Bundesliga home teams have won 8 of 36 matches since the restart. I'm really curious to see if that sort of trend continues going forward.
Gio played really, really well in his cameo, one of his better than I can remember seeing. He did his chances of starting soon a world of good imo
Reyna comes across as very smart with the ball, indeed. If everything goes according to plan, in 3 years he's going to be ace for us.
He is quickly becoming my favorite prospect for the USMNT. He just has the "it factor". He isn't blessed with crazy athleticism like Davies... but just seems to have a real innate ability to read the field and make plays. It is kind of shocking that he won't be 18 until November. He plays with a fluidity and cleverness that you generally see in elite players. No one is a sure thing, but I think Gio is as close as it comes. It is hard to imagine him not being above average in two years... and he has real potential to be a star. Time will tell. Should be fun to watch. I think next year will be his coming out party.
For some guys-- smart, level-headed, good support system-- there's really only one thing that can derail such a promising career and hopefully he bucks that trend...
He’s so ridiculously smooth. and the post above, only like three other guys in the world have Alphonso Davies level athleticism!
In a three forward setup USMNT plays a false 9 means the two wide players have to pinch in. Doesn't make sense too me for that particular system. WTF do I know
People are being ridiculously definitive on positions for a player who played striker most of the time for the NYCFC Academy, winger with Dortmund U19s and is playing Dortmund's wide forward role -- which moves inside and outside and ranges. He can play winger. He can play striker -- both more traditional and a false 9. He can absolutely play as a 10, and even at 10 is probably the USMNT player most adept at playing as a passing hub in tight spaces. Dude is super talented. I think we're best served by letting him roam a bit - he and Pulisic should do so and the rest of the attack should morph around them. But I don't really get people saying that he can't play X position or claiming, at 17 and no starts, that we really know his best position.
Really nice to see a US player that actually appears to be tactically adept. Every time I see him play I think it is great to see how he doesn't just go off on solo runs when he attacks very often. Has can and does take players on 1 v 1, but he almost always seems to look to attack as part of a group.
He, Pulisic, Uly, and Dest should just interchange and play off each other and make 95% of teams look silly. We're about to have a wave of talent my friends
Bruh, he's a Reyna. He'll eventually end up at Right Back... (heads to a nearby parking lot for a morning bracer...)
Indeed. That kind of speed is a rare thing. It will be interesting to see if he is still at LB next season or if Bayern move him back to left wing. A lot of comparisons on the Dest thread about him and Davies but I think the proper comparison should be between Gio and Davies. Which would you rather have? Who is going to have a better career? My homerism tells me Gio... and it is backed up by some very good minutes. But Davies has already made it and drops his speed bomb on the regular. Davies might have the edge right now but I hope that Gio proves different in two years or so. They will probably both be great.
Since he's earning his rep with his club as an attacking mid, why do people think he'll be given a different role in the NT? Berhalter may be a deficient coach, but why turn a guy who is flourishing with his club into a winger again? That makes not sense.
Let's not pretend the position he's playing is a 4-3-3 attacking mid or a 4-2-3-1 attacking mid. He's playing a wide forward-style position, which both provides width at times and comes inside at times. Reyna tends to play it more like Reus, who comes inside a lot, whereas Sancho tends to play it a bit wider. But it's not a CM position and not quite a winger, but a hybrid of them that tends to roam. Let's also not pretend that soccer players are so inflexible that positional names somehow define them. There's a reason why most coaches get tired of discussions centering on formations -- it's because it's simply not that important.
You say this, but the recent Athletic article with Berhalter and the subsequent podcast have Berhalter putting Gio on the wing. Regardless, Favre thinks he can play all the different spots discussed in this thread. When asked about him replacing Reuss: "Why not? That's possible. You see every day in training what he can do," explained the Dortmund boss. "He's a very intelligent player. He can play almost every position in any system."
I’m hoping his passing/vision becomes as strong as an asset as speed/athleticism is for Davies, and dribbling is for Sancho.