They Needed a Minivan but Got a Gio: Reyna at Nottingham Forest (Olf Borussia Dortmund)

I mean even that is not at all clear and is pure hyperbole. We don’t know anything about this injury that indicates that it will nag him forever or have any sort of long term impact.

 

And how do you know it is not career ending?

 

I mean hamstring injuries generally are not career ending. In the absence of any information to the contrary there’s absolutely nothing to indicate that this injury is anything close to career ending. Anything else is just baseless speculation.

 

What? I read a couple reports but didn’t see “career ending” or hints in that direction. Is this your speculation or is there a report out that states this?

 

The Gio injury debate concerning his possible career ending injury will be as conclusive as the whole there is a god/there isn’t a god debate.

I have my popcorn. And…. Go!

 

We'll never know about gods, but we'll know about Gio in a couple of years.

 

But there IS information to the contrary. Here is a quote from the article linked by the post above.
"Rose said a tendon and nerves were also affected."
When the nervous system is damaged, all bets are off until a lot more information is available.

 

Thanks for the memories (and to others as well)- I coached a very poor HS team for seven years. Played on fields with 10-inch deep potholes in city parks, fields with mud puddles covering every inch, fields so lopsided that you could only see the opposite winger’s torso… I feel vindicated that some of our mediocrity was clearly due to the low quality of the pitch.

The rest of it can be attributed to low levels of athletic talent and, possibly, coaching.

 

"Ok guys, we're down a goal here at halftime and now we have a mountain to climb. Well, maybe not a mountain but it is a pretty steep hill to their end so you're going to need to hit your passes forward twice as hard. Also, don't try and dribble through that pond near the center circle."

 

Actually, you are not so far off reality. One field I played on in high school was on a village green in northern NH. It had bare sections of flat granite exposed in one end of the field. Another school had a field constructed in a cow pasture. The outer 4-5 yds along the eastern touch line rose 10-12", while the outer 4-5 yds along the western touch line dropped by the same amount. Dribbling along the west side meant that the ball was out of sight for about half the players on the field. The play on those two fields occurred during the first season my high school had a soccer team. We lost 3 of the 4 games played. The school now has a modern turf stadium serving the needs of soccer, Am. football, field hockey and lacrosse. The HS boys soccer team has just finished its 45th consecutive season in the state playoffs, losing the D1 final 2-2 after overtime and 8-9 on PKs. Times have changed.

I can't say that we ever encountered a pond in the middle of the field, however. On the other hand, when coaching on Long Island, one of my teams played on a field almost completely covered in literal sh!t (we dubbed it "goose grease") provided by a resident population of Canada geese. The stuff discouraged heading and sliding tackles.

 

I mean it’s one thing to say it’s more serious than originally thought, but it’s another to say that it’s a career ending injury or the type of injury that’s going to plague him in a way that kills his career. Even the fact that there’s potentially a nerve injury can mean all sorts of things in terms of seriousness. Without more information then we have anything long term prognosis is just uninformed speculation at this point.

 

How do you know it’s not a CIA operation intended to destroy the spirit of middle American soccer fans?

 

Our souls are already dead sooo...

 

I don't, obviously. Moreover, I would never make such a claim.

 

Except I’ve heard Xavi from Barcelona complain that they drew a game because the field was over watered so they couldn’t pass…as a player on the best team in the world. The grass was too wet…

So…perhaps it’s because you were playing high school ball just the conditions didn’t matter.

 

Actually nerves are impacted with almost all injuries, just the degree varies. Moreover, in the very same article it says they are hopeful (but not certain) he can resume training by the end of the year. None of that suggests career ending.

It does suggest he’s still just a kid and most likely pushed his rehab too hard, suffered a setback, and we have to wait a bit longer before resuming the “is Reyna going to be the GOAT?” and “could Claudio beat up Mark Pulisic?” discussions.


Come to think of it, I have evidence that Mark is going to give Claudio a “career-ending injury”! Show me the proof that he won’t!!!

 

What constitutes a career-ending injury for a Director of Football?

 

Not career ending but it sounds like he had a bad setback. Fair to question how BVB has handled the injury. In general injury reports and updates are one of the most frustrating aspects of being a YA fan that is used to North American rules and regular reports on injured player status.

 

Have any other nations had their "top" players out with major injuries like the US have the last couple of years? It could be my own narrow bias, but it sure seems like we see it more.

 

Breaking the fingers of the wine-drinking hand? That Mark Pulisic is one bad daddy.

 

Perhaps. And perhaps there's always an exception or exceptions to the norm.

 

Update from Claudio Reyna who says he’s back in Dortmund and that he’s a couple weeks away from playing.

https://theathletic.com/2957405/202...nas-rehab-efforts/?source=user_shared_article

 

Good on Claudio! Knew he could always make a comeback someday.

 

I thought his career was over.

 

Damn, must be nice to have a Dad who played pro soccer and you can actually have an intelligent and informed conversation about hamstring injuries with.