Im probably in the minority here, but I dont think that Reyna should be an automatic start. He has gotten by in the UK on name recognition for quite some time now. Hes also suffered numerous injuries which have slowed him considerably. In short, hes not nearly the player he used to be.
Uhm...Exactly how does a player get by on name recognition in a sport, played in front of 10s of thousands each weekend live, and tens of millions on televisionworldwide, and studied on tape closely by a manager and staff who know they're only a few bad games away from getting fired? Is your opinion that people watch him play poorly, week in, week out, and say, "Well, okay, he was off today, but you've got to play that Claudio feller. He was top 16 (or whatever the number was) in SK/Japan." I don's see it that way. Reyna is having a very solid year, as good a season for city as he's had in recent years _ better than any he had for Sunderland. He is out on the field when healthy because he's needed and he produces. He's controlled the tempo of a couple games this, stamped them with his name. Now, is he fast? I don't know, I'm sure he's slowing down, most folks are. But he's still highly competitive in a very fast-paced league (as high a pace as he'll see at the WC). Beyond that, exactly what is this great reputation of his? The papers do mention, "American international" when they mention him, but they do that with everyone. Nobody makes a big deal out of him. He's hardly one of the great names of the sport, just a very solid player. Maybe a Zidane level player can get away with fading skills because of what he once was, buy Reyna was never in that category.
I thought the question was which games that matter had Beasley played in the middle. What question did you answer?
the espn highlight generation has difficulty recognizing the subtle play of reyna... as to cherundolo doesn't just get by in bundesliga at right back....
Thanks man, but Im stationed overseas and get to watch an abundance of EPL games. "espn highlight generation"
Okay, but what are you seeing that we're missing then? A lot of us see a lot of the prem. He's been pretty strong this year, IMO.
the argument against reyna is he SLOWS down the usa play.... which is true to some degree, since arena wants to control tempo more than run and gun... reyna's possession ability mixed with o'brien gives usa the ability to use the up top talent of donovan and johnson and beasley to beat "more" talented sides...
Yes, he was ranked as the top player in the EPL the first month of this season. Yep, it's all name recognition. He has since faded to #78, still ahead of Hernan Crespo and El-Hadj Diouf, after being out the past 6 weeks with an injury.
Im not suggesting anything that others dont already know. Claudio lacks pace in attack, and hes not a ball winner in the midfield. More recently, he has found it harder to create opportunities for himself. Yes, hes a fine distributor of the ball, but theres nothing dynamic about his game that makes me believe that he should still be an automatic regular. In many ways, his age/speed/injuries limit our ability to be really creative in the midfield. And I think many of the City fans will tell you the same thing - hes an offensive medfielder that doesnt create as many chances as he used to.... Dont get me wrong, Im not saying he shouldnt make the team. Hardly. I just dont think hes and an indispensible part of the top XI anymore. Just thinking for myself here, folks, which isnt such a bad thing you know.
Not accusing you of doing it on purpose, but you're clearly overstating the minuses and understating the pluses. Reyna is more than a "fine distributor of the ball." He's world class (yes, I mean world class) when it comes to possession and distribution. To say that he "lacks pace in the attack" is disingenuous. Athough his body is not fast, his vision and speed of thought more than make up for it; the man's passes are out of this world. Also, saying that he's "not a ballwinner" is a huge overstatement. He is a tough defender and wins more than his fair share, though I agree that his ball winning skills are far below that of a typical Arena "destroyer" like Mastro or Armas. Yes, he has slowed with age. Yes, he is injury prone. But when healthy and in form, his possession and distribution skills still make him not just an automatic starter for the USMNT, but also the catalyst and focus of the team.
He is not doing anything other than state an opinion different than yours. I guess I go halfway between you two.
Now I think you're overstating a few things, especially when talking about the attack. On occasion, I've seen him deliver a quick excellent pass on the attack...but I've seen a lot of players do it on occasion. Nothing special there, and definitely not out of this world, IMO. In fact, from what I've seen of him at City, he's generally not involved all that much in the attack and in fact, at last weekend's game he was bypassed on virtually all their quick attacks - and there were lots of them. Also, I don't believe he's the "catalyst" on our team either; a catalyst, IMO, is someone who jump starts something, who gets things going; Claudio, on the other hand, is lauded for "calming" us down. Not my definition of a catalyst, but maybe I'm missing something. Now, I'm not denigrating Claudio's talent in the least. I think he provides excellent control and calm and holding and maintaining possession of the ball..and perhaps is the focus of the team. I just don't think he's a key figure, as a general rule, to our attack.
In many ways, you and I are arguing two sides of the same coin. I absolutely accept your "revision" of my initial assessment (I may have been overly demonstrative in order to hammer home my point). Still, ask a City supporter about Reyna, and half of the fans will say hes hands down the best player at the club, and the other half will say they need to upgrade him. Which one is correct? I guess its a question of tactics and expectations. If Bruce wants to play a slow, tactical game through Claudio (as Adam suggested above), then Reyna will remain the centerpeice of our midfield. However, if our team looks lethargic and static after playing the Czech's, I wouldnt be surprised if Reyna is replaced vs Italy and/or Ghana.
looking at available options is midfield I see only 6 players I trust... mastroenei reyna o'brien beasley donovan convey.... right now, there's NO attacking player you'd really have to run things the way a dominant run of the offense guy would... donovan does some things well, and reyna does some other things well... until adu gets into the next cycle, there isn't a creative force out there who is american.... in the short term, arena has to assess his talent pool and adopt a tactical approach which gives his side the best chance to win... so if reyna PLAYS poorly against the czechs, without injury being an issue, would adding o'brien or convey seriously change the dynamics of arena's tactics.... I don't think so
Just for conversation sake, how about a midfield of: Beasely JOB Mastro Donavon ----------EJ----McBride--------- Beasely------------Donavon --------------JOB-------------- -------------Mastro-------------- or EJ----McBride Beasely------------Donavon JOB-----Mastro
When I said that he was the catalyst and focus of the team, I meant to say that our game, for the most part, runs through him and he sets our tone and tempo. I did not say, nor did I mean to imply, that he is an offensive spark plug. I don't think we disagree on this point.
o'brien history of being healthy might prevent him from being a starter... having o'brien OFF the bench might be a tactical option.. i see convey and JOB as being able to influence matches somewhat coming off the bench...the other options don't excite me all that much
-------------------Keller--------------------- Dolo----------Gooch/Berhalter------Lewis -------------------Pablo------------------ Reyna------------Donovan----------Convey ----------McBride/EJ---------DMB-------- Arena will put the best players on the field. Fast, a little small, skilled. Instead of Berhalter, it might be Gibbs or Boca, less likely is Pope.
I'm curious as to how a Centermid will influence the game off the bench. Wingers and Strikers are brought on for an offensive boost, defenders and Dmids are brought on to hold a lead, don't see JOB as either. If he is healthy he should start, who cares about his history?
define "world class"....I'll give you Reyna being "International class" but IMO there are about 15 or so players on the planet who are "world class" and Claudio Reyna isn't one of them....
You cannot define world class, everyone has their own definition. I think if a guy can legitimately be mentioned as a top 3 player in the world for his position, he is world class.
then by your own definition Claudio reyna is not even close to being "world class"....and I agree with this....
i would consider being in the all tournament team last world cup world class. Considering that's what is being discussed