Giovanni “Gio” Reyna US National Team Discussion

Apparently that US sports editor is an idiot.

 

Carleton was a pretty high profile youth prospect. It just didn't work out for a myriad of reasons.
Same as what happens with youth prospects in Argentina, Spain, and France. There's a "failure rate."

If we look at the REST of the guys on that Guardian list from 2017, we see eventual paths all over the place. For every Vinicius Jr. from Brazil, there's five guys on that list who didn't develop. Like his Brazilion compatriot Lincoln, who now plays in Serbia for Spartak Subotica.
Next Generation 2017: 60 of the best young talents in world football | Soccer | The Guardian

Reyna was on a great path, and injuries have taken their toll. We'll see if he can get back on track. I'm cynical about it at this point.

[Carleton recently made a highly charged political post in social media. Let's not get into it on Big Soccer. If people want to see it, they can look for it.]

 

Way to throw chum in the water.

 

Yep, save that for BigPolitics.

 

Leaving that aside a lot of people already thought he needed a checkup from the neckup.

 

Very nice article; unfortunately paywalled at the Athletic:

Gio Reyna has awareness, appreciation for a U.S. World Cup shot that is an exception

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7150906/2026/03/27/gio-reyna-usmnt-pochettino-world-cup/

Snips:

“Soccer,” Gio Reyna says, “is my life.” It’s what he thinks and talks about on daily drives through Germany’s Rhineland, or on his couch in Dusseldorf, or when he’s dreaming. At times, he tries to get away, and marriage has helped; “but it’s just what I love,” he says of the sport. “It’s what I love to play, it’s what I love to watch, it’s what I love to read about.” It has taken him around the globe and given him indescribable joy, all in 23-plus years of life.

---------------------------

He has not played a single minute of competitive soccer in over two months. He knows that the USMNT easily could have convened this crucial camp without him. He knows that World Cup plans could be structured around others. He doesn’t feel entitled to any role or roster spot.

----------------------------

“In the last couple years,” Reyna says, “I really learned, whatever the situation is, to just train well, train hard, train consistently. And when that moment comes, or when I’m called on … that training will come through and show that I’m ready to play.”

-----------------------------

(speaking of this calendar year)

Then, soon after the Bundesliga resumed, came another injury. “It was just a shot in training,” Reyna says. His quadriceps went. “It sucked,” he adds.

And it wasn’t just a standard injury. “It was a reoccurring injury in my quad,” Reyna explains. Over the weeks and months that followed, it was treated carefully and with precaution. “When the same injury happens twice,” he says, “you sort of have to put on an extra week or two [of rehab] to make sure it’s all taken care of in the right way.”

(speaking of rehab)

He has done plenty of them since his first true injury in 2021. Before that, “I’d never lifted up a weight in my life. I was just an 18-year-old naive kid that wanted to play soccer and enjoy it,” he says. Since, he’s worked on his body and “gained 15 to 20 pounds in muscle mass. I feel stronger,” he says. But the injuries just keep coming.

--------------------------

He’d rather put energy into gratitude. “I obviously really, really appreciate [Pochettino’s] trust and the relationship we have,” Reyna says. “So I can’t thank him enough for that.” He speaks like a player who knows nothing is guaranteed, and like a 23-year-old who’s come a long way since 20-year-old mishaps.

-----------------------------

And he’s determined to repay Pochettino’s faith. He knows the coach’s decision to call him in was perhaps “controversial.” He wants to make it a fruitful one.

“I’m thankful to be here,” Reyna says, “but at the same time, I also want to make a difference.”

Hope I haven't violated fair use; it was a rather long article.

 

Carleton's career had already derailed long before he started getting publicly vocal about politics, from what I remember

 

Pretty good comments from Gio. No hint of any entitlement. He clearly knows he has to work hard and show some results if he wants to be on the final roster. Can't wait to see how he looks in these two friendlies.

 

Gio will probably have to find a way of making an impact from the bench. Not his forte traditionally. He's the sort of player you don't really notice for long periods then suddenly delivers moments of brilliance. Luna is similar but he's solid defensively and is good at the high press.

 

prefacing this with the fact that i obviously dont know pochs inner thoughts and feelings, i think theres still theres a fundamental misunderstanding of reynas situation.

we all know what reyna can do in the context of the nt, in relatiion/comparison to other players in the nt (pool). i think poch requires full commitment to the team but i dont know that theres a straight line from that to constant defensive workrate, tracking every run, pressing on every possesion- particularly from a fully attacking mid.

