing the speed of Donovan and Beasley to our advantage, or get a back to overlap and hit McBride with a cross as the defence is trying to stay with him, instead of having all day to set their defence up and us trying to figure out a way to break them down.

Now, I've heard Donovan say that it's important to have somebody to settle the team down, because the players all want to play faster, etc. I just think we'd be better served pressing earlier for the opening goal, instead of sitting back and playing conservatively all the time. (especially against the weaker CONCACAF teams) This is why it's better to use Reyna against certain opponents, like somebody mentioned already... but I'd rather see our more "run and gun" approach we see when we have somebody else playing Reyna's position....

[CbR]

in the world cup level other teams can "run and gun" as well, and some teams have better guns than us. We cant play like that for 90 mins straight

[seeds]

There's no doubt that there are some important things that Reyna brings to the team...

However, he frustrates me when he slows the pace of the game down when I would rather us to be hitting the other team on the break, utilizing the speed of Donovan and Beasley to our advantage, or get a back to overlap and hit McBride with a cross as the defence is trying to stay with him, instead of having all day to set their defence up and us trying to figure out a way to break them down.

Now, I've heard Donovan say that it's important to have somebody to settle the team down, because the players all want to play faster, etc. I just think we'd be better served pressing earlier for the opening goal, instead of sitting back and playing conservatively all the time. (especially against the weaker CONCACAF teams) This is why it's better to use Reyna against certain opponents, like somebody mentioned already... but I'd rather see our more "run and gun" approach we see when we have somebody else playing Reyna's position....

when called for, i'd rather slow the pace down and win than attack and lose. Reyna's judgement on the balance of those two things for each match is better than anyone else we have.

[Heathens '87]

1. EJ--the only consistent scorer we have at the international level
2.Keller--the only proven keeper at the international level
3.Gooch--the only dominant center back we have at the international level.




Johnson hasn't been tested against anywhere near the level of competition we'll face in Germany. 9 caps isn't tested, and outside of the Mexico game, he hasn't seen top-30 competition, even in a friendly. 6 of his 7 goals came in his first 4 caps, and we haven't seen him in a USMNT uniform since March. That's not consistent, tested, or demonstrated as critical to our success.

Gooch has 10 caps, and has had two games in a row where he's demonstrated the class needed to dominate in Germany. I think the potential is there, but he's simply not played enough to be that important to our team or our chances. He's also not been tested at the WC-level, with the exception of Mexico, where his two games were night in day in terms of quality.

Both EJ and Gooch have tremendous potential to be important to the team next summer, but it hasn't been demonstrated yet........

[Bigrose30]

1.
EJ--the only consistent scorer we have at the international level
2.
Keller--the only proven keeper at the international level
3.
Gooch--the only dominant center back we have at the international level.


Frankly as long as one of O'brien/Reyna is healthy we'll be OK in the midfield and that's been the historical trend imo.

The above three have shown themselves to be fairly unique in the US team.
I excluded Donovan because his prime value is at a-mid which Arena doesn't use often when JOB/Reyna are available.


1. I would argue that Donovan is also a consistent international scorer, and that he's done it for longer than EJ and against better competition (at times). I would also argure that Beasley could very well be one by next summer.

2. Keller is our only proven international keeper. No questioning that. But if an emergency happened and Tim Howard had to play, it would be a drop off, but not the end of the world.

3. I'd say that Cory Gibbs is a domintating center back (man-marking wise) after that friendly where he shut down Ruud Van Nistelroy.


To me, JOB and Reyna are two very different players, but both unique in the player pool.

[Scoobs]

People continue to rag on who EJ has scored against, but the thing is...

...NO ONE ELSE HAS DONE SQUAT AGAINST THAT SAME COMPETITION FROM THE FORWARD POSITION.

thank you.

[Bigrose30]

People continue to rag on who EJ has scored against, but the thing is...

...NO ONE ELSE HAS DONE SQUAT AGAINST THAT SAME COMPETITION FROM THE FORWARD POSITION.

thank you.

EJ has scored a lot of goals in a few games..true...but he's only played 8 games. If he scores a goal a game for the rest of his international career, then I'll be very impressed, but he won't.

My main point was, 8 games is too soon to call him a consistent international goalscorer.

[mattjo]

While I believe Keller is as (if not more so) talented then Reyna at his postion, and while I see Gooch showing that potential for the future, I think Reyna is the most irreplaceable to me because of the lack of other options. we do have otehr talented keepers, and some solid defenders as well. AS for GAM, I hope he can return to his previous form, becasue I really want to see him against good competition.

AS for Reyna, we have some decent defensive midfielders, and some very talented side and attacking midfielders, but the only other player who has demonstrated the ability to be a true two way central midfielder is JOB, and much as I love the guy, I am afriad to sneeze in his direction for fear of injury. Still, we can win without Reyna, but he does bring a composure and technical ability that no otehr US player has (agains except for JOB). I just hope we have someone in the pipeline who can equal his technical skills. I know when Ramos was in his prime, I remember being quite excited about Claudio. I just haven't seen that special 2-way midfielder yet, but with the improved development of US soccer, I know he has to be out there.

[Motterman]

when called for, i'd rather slow the pace down and win than attack and lose. Reyna's judgement on the balance of those two things for each match is better than anyone else we have.

I must have missed the games where Reyna has actually sped up our play.

I'm not saying there isn't a time and place for slow and deliberate patient build up play, I think that's what Reyna excels at. My comments are that he rarely shows the willingness to do so. It's maddening that a player who can do that job well in the Premiership (where it's all about quickness and speed), doesn't seem to replicate it for us, especially when the tools seem to be there, that's all.

[Scoobs]

2. Keller is our only proven international keeper. No questioning that. But if an emergency happened and Tim Howard had to play, it would be a drop off, but not the end of the world.

3. I'd say that Cory Gibbs is a domintating center back (man-marking wise) after that friendly where he shut down Ruud Van Nistelroy.

All this aside, no matter which way you slice it, it's better to have 2 goalscorers, 2 internationally experienced keepers, and 2 big centerbacks than 1.

Why do people continue to bring Tim Howard's name into the mix? There's a reason he's not getting games at Manu and Arena isn't calling him in. For a GK, he ********s up too much and hasn't shown more at the international level than a Jonny Walker or a Matt Reis.


Gibbs is good but Gooch has better passing skills and is better in the air.

[mattjo]

I must have missed the games where Reyna has actually sped up our play.

I'm not saying there isn't a time and place for slow and deliberate patient build up play, I think that's what Reyna excels at. My comments are that he rarely shows the willingness to do so. It's maddening that a player who can do that job well in the Premiership (where it's all about quickness and speed), doesn't seem to replicate it for us, especially when the tools seem to be there, that's all.

Of course the very skill we are discussing is what Pearce has been praising Reyna for in the media, stating that Reyna knows when to slow the ball down and also when to make the quick through ball pass, and that has been key for Manchester City's success. From what I understand, he did make the quick set peice pass to Beasley and also freed him on a quick through ball to release DMB 1 v 1.

[Motterman]

Why do people continue to bring Tim Howard's name into the mix? There's a reason he's not getting games at Manu and Arena isn't calling him in.

I thought it was because his wife is expecting any day now, and it was better for him to stay in England and get 2 Reserve matches in, instead of maybe getting 1 qualifier.... :confused: