He did seem visibly tired, but while being tired he generated 2 assists, and had a third potential assist that wasn't finished and a few other moments. All of that in like 30 minutes while the bulk of the rest of the team ---- their pants under the pressure of it all. Bellingham's late season injury combined with Reyna's difficulties w/rehab the past 20 months cost them this title. It put the game in the hands of lesser talents who puked all over themselves under the pressure.
Probably also worth mentioning that Dortmund's defense, as per always, is garbage (for a team with CL Quarterfinalist level talent most seasons).
You have to think that he's going to be featured in whichever of this summer's competitions that he'll be called in for.
To be completely fair, Dortmund was on quite a roll in the run in before yesterday. It’s pretty tough for any coach to make a big change to things when you’re doing well, so I’m not surprised that Gio didn’t feature a whole lot. But he probably should have been in yesterday when Dortmund went down 0-2, and definitely should have been in at halftime. That was a big mistake. He’s obviously a player who knows how to deliver offensively. At the time Dortmund was down by 2, they were really down 3 because of Bayern leading. Side note-seeing yesterday makes me miss the away goals rule in the Champions League. The drama of Musiala’s goal taking the situation from “Dortmund will win the league” to “Wow, they are back to needing two goals to win the league” took me back to how a team could go from winning to losing with a single goal. But I wouldn’t apply away goals in extra time since they effectively count as two goals for the visiting team in a 30 minute period.
Dortmund with a home game to take the title, they choked. Terrible time to lay an egg, gonna be a long off season for those guys.
half our fans hate this kid #OTD, Gio Reyna helped the USMNT to a @CNationsLeague victory with a goal and an assist in the final against Mexico 🇺🇸🏆 pic.twitter.com/FTHMfMIJSZ— Borussia Dortmund (@BlackYellow) June 6, 2023
Bit optimistic based on 4 starts. Looks like he's a very good impact substitute. He was on the pitch more than 10 and less than 30 minutes 10 times and had 4 goals and two assists in those appearances.
He had a great impact in limited minutes and looked like he could end up as a difference maker at a very high level, but he will need to play more regularly before we can really know. He's still young so not a giant deal now, but if we get to the end of next season and he's still only getting minutes off the bench, things will start looking less clear. I don't think that we should forget that playing with fresh legs against tired defenses can make a difference. Sometimes that extra spring in the step makes a guy look better than he would were all else equal, one of the big reasons the points per minute thing can be deceptive. But I do expect more minutes next year and hope he can put up bigger numbers with more time on the field.
There's no doubt playing with fresh legs against tired defenses, and always when Dortmund are pressing for a goal helps, so I wouldn't expect him to lead the Bundesliga in G+A/90 or anything... ...But he's clearly a super talented player. He'll be a difference maker for the US, for sure. He will need to question why he's not getting minutes next year if he stays on the bench. Dortmund is super talented in attack, for sure, but with Reus aging and Bellingham likely leaving ... I think if he doesn't play more next year, he needs to start asking why someone like Malen, Brandt or Adeyemi is favored. And I don't mean in the "Terzic is wrong" sense. I mean more ... why are you getting put into the "late game offensive sub" mold? Why are these guys full 90 guys and you aren't? Because he's absolutely more talented than Malen. Brandt has been better at times, but we'll see if that's a permanent state. Adeyemi has a ton of talent and so does Bynoe-Gittens ... but Reyna shouldn't be at the bottom here.
I agree. I'm a big Reyna fan. I tend to think a lot of his lack of minutes was due to his being out injured multiple times and when he finally rounded back into physical condition the team had been on a great streak and the coach was not wanting to change things around. That and his youth are why I don't worry about it much for this year. Next year, he will need to get minutes and I fully expect him to. If not, I'd support him looking for a move as he's certainly good enough to get regular minutes somewhere. Even with his lack of playing time, I consider him one of the top offensive threats for the US, with only Pulisic clearly ahead (and Pulisic also struggled with playing time and has for quite some time to be honest), and well now Balogun. As far as I am concerned, that trio will determine how good or bad the US offense is for the next cycle. Others will be involved for sure and will need to contribute but those are the heavy hitters we will need to come through.
I hope so. I think it depends on the cause. If it's a situation where the others are just amazing ... If it's a situation where the coach is playing a style which doesn't fit. Maybe. But I think Reyna needs to be honest with himself. USMNT fans -- and clearly, his parents -- are going to tell him to move if he's not playing, and everyone will say he's better than the guys getting time over him. I hope he has someone honest with him. Because he's at the point where he actually needs to listen about his weaknesses and push himself to beat out guys. If it is Pulisic with equal stats to the Germans in Chelsea, who can't finish at all, he might need to move. Even perhaps Pulisic playing behind Sancho and a mediocre defensive winger at Dortmund. But he's more talented than most of these guys. So if it isn't a full stylistic thing, then he's just getting beat out. And if he's going to reach his potential ... he might need to actually fight back for one of these spots one of these days. I admit some of this is just from watching him going for a good defender to seeming disinterested. And of course, the World Cup drama. But it's a fine line or when to fight and when to leave. I guess I just want to see some fight. Running from playing time battles isn't necessarily a way to improve. Indeed. Even with suspect PT, he's going to be one of our better players. Still ... He's more toolsy and I'd argue more skilled than Pulisic. The question is whether he will surpass him in production. Pulisic struggled all cycle but kept coming up big when truly needed. People will question Christian's decision making but you can't question his fight. I don't want to question that for Reyna, to be clear. He's very young, he was hurt, and there should be no expectation yet of shouldering the load. ...But I guess I just expect him to improve to the point where he plays. If he doesn't ... I do wonder if moving is the right option ... or is it improving? The ideal situation is Reyna feeding Pulisic and Balogun closer to goal; having a front line that can switch and weave. Reaching our potential requires Reyna reaching a decent amount of his.
Totally agree that ideally, he'd win minutes at BVB. I just also think it can be a mistake to keep hanging around a club if they don't show they are going to play you. Playing at a lower level is better than watching from the bench if that bench time goes on too long. This year, be patient. But, if he goes through mostly bench time next year. it may be worth looking around to find a place he can play. Players need to play.
My apologies if I'm I'm misinterpreting what you are saying but Gio has a track record at Dortmund that could suggest that he has an extremely high ceiling. In 20/21 he featured in 32 of 34 league games for BVB and he started 23 of those. He was pretty much a locked in starter save a couple instances when he was either sick or had a minor soft tissue injury. He had almost 2K league minutes that year and managed 4 goals and 7 assists in league play alone. He did all of this at the age of 17-18. He was a very, very, very good player for someone of that age in B1. At the time, he was on a similar trajectory as Bellingham and certainly looked like he was developing into something special. Take a look at the 20/21 highlight video of Gio below. It's basically 8 minutes of him getting assists, near assists, goals, and getting fouled by frustrated B1 defenders who could't handle him. We will see how badly his injury has affected his long term trajectory but he has more on his resume than just his B1 leading production / minute numbers from his limited sub role last season. Certainly no guarantees with him but he looks to me to have the highest upside of any US player.
Only Gio and Puli look like they belong at the highest level (Top 20 clubs) and I'm no longer sure about Puli.
I haven't run across anybody who hates him. The worst thing you'll see is that he should have been sent home for acting an ass, which I agree with. That's not hating, that's team management.
Gregg Berhalter the mediocre girlfriend-abusing MLS coach who got the national team job because of his brother, who never won jack s*** in MLS... at least he won a trophy with the US though, thanks to Gio's goal and assist vs Mexico in the final. You have @NietzscheIsDead on your ignore list huh?
He’s right. He should have been sent home. I am reticent about Gio because I have seen this show before and guys who can’t regulate typically are poison. I have no problem accepting his role as a foil and a villain if his teammates aren’t effected by it any further. Also, Berhalter won a trophy without Gio as well. Gio was a bit player who was in and out of lineups and had uneven performances during the whole Berhalter era.
Utter nonsense, he had 4 goals and an assist in his first 526 minutes across 7 starts and 1 sub on (and 79 of those minutes were in that tactical ---- show nightmare with Lletget as the false 9 against Wales in his first match ever). Basically, a goal/assist every 105 minutes. Then he got hurt against Honduras in game 1 of the Ocho and that was a wrap. Period. That's his time with the USMNT where he wasn't injured/wasn't still in a rehab state of some degree post 9/21 leg injury. Literally nobody on the team with as many appearances as he had pre-injury has produced those kinds of #'s. Nobody. He was never in and out of the lineup and he was never uneven. He was fantastic, then he got hurt and has had an interminable 20 months since that injury. That's the story. You can tag in the horror show that was him in Qatar and his family during and after if you please, but the pre-injury him was fantastic.
I don’t agree with your assessment. I have never been one to cherry pick data. Giovanni Reyna was a bit player with the US by any definition. To come to any other conclusion one has to create some excuse to explain it. Be it injury or whatever, he missed a significant number of games. A brief glance at the box scores from 2020 leading up to the World Cup shows sparse appearances marked by lots of goose eggs in the goals and assists categories. It shows sporadic appearances and sporadic starts as well as a total goose egg in Qatar. I had high hopes for this player, but I am not willing to redefine his performance to make excuses for his lack of production.
Gregg was a career Yank abroad who started his coaching career in Europe. Calling him a MLS coach is like calling Thierry Henry a MLS coach, it's just a silly way to bash a guy you don't like despite perfectly acceptable process and results. Bringing up something, unrelated to soccer from 30 years ago doesn't add any strength to your argument. It does make it clear that you aren't being reasonable.