What immaturity? He didn't smile when you wanted him to? The positive here, is that clearly there is no issue between Gio Reyna and Gregg Berhalter. This is not staged. If there is any frustration from Reyna it’s due to lack of minutes, which is totally fine.Give him minutes against Netherlands 🇳🇱 and him cook 🔥 pic.twitter.com/8VDgNmvwW3— Tactical Manager (@ManagerTactical) November 30, 2022 more likely we see Jesus f***ing Ferreira smh
looks kinda like a fake/forced smile to me. or it could be. His body language walking into the hotel was really off. I have no idea about what’s going on behind the scenes. These are just my observations.
#ReadyToRiot If Gio Reyna doesn’t start tonight, we riot. #USAvIRN #USMNT pic.twitter.com/4d6SGqce2C— Matt 🇺🇸 (@ManUtdMatt) November 29, 2022 No Reyna or Aaronson in the US lineup today pic.twitter.com/4RNFAzwkAD— big wolves guy (@mosthungever) November 29, 2022
I am not sure what value there is to talking about any kind of disruption around this TEAM. None of us know what is really going on and I find any discussion based on social media bull shit is annoying and takes away from the TEAM.
I understand Gio isn’t a typical defensive sub, but neither is Wright, who looks like he doesn’t belong on the pitch under any circumstance. Gio at least could have held onto the ball and made good decisions. He is extremely difficult to take the ball off of. It’s baffling that he has barely seen the pitch at this WC, which is why I’m starting feel there must truly be an injury concern. It’s just nonsensical otherwise. I would think, if healthy, Gio would even have a solid argument to start as Weah hasn’t exactly been setting the tournament on fire.
I understand that people want to explain away his behavior as “he’s young” or “people are reading into it”… …but maybe people are “reading into it” because he has that history of being a bit petulant and moody. Gio is absurdly talented. We all know that. I hope he develops into our best player and a great leader. But as someone whose full-time job is coaching, the headphones look/body language in the video is something I’d have an issue with on my team. I don’t care that he’s 20. I don’t care that he hasn’t played. This is bigger than you. Hell, Aaron Long was likely in line to start at one point (note: I’m not saying that would have been right or fair, only that it was a likelihood about a month ago based on what we’ve seen) and he hasn’t played a minute. Look at the USMNT Instagram video of Jedi sitting in the locker room and read his joyful body language. It’s people making the excuses for him—“it’s because“he’s young,” “it’s because he’s cocky and that’s a good thing, it’s because he should be playing”—that are going to enable him to never grow up. And again, to be clear: I love Gio and I feel for him. I understand his frustration. I think he should have played more. But that can all be true *and* it can be true that he’s coming off as petulant and self-oriented amidst a major team moment.
End of the day, Gregg's job is to win. It can be frustrating and we may not agree with decisions but if he wins he's doing his job. I absolutely believe Gio will play a role this world cup. Sometimes ya just have to be patient
As a bit of an introvert, I can relate to wanting to retreat into my music after a long day of work. Had I returned back to my hotel lobby looking forward to some chill out time only to find a bunch of people hooting and hollering, I’d probably have a similar outward reaction to Gio’s no matter how happy I was.
I think part of his lack of playing time is he missed virtually the entire qualifying process. The team sort of figured out their best lineup and the importance of Weah. And the only way to really start Reyna is to bench Weah, which I don't think anyone wants to do. There's also the possibility he really does have some injury and there's a bit of gamesmanship going on. I would have brought him on yesterday instead of Aaronson if he's healthy, but I can understand the rationale that being up a goal you'd want someone with Aaronson's defensive work rate and general ability to be a pest. As for him not looking super thrilled on the return to the hotel, I wouldn't read too much into it. It's just one shot and who knows how he was at other times. And he's maybe the most talented guy on the team and I'm sure he wants to be out there helping the team. I wouldn't worry too much about it. One could argue that Claudio Reyna was the most talented player on the 94 team and I don't think he played a minute in that tournament.
Some of you sound exactly like Chelsea fans talking about Pulisic. ”He didn’t clap up the away fans so he’s terrible for the culture…”. It’s silly talk.
I wonder if the Gio admission had anything to do with the September window when he kicked the ball out and asked to be subbed out of the game. Right or wrong. That could have stuck in Berhalter's mind that he doesn’t trust him to stay fit/uninjured in a game that counts.
It is. It's reaching for a explanation to support a theory. It's what upset fans do. On the field, post game he met Berhalter; smiled and hugged him. Looked genuine to me so I'll say they're great pals...we just dont know wth is going on.
I get why Reyna was timid, in that match. He just missed a whole year of his career, and he probably didn’t want to chance it. But for anyone who has ever coached, we also get the frustration with a player who holds back when you need to see more.
Would be hard to reconcile with subbing into the England game at 0-0 with a huge point(s) on the line.
1598392195211563008 is not a valid tweet id “The U.S. Helsinki Commission monitors human rights and international cooperation in the 57 countries of the OSCE.” Gregg is about to be dragged before The Hague if he doesn’t play Reyna
Wahl had an update corroborating some of the more rational reporting on the subject: "It's the most perplexing U.S. storyline of this tournament. Why has Reyna played no more than the seven minutes we saw in Game 2 against England and been a DNP-Coach's Choice the rest of the time? Here's what I'm told: Reyna is healthy. There has been no incident between him and Berhalter that has led to less playing time. Reyna's teammates are confused about it, and so is Gio, who is deeply disappointed but hoping he gets some playing time against the Netherlands. I don't expect him to start, even though I would love to see Weah at the No. 9 and Reyna out wide, but I do hope Reyna would get in around the 60th minute. He has special attacking and goal-creating skills that no other U.S. player has that's not named Christian Pulisic. Reyna could be the difference-maker against the Dutch." It's pretty puzzling, as Wahl says, if Reyna is indeed healthy. Of course the US have needed attacking impetus in the latter half of games one and two; even more, retaining possession or threatening counterattacks is helpful defensively. It's hard to imagine a fresh(ish) Reyna is a worse defensive proposition -- considering things holistically, not just "can the guy press and duel" -- than tired Timmy Weah/Pulisic. So if this is indeed the situation I think it's an example of a mistake Gregg has made. Overall, he's done a positive job and the team has played very well. I'm not even sure subbing in Reyna would mean more points for the US. However, I do wonder if the team would be fresher for this Netherlands game. I'm very worried about the fatigue aspect of the game for the three CMs and Weah.
Damn it, why did The U.S. Helsinki Commission delete their tweet about how Gio Reyna needs to play more? This is a conspiracy that could go to the highest levels of power!
I feel like keeping guys fresh is something you do when you can, but you can't expect to really rotate much in most cases. Mostly the very top teams can rest guys without losing much or if a team goes up and is clearly in control you can rest guys. But most mid-level teams need every minute they can get from their best players to keep getting results. And even some very good teams put a lot of minutes on their top guys, guys who are used to playing a lot of minutes and having two game each week for large stretches in most season and only occasionally getting a rest. To do three quick, or I guess four since the first knockout phase is a quick turnaround just mirrors a busy couple of weeks that most top players deal with and then the games slow down for the final couple rounds. Our guys are young and not as used to that grind as regularly as some others, but for top players it's not that much of an unusual situation to play a lot of minutes in two games per week for a couple weeks and then get a few days off before the next one. I think our youth should help some, but I also think we play a very physically demanding style that can make it difficult.
It’s bs that we’ve had to endure 113 ineffective minutes from Haji and only seem Gio for 8 if he’s healthy. Gio would be far better at seeing out a game than Wright. Berhalter’s substitutions have been crap this tournament regardless of results and a big reason for the second half drop offs vs Wales and Iran.