vs Holstein Came on at 79th up 3-0 and a man. Played centrally and had an easy go of it. Time on the ball, good amount of touches and possession. Tried a tight ball into the box that was cut out and then a clever chip that barely didn't clear the last man, would've been nice. Couple times he got a loose ball and dispossessed the opponent, nothing too intense or spectacular but was getting mixed in a bit. As always, was clean and calm on the ball, picking out the quick easy passes and never even close to having the ball taken from him.
So if for whatever reason he doesn't should Poch put him in the 60 just in case? Would be just like BVB to either sell him or not play him. I guess maybe he could use the time to get more healthy.
Quite simple, actually. Just appoint a decent coach with a decent record and a disciplinarian's approach to whip a talented but disjointed squad into some kind of shape. So, no, BVB shouldn't be in your montage but with the EL winner qualifying for the CL directly, either Man U (16th in the EPL) or Spurs (17th) who have, between them, already lost more games (39) than there are in an entire season will . . . "grace" the CL next season. Someone described this final as a two bald men in a cage fight for a free hair transplant.
Poch did not include Gio on 60 man list. Which leads me to believe he was told Gio is playing at Club World Cup.
I mean.. he's under contract for another year and he's a squad player with cameo minutes most every game. Makes sense for him to be with the team at CWC. Maybe they rest some starters and Gio gets to showcase himself. But what a disappointment if he rides the pine at CWC and misses the GC. Hopefully he gets in the June friendlies (a week before the CWC). BvB can afford to let him go for those... right? Leaving on a free in a year isn't ideal for BVB obviously so you'd think they'd want to get some transfer $s for him..
A report from BILD back in the Spring said that after FIFA announced the prize money, the board set a revenue of around $40m from the CWC. $26.7m of that is already in the bank for qualifying. $2m per win, $1m per draw, and $7.5 for making the round of 16 means Dortmund could almost hit that goal without having to play another UEFA club. There will be plenty of time to put squad players like Gio "in the shop window" at this tournament, and I think it's weird that people expect otherwise. Now that Dortmund have to play CL qualifiers, they have a pretty good reason to rest players ahead of those matches. They're not gonna throw out the children for the CWC, but even if they treated each match like a league game, Gio would be in line for at least 20' across the group stage matches. They're not gonna ask guys like Brandt go 90' each match.
Has anyone heard about this rumor that Real Sociadad is interested in Reyna? I saw it somewhere in passing but can’t find it now. My wife also mentioned Donovan mentioned it in some podcast or something. Just wonder what’s next for him.
I saw it attributed to Patrick Berger, who is a German reporter for Sky and pretty reliable WRT Dortmund news, but I cannot find any mention of it on his Twitter or anything he's published within the last month. Maybe he said it during a broadcast which didn't get clipped or indexed, but I'm leaning towards "it was made up".
USMNT news and rumors roundup for May 20: Real Sociedad could rescue Gio Reyna from Borussia Dortmund nightmare
The tweet they link to attributes the rumor to Patrick Berger, but not by quote tweeting him or linking to piece by him: Just about any version of the rumor I can find links to some source that vaguely gestures towards Berger.
Brazil may not be the BL but it's no beanbag either and they don't pay as well so if they take over his salary, he's going to be getting a star's pay or very close to it. If he's paid like a star, he can expect to have to produce like one. On top of which, Brazil is a huge country. Gameday travel is no less than MLS and the bewildering number of competitions - the Serie A, the Libertadores, the state championship league phase (a big deal), the state championship league phase elimination round (an even bigger deal), the Cup (two legs) - means a shedload of games with airmiles to match. Sao Palo FC had a middling season last year by their standards but they still racked up a staggering 68 games in all competitions. Expect more of the usual special pleading about his fitness problems. A lot more of it.
Rumors of Ansu Fati going to AS Monaco. Not similar players but sort of similar playing career thus far. Wonder if a somewhat comparable transfer can happen for Reyna
It's insane to me that the players, coming off a full domestic season, are now once again asked to play in a cash grab tourney. The Euro soccer calendar is wild to me, always has been. They get what, like 6 weeks rest maybe for the players on the top clubs?
Many get less than that with summer tournaments. If you track end of club season to June summer tournament to reporting for preseason it’s often only 2-3 weeks off.
That's not nearly enough time off if you're trying to keep your players healthy and playing during the next season.
I had to look up Renya’s age to verify his youth. I forgot how young he really is. I don’t think he leaves Borussia Dortmund. I think understanding his character, which may to us seem like he could give a crap, he puts together a solid year at Borussia Dortmund just to make it into the World Cup squad. to me Geo has the mentality of the old US guard, the ones all over the media right now telling everyone how current players don’t give a crap about playing for country. To me the old guard like Geo are upper middle class kids whose opportunities were just that, much better than everyone else’s because the US soccer system awarded them and was set up for them and therefore they succeeded in it. They also had less consequences if nothing came to fruition and you can say the same about Geo. Now this is a complex situation that probably should be discussed in another forum about current players seasons vs the old guards. But to sum it up, Geo just doesn’t care but he will this season because he wants on that World Cup squad.