I dunno man. while there are certainly physical limitations, it appears from the outside that there is/are some choice(s) being made by Gio. A person can increase their speed nominally through training, and barring physiological constraints, can increase endurance substantially. This game is an athletic endeavor. A guy who is slow, and does not run much during a game, has extremely limited utility. It may or may not be the case that Gio has tried to do these things, but diligent training and working hard are not things I hear people say about him. There are accounts in the public record of him not training hard and taking practice seriously at least with the USMNT, and I don't believe a guy would just pick the WC to half ass it in practice unless that was a regular trait of his. At the end of the day it probably does not matter to teams if the guy has biophysical limitations or lacks the passion required to train like a serious professional. He has failed in his career to prove he is physically able to perform at a high enough athletic level to be worthy of a roster spot for quite some time. Granted he did have that purple patch once upon a time, (assisting to Erling Haaland) but sports is all about what have you done for me lately, and lately he has mostly underwhelmed or been unavailable.
There's no proof either way but what makes you so sure that it is a biophysical reality? Mario Gotze suffers from severe myopathy, which is why he left BVB for PSV on a free. Medication. a rigid diet and monastic adherence to a personalized training regime saw him return to BL1 with Frankfurt, 100 further BL1 appearances and at least one UEFA final. Don't let your susceptibility to a hard luck story blind you to reality.
What's your point? Does Reyna have the wheels to "sprint" faster than he has shown? Does Reyna have the lungs for more endurance than he has shown? There is plenty of past soccer evidence to answer those questions. Or will a strict monastic diet of whole wheat bread and water, along with some "racehorse" injections turn him into a thoroughbred?
The stat that @ChrisSSBB posted--1 sprint in 22 minutes, 25.7 km/h--is damning no matter how you look at it. His sprint and top speed numbers from last season reinforce the same idea. Either he's barely physically capable of hitting whatever metric is determined to be a "sprint", or he doesn't put forth the effort to reach that (or it's a combination, which is what I presume based on all available information both current and historic).
Yeah... it's either a lack of desire or physical ability. Both of which are clear barriers to being a starter in a legit league. His technique and overall prowess as a youth has bought him more looks as teams are always looking to strike gold but I fear Gio is what he is now.... and it's not up to snuff.
He is our Juan Carlos Valeron. He moves slow, but he’s really good and sees the game in ways nobody else does. Unfortunately, it is not 2003, and the game is played by athletic runners. It’s an equation of…is he good enough to require all these runners around him?
Hah, in my head I've thought of Gio this way too, but as Valderrama. But yeah, his hair is nowhere near good enough for that comp. There's a bit of an irony that the people who are most bullish on Gio are the ones who argue for the least improvable explanation for his lack of pace, while the people most down on Gio are the ones who offer up an improveable possibility. I'll probably regret posting an opinion, but as someone who has watched and cheered for Gio since his youth days, I think his lack of pace is due to both. His hi-end pace is pretty low-end, and I usually only see him use what pace he has going forward.
I still subscribe to the theory that he is terrifed of getting another injury, for fear that it would all but end his career at the top levels. He probably can take his engine over a certain speed, but refuses to do so bc it may mean he is out for a few weeks, or even months if something happens. I think he and his team are just seeking to prolong things as long as they can. Not sure how he can earn more Nat call-ups at this rate, the optics would be bad for others on the team if a bench warmer keeps getting USMNT chances. But it is fun to see him breakdown CONCACAF opponents, he does seem to have their number - he really is our James Rodriquez.
I disagree strongly with your last paragraph. It is certainly reasonable to prefer a sometimes starter in a strong league to a full time starter in a lesser league (as long as the player is getting a reasonable amount of minutes to stay relatively sharp). It’s the same argument I’ve seen against someone like Musah. He’s not a lock starter at Atalanta, but we have very few players who would be. He’d be a lock starter for Atlanta, though. The argument against players who don’t lock down a full time starters role in a Top 4 league is silly, since we can’t field a full squad of players who could do that.
Lol, he's none of those guys until he actually produces meaningfully for an extended period at a high level. It is a fun thought experiment to wonder how his current game would've translated 20 years ago, but the Valderamas and Riquelmes of the world were *excellent* and off the charts enough offensively to overcome their defensive and physical shortcomings even then -- though I remember Riquelme being a brick shithouse and very hard to take off the ball, so there's that.
It's not just that he has not locked down a starting spot - that's a straw man argument, and not what I said. He's hardly even playing, and he does not even appear to be on the radar when the manager needs goals or is in a tough spot during the match I could be wrong, but last I checked, Yunus was getting minutes here and there in Serie A. The well of excuses for Gio is running dry, or should be.
But if he’s still better than other US options even if he isn’t playing, then his club-level playing time is immaterial.
Reyna is also getting minutes. Not sure how you get to "he's hardly even playing." He has appeared in almost every game where he's been available (he's appeared in 13 of 14 Bundesliga games). His big knock continues to be the ability to go 90', which he hasn't done yet. Whether that's physical or mental, who knows. But "hardly even playing" is simply not true.
You mean 13 of 18 league games and with only 4 starts in there it's kind of hard to see how "his big knock continues to be the ability to go 90'." Of his substitute appearances, 4 have been garbage minutes or cameos (5', 6', 10' and 11') and the good news is that his other appearances are as 1st or 2nd off the bench so "he's hardly even playing" isn't accurate either. Like last season, he's an option off the bench, only Gladbach are a much lesser team than BVB so he ought to be at least a rotator this season and he isn't. Like @ArsenalMetro said, he still plays pretty well or very well for the USA so he's going to the WC in June but his trajectory is not encouraging
He was injured for 4 of those games, which is why I said of those where he was available. My main point was that “he’s hardly even playing” is a bit silly. And we don’t have many attacking midfielders in our pool that could get any minutes at BMG at all.
Nope, only 2 of them. He missed the first 2 games of the season because of "fitness", which is a bit odd when you consider how little he played at the Club World Cup and during the season. Then again, given they omnishambles they were for the start of the season, maybe that's no bad thing
Maybe Gio gets more minutes or a start against Stuttgart. Polanski in his 0ress conference talked about Gladbach needing to be better with the ball and possession.
Gio not only is absent from the 11, he’s not even on the bench according to Soccerway. And no injury report. What is happening with this kid?
Educated guess: Bought by BM with the hopes they could catch lightning in a bottle. He shows world-class skill at times which warrants a look but underwhelms on the pitch despite a few high-quality passes.... When checking the endurance/sprint stats they ascertain that his physical output resembles that of a 40-year old... In combination it is initially decided that he is a bench player but it becomes clear that there are better options on the squad list so even his sub minutes shrink. Gio gets bitter and performs even worse at practice... Coach removes him from the squad list. Coach/Organization gets the blame from die-hard Gio forum members. Many others start talking about a move to MLS.
Maybe there's a second division Turkish side, or club in Finland where he can go to revitalize his career. The window is still open.
Comment on Gladbach forum that he is "injured again". Then some other words about the value of bringing him in. No doubt this was a bit of a " fingers crossed" transfer for Gladbach. Edit: Anyway, in Polanski's press conference yesterday, Gio was not mentioned as one of the players unavailable for today's match.
Gladbach announced before the game on social media that Reyna was ruled out today due to "muscular problems."
Gladbach paid a nominal "kick the tires" fee for a scratch-off Gio lottery ticket. They've honestly probably gotten reasonable value for their money, it's just not the value or role many US fans dreamed of.