If Reyna was healthy he could take McKennie's spot in Jamaica. Several of these guys can compete at multiple spots but we always have injuries, suspensions and now with increased competition even form will keep you out for a spell. So should be time for all the best players either starting, spot starting or being super subs.
agree, but i will add (to my general philosophy of roster building post quoted) versatility is the luxury of luxuries. as i see reyna as an 8 hes obviously the third (not a ranking) in that rotation so theres no problem. we have a lot of guys who are really versatile (and some that only theoretically are- its nuts to me people are still talking about acosta as an 8). in the same way "getting all your best players on the pitch at once" is secondary to me, playing guys out of their best position is tertiary at best. none of our wingers are substantially better/more effective on one side over the other. our fbs are a lot more defined. im inclined to say wes could play the 6 better than acosta (while im unsure about musah, defensively speaking)- but those are strictly "emergency" considerations- for after the world cup has started, for example. i just think versatility isnt a primary consideration. our wingers are all two sided, pulisic and aaronson could both play at the 10 (or false nine, which im not a fan of) but that would require us changing our setup which isnt ideal. adams can play rb, acosta can (in theory) play fb. we have natural versatility in our top guys...but its like insurance- a good thing to have but hopefully you never use it. the caveat being those spots after the primary rotation. thats why an arriola could have a case as a guy to kill games off while being able to cover either wing or rb...problem being i just pointed out we have a ton of "depth" at those spots in our primary players. but a couple of those end of the bench guys can have value in versatility more than quality- sands, for example, could definitely sneak in while probably being our 6th or 7th best cb. i think morris has a much stronger case than arriola due to being able to play st- and all "able to play striker"s arent equal. thats also where you can sneak in a ream who could cover a problem position as well as filling the rimando role of experienced, locker room guy (if he were 5 years younger). i dont care how many positions/roles guys "can" play. that has zero importance for me until we have guys in their best positions cover all of those positions. as i said- its strictly a luxury consideration for me. sorry @Pegasus, the was clearly a one word reply to you then me just rambling about my own things for while
ok, we agree on that then. I confess I had trouble understanding some of your post, and what to make of some of the emojis.
Weah absolutely took a leap Friday. We'll see tomorrow if he continues it. I have trouble with a real depth chart here as Aaronson v Weah is a strong stylistic difference. Aaronson plays in the half space, behind the striker. He makes runs into space but he's sort of halfway between the traditional winger that Weah is, and the playmaker type that Pulisic and especially Reyna gravitate to. I have really, really enjoyed the spacing that having a real winger provides. And I think if Dest comes back, I don't see how the Weah that played Friday isn't the best option over both Aaronson AND Reyna. Because Dest wants to come into the halfspace and a RW Reyna lives in the same. exact. spot. Now, Reyna is also a beast, but I think a more traditional RB is a better combo for him, and if he is going to play wing, I think there's a different set up around him to optimize him.
Agreed. Aaronson plays like Pulisic on the left, which complements ARob. It’s the opposite on the right. Weah will complement Dest better than either Aaronson or Reyna on the RW.
Acosta is an 8, in addition to a 6. He has played the 8 for most of his career. He has had big games for the US in the role--at Azteca and at Honduras during the '18 cycle. What role he would play in the current set up depends on the tactics and personnel. So far, he has done well as a 6. As an 8, the creativity would need to come from the other midfield 8. Given the march of young talent coming through, his position in the team is tenuous. As with Lletget, there's no need for bellyaching over the player's being included.
