October will mark the first U.S. men’s national team camp that included both head coach Gregg Berhalter and attacking midfielder Gio Reyna since the 2022 FIFA World Cup and while plenty of attention will be on the duo’s rekindling relationship, the return of Reyna back in competitive action is also something to keep an eye on.
Reyna was included in Berhalter’s 23-player roster on Thursday ahead of home friendlies against Germany and Ghana. The Borussia Dortmund attacker has yet to feature in a match for the Bundesliga club this season after recovering from a calf injury that sidelined him since June’s Concacaf Nations League Final.
However, Reyna has been named to Edin Terzic’s squad in each of the last four matches for Borussia Dortmund, with two of those coming in the UEFA Champions League. Berhalter admitted Thursday that he did speak with Reyna “weeks ago” and believes their relationship is trending towards the right direction.
“I think it will take time,” Berhalter said in a press conference. “It is a difference between a Zoom call and being in person. But I think that both intentions are positive, and the idea is that we work together for the team to be successful, and I think we’re both prepared to do that.”
Reyna’s long-term role with the USMNT remains unknown, especially due to the amount of shuffling parts in the squad. Similar to club level, Reyna can feature in a number of different roles for the USMNT, playing in an attacking midfield position, a central midfield role, or even as a winger.
After having several injury issues in the past, Reyna will need to be monitored during the October window, especially with the Concacaf Nations League schedule returning for the Americans this November. Berhalter did not reveal where Reyna would play or how the USMNT is planning to use him against Germany or Ghana, but he is expected to feature in some capacity.
“We’re going to be creative with the minutes,” Berhalter said about Reyna. “We want to certainly get him on the field and work through both the Germany game, and seeing what position he plays. And then in the Ghana game, same thing, seeing how we can get him in different positions throughout the camp on the field.
“In terms of Gio, we see him being able to play three positions: center midfielder, attacking midfielder and winger,” Berhalter added. “And we use wingers in different ways. Sometimes the wingers are wide against the line, and sometimes they’re in between the lines, and we see him as more of an in-between-the-lines winger.”
Reyna delivered a Man of the Match performance in his last USMNT appearance, registering two assists in a 2-0 Nations League Finals victory over Canada.
just saw a replay of Dortmund’s 4th goal today. Gio looking smooth in its build 🙂
subbed on at 64th minute
MOB,
Care to elaborate?
“Gregg Berhalter going to “be creative” with Gio Reyna in USMNT return”
lol…..I don’t think GB with be worrying about creating his team tactics to fit or be centered around Reyna in any way shape or form. He will be lucky if he sees the field (in the second half) once during the Germany and Ghana friendlies.
A player that is known for his lack of effort in training for the US, hasn’t even seen the field for BVB in over 9 professional matches and has rarely gone full 90 mins for his club is surely not going to be anything similar to a center piece for the USMNT.
Gio Reyna might be talented with a lot of skill but if it doesn’t translate to progress on the pitch or if he doesn’t apply himself and put in the hard work or if he does show any form of consistency, he is just another “Freddy Adu”…..
Bizzy, to combine with the other thread before injury, Gio started 23 Bundesliga matches in the 20/21 and started the first three of the year in 21/22 before the series of hamstring injuries so yes he has been a first choice regular for BvB. He’s never been known as a great defender but he was never known as someone who wouldn’t defend or do the work on the pitch before injury.
—————-
In the Bundesliga he’s scored 13g in 3373 minutes about one per 259 minutes. By comparison in the much weaker Championship Holmes has 17g in 11,317 minutes or 1 per 665. In just 600 minutes last year Reyna scored 7 goals. Holmes hasn’t scored 7 goals in a season since 2018 in League One.
—————-
It’s been 4 months since Reyna was the best player in the NL Final not four years. We know how he’ll play, he isn’t on this roster because of his parents.
JR, of course he’s not because of his parents (whose parenting kind I am nonetheless against)
but in GB’s 4 3 3, Gio wasn’t the worker tracking back, at all, from the wing. No. He just wouldn’t do it. for me it’s why Weah was the easy choice over him, and the trio of Weston Tyler Yunus all work hard defensively in the uni, really hard, so Gio odd man out without even talking BA in a system that asked all to defend hard all the time. Gio can still get better there, as he’s shown, which is key
for me, saying he’s always demonstrated D prowess diminishes the strides he’s made, and can continue to make in that game phase…especially transition for O to D phase imho
on the hamstring things, having endured them and knowing others in the position too, it absolutely sucks and just another reason I root for Gio to overcome his obstacles
Beach: that’s not accurate before the injuries he did track back at least on level with Pulisic. Rewatch the ‘21 NL final against Mexico. We set up in 4-4-2 defensively and Gio played as a nominal RM. Let’s not forget he was back defending when he picked up the ball and dribbled 60 yards thru the entire Mexico defense in Azteca. Our recent memory is post second injury at Dortmund when he just did not defend at all, but pre-2021 we didn’t see that relaxed defending of 2022.
———————
Bizzy said he was only included because of his family.
Johnny razor,
“Bizzy, to combine with the other thread before injury, Gio started 23 Bundesliga matches in the 20/21 and started the first three of the year in 21/22”
hahaha you mean his decline and value as a player started to drop considerably 3 years ago. Do you know how long ago that was in terms of soccer? He is an entitled, injury prone attacking midfielder that shines occasionally, lacks the defensive intensive requirements needed for the USMNT. let me put 2-3 years ago in perspective……
20/21 MLS season Gyazi Zardes and Jordan Morris were the lead American goal scorers…….their contributions don’t matter anymore
21/22 MLS season Ricardo Pepi was the highest American goal scorer (Valentín Castellanos still played in MLS lol)
Haha, my point is Gio started for BVB 3 years ago so what??? He started THE FIRST 3 GAMES before riding pine for most of the last 2 years, and…..? Why does this individual need to be glorified. Where is the consistency in his game, fitness and contribution on the pitch
US Soccer needs to be more involved in acquiring talent like Burnley’s Luca Koleosho, who is also eligible for Canada and Nigeria THAN WORRYING about WHAT REYNA we are going to get in the up coming games
JR, no he didn’t. It’s very accurate. I would come here and call him out on it.