(stupidly trusting that you all understand how comparisons work) do you think he would sit messi? and messi has no workrate whatsoever. messi could literally sit down on the pitch for a couple of minutes and no one would care.

in the context of the nt, i think reyna is comparable to messi in the sense that he can provide far more creativity/playmaking/incisive passing than anyone else. but because hes not messi, he doesnt get a complete pass either. i dont think hes expected (and rightly so) to play (or even attempt to) at aaronson levels, but i imagine that line of expectation for him sits solidly above "token".

i also dont think (still speculating) theres any expectation of him going a full match. i think a start with a soft-planned change at the break is probably the high end of that arc- and that is exactly what weve seen from him in his most notable nt matches. bringing him on late chasing a result makes all the sense in the world, but hes obviously not going to be brought (or kept) on to see out a result.

which brings me to the one misconception i think people have- i dont think playing time matters at all. anecdotal theories about his playing better after rare stretches of minutes with his club team are less consistent than those club minutes are. i dont believe there is any reason to expect his level of play with us to be any different coming off 2 starts in 5 and 2 sub appearance or zero minutes in two months. he is inarguably an exception to the most general rules of selection because his quality and role allow, or even dictate.

but its not a matter of club minutes- its fitness. not number of sprints, not in pressures, not in times he tracks back defensively- can he physically fill the role of primary creator/secondary goal scorer for us? hes going to give us more than that, but thats ancillary.

...and not overtly being a problem chemistry-wise.

but all this time arguing over his ability, his minutes, how much defense he has to provide, etc is a waste of time- and so many of you maniacs have posted the same things literally dozens and dozens of times in this thread alone.

if he can physically play his role and doesnt post on ig about humping matt turners sister or some shit hes in. if he physically cant he will be out. i dont think its any more complicated than that.

 

Reyna is like a Messi that doesn't get any starts and rarely comes off the bench.

 

i agree that Reyna is a Messi type of player in that you don’t play him for his defense but that is the problem. It’s one thing to protect one player, it’s more than twice as hard to protect two. It’s like being down a man vs being down two. It’s not linear, it’s exponential.

I think it comes down to Pulisic or Reyna but not both as a starter. I really only see Reyna as a sub for us. An important sub but a sub.

 

As soon as he stopped growing and happened to be small and slow by age of 17.

 

He is 4" taller than Maxi Moralez. Both Tata and De Boer commented on his lack of professionalism.

 

Reyna is like Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer.

 

He has a very shiny nose?

 

Then one foggy World Cup Eve
Poch came to say
"Reyna, with your talent so bright
Won't you guide my team tonight?"

 

Then all the doubters loved him.

 

"As they shouted out with glee
GIO the walking reindeer,
We only lost 4 to 3!"

 

here is a career comparison of Gio and Messi:

https://www.whoscored.com/players/389087/history/giovanni-reyna
https://www.whoscored.com/players/11119/history/lionel-messi

Gio with 15g and 15 assists in his senior career.
Messi with 594g and 256a

I guess maybe they’re similar, on a sliding scale

 

Small and slow never works. Maxi Moralez anything but slow.

 

Isn't a shame we've had a few incidents that your statement is actually cautionary for any of the players?

 

My son said last night that he thinks the 12 minutes last night might be the last time we see Reyna in a USMNT kit.

You can argue, and it would be correct, that he got subbed on with all the second teamers. But he still showed me the same old Gio. Mostly stood around and didn't do anything. He should have been running around with his hair on fire. Nope. Sad.

 

I think we all have our biases, me included. I tend to keep hoping Gio gets it going and I root for him. My view, a biased one towards positive and your view which tends to be more pessimistic allows us to see different things. I saw Gio tracking back breaking up passes, moving the ball like Gio does with precision passing. He was always looking to mark and was on both sides of the field and forward. I thought he and Aaronson definitely had a good 12 minutes.

Again, we look at Gio through different sets of glasses so our "take" will be different. One thing I will say with Gio is he reminds me a bit of my son. My son is 6'5 so when he's playing sports he looks to be moving slower but he covers a lot more ground than someone who is 5'7 or 5'8.

Say Seb for example. he's listed at 5'9 or Roldan who is 5'8 they cover less ground than Gio who is 6'1 per step.

That's not to say that Seb isn't a try hard energizer rabbit, not to the extent that Aaronson is but still he has a high work rate. Gio is a glider and he positions himself well.

If you focus on Gio and watch how he slides into positions rather than sprinting it's a bit more obvious. If you watch he's always looking around and stepping into positions rather than putting his head down and sprinting, which is also a reason that Seb tends to over run things.

Again, not saying he's out there sprinting but it's just different. The two are VERY different styles.

But, to say he just stood around I'd 100% disagree with and I think it's a bit of bias.