Some other quick thoughts: Given our availability issues, is this ever going to be a real problem? It seems like an asset to be going 4 deep at winger (plus players like Morris or Konrad or whomever you like) and adding a potential Reyna to a strong starting midfield. I think so much of it is situational. I know Reyna is not a weak defensive player, but I still think the MMA midfield is going to be superior for defense and shuttling in a highly competitive match. And while Reyna can play shuttler .. it's not his tendency. Reyna in the midfield makes a lot of sense versus a bunker. I think the wide players need someone to play in the half space, and someone to play wide. With A Rob on the left ... the LW can come inside more -- Pulisic, Aaronson, etc. With Dest on the right, the RW should be more of a wide player. And frankly, we saw even with Yedlin, how valuable Weah pulling Gallardo out wide and deep was. We shall see how Scally and other FBs play. Likewise, I think the striker needs to be a traditional striker OR the wingers need to change how they play. If we were to play a false 9 ... that LW and RW need to become strikers. They can't wait for the ball to feet. They must be making those runs over and over off the false 9. They need to be Salah and Mane. Because if they drop into the half space pointing to their feet, we've made it easy on the defense. Roles and spacing. We can look at our talent and say "hey, how do we cram all these guys in on the field." Or we can look and say "There's different style here and if we put them in places, it makes us tactical flexible so we can attack an opponent in different ways."
Not denying that history, nor that Gregg thinks along those lines. But for more than a year he has been a giveaway machine AND a s9metimes heroic defender at the 8. So for me options like Busio, DLT, Reyna are better at the 8.
Reyna had been playing central midfield for Dortmund. His defensive numbers number in UCL were good. There's little to say he wouldn't be as effective as Musah and McKennie in central midfield when the US play a good team.
One could argue Gio vs McKennie as well. McKennie has been very up and down for the NT. And if Musah is gonna play like he did vs Mex as a fulcrum who can hold and transition the ball to the attack to the extent he did, I'd drop McKennie before I drop him as I place more value on what Musah brought the other day. A Robinson, Reyna and Puli triangle of the left flank is interesting.
Regardless of how he ends up there, Gio Reyna is a better player the more he's playing centrally. If he's going to play a wing, then it's going to be more of an inside forward where the right back provides the width and he operates more centrally. I also think Reyna is the key (pun intended) to unpicking locked CONCACAF bunkers. When playing against teams that we know are going to pack it in and force us to break a bunker, that's where I feel Gio will be best suited as an 8 underneath a forward line that is more vertical. As others have said, the best thing about this "problem" is that when everyone is healthy, we have a wealth of talent coming off the bench. I mean, come on! I do think Gio is going to be the X-factor/Swiss Army Knife type of player who will move around some based on rotation and tactics. I think his creativity and body type allow him to work in a number of different positions. For me, it's a lot more about putting these players into their best strengths as opposed to playing a particular position. Pulisic, Weah, and Aaronson are better driving toward goal. Reyna and Busio are better centrally being able to pick passes. Musah is at his best turning and progressing the ball. McKennie's best traits are his aerial game and his late runs into the box. Adams is our Kante. You can have some tactical flexibility as long as you get your players playing to their strengths.
Do you feel that this young team can pivot between two slightly different but crucially distinct ways of playing on the fly? Sadly I don't. At least, not yet. If I did, or if this were a club team, I'd want to alternate situationally, because both are valid. But for this group, if I had to choose only one, it's the MMA midfield in the 433. Why? Because those three have the potential to dominate a game by pressing against most teams. That's the strongest version of ourself over the foreseeable future.
One argument for Gio in the center is that with Weah and Aaronson’s emergence we have (along with Pulisic) three pretty good wingers. So if all available we can have two start and one come off the bench. As much as people like the MMA midfield, there’s no solid backup 8. Lletget has regressed, Busio may be playing well in Italy but hasn’t looked particularly good for the US yet, Acosta should be a backup 6 only in my mind, Williamson is hurt and I think de la Torre must’ve shot Berhalter’s dog. Point is if we are all healthy I would like Reyna getting reps in our midfield to see how he works there because I’m happier with our wing options currently and so the next time we have injuries to our central mids we aren’t relying on unknowns or established mediocrity.
By and large, Concacaf WCQing opponents don't bunker against the US. Musah vs Reyna? Neither has had enough games in central midfield to form much of an opinion. In the next window, both will get starts.