No need for me to make hot up, Gio was terrible at tracking and didn’t do it. Truth.
Beach: I value your opinions, I disagree but I respect it.
Bizzy: You stated he’s never been starter never been valued by Dortmund, that was false. What’s the cause of his lack of production? Injury. Last year in 600 minutes he had 7g 2a. Checks notes, yep the most production of any of our guys in top 5 leagues last year. When he’s healthy there’s no debate he’s one of our top 5 players. Whether he’s top 5 person is a different debate? He’s been in two camps since the WC, if Bj and the leadership council signed off that he’s not been a problem, then it’s settled until he shows otherwise.
-You said three years is a long time in soccer, well 11 months is a long time in the maturity of a 20 yr old as well.
Johnnyrazor,
“Bizzy: You stated he’s never been starter never been valued by Dortmund, that was false. “….. and you are 100% correct, I should have continued to emphasize “consistently” or “recently” but the key word is STARTER.
2022/2023
Last year Gio Played in 22 games
starter: only 4 times (Never went full 90)
Coming off the bench: 18 times
Unused sub: 6 times
2021/2022
Last year Gio Played in 10 games
starter: only 6 times (Full 90 once, let the field injured 2 times)
Coming off the bench: 4 times
Injured: 24 times (muscle / fitness)
2020/2021
Last year Gio Played in 32 games
starter: 23 times
Coming off the bench: 9 times
Injured: 2 times (muscle / fitness)
His performance seems to be declining. If you cannot stay healthy and you don’t have consistency you lose value in the game of soccer, BVB is not different……and a player like that should not be a CENTER PIECE for the USMNT. He is talented I give you that but talent alone is not enough to be successful in this game. Again, just ask Freddy Adu……
Bizzy stop with the Freddy Adu comparisons, they’re ridiculous at this point. John O’Brien maybe. According to Dortmund he’s fit to play, if he’s fit he’s better than Duane Holmes. How do I know that? Because I’ve seen them both play. Holmes on his best day is no where near Gio at 75%. He just isn’t. 15 years ago Holmes could have been a regular for the NT but not with quality of today.
Gio hasn’t played for Dortmund in a while, yes? I don’t expect him to therefore be in the kind of shape that would allow him to defend effectively, at least not for long, if that is the new hope for Gio in the middle
I just hope he doesn’t reinsure himself, seriously
and of course plays well
“Gio hasn’t played for Dortmund in a while, yes?”
He came on in the 64th minute today vs Union Berlin and did okay.
Last season it was pretty clear that Terzic was determined to bring Gio along slowly, no doubt worried about his injury history.
While Gio was out hurt, Reus, Brandt, Bellingham, etc. and a bunch of other gifted attackers were doing really well and they nearly won the title.
Gio came back to a tough lineup w/ no openings. In spite of that, after the World Cup, he made quite a name for himself as the late game instant offense guy.
Flash forward to this season and things were looking promising for Gio until he gets hurt in the Nations League. So the clock gets reset yet again.
Gio finally got some garbage time today but this is just the 7th game of the season. BVB are in second place by one point to Stuttgart. So they are being conservative with re-integrating Gio.
Unfortunately for the USMNT and the fans, BVB’s timetable with Gio isn’t convenient for for Gregg and the USMNT.
It’s almost as if they are not a USMNT minor league affiliate.
It’s clear to me that BVB are just following their original game plan w/Gio, just delayed a little. USMNT fans are overreacting to BVB’s conservative game plan with Gio’s return. I mean it’s quite a while yet before Gregg has to pick the roster for Copa America. And most of all everyone seems to forget that Gio is 20. He’ may be finished at BVB long term but he’s not washed up.
BVB looks like they are going to give him this season so that either he breaks through and becomes the star everyone thought he was going to be or gets back enough so that they can sell him for as much as possible.
It’s worth remembering that BVB stuck by Marco Reus their icon, who has an utterly ridiculous injury history that is worth looking through.
https://www.transfermarkt.us/marco-reus/verletzungen/spieler/35207
Notwithstanding Bizzy and the rest of the kill all the Reynas faction ( Gio has a younger brother and a sister they can go after when they get old enough), BVB’s track record with identifying and developing outstanding young talent is quite remarkable.
To me this is Gio’s “hot seat season” where he needs to give BVB the data they need to decide on what to do with him going forward.
The bigger question is how to use him when defending where formation is much more important. Contrary to a lot of peoples opinions on this site, I think Reyna is actually a good defender compared to other attacking players in the US pool, he just prefers not to defend. For instance, I think he is a significantly better defender than B. Arronson who has a lot of energy and effort with no results. When people say they want to see Reyna as a 10, I am guessing they mean they want him pushed high centrally with little to no defensive responsibilty because he can do all the same things offensively as a wing or an 8 in a 4-3-3, which is what I believe he played in Nations League because of his defensive responsibilities. I am sick and quarantined in the basement so there will probably be 50 more posts today.
my other comment was deleted it appears. idk why, no cussing or name calling or anything
anyway, where is the evidence to support your claim re. Gio’s ability defensively? video don’t lie, there is none to support your claim, while there is a mountain of video re. BA on that side of the ball getting it done
of course I hope Gio plays well defensively (and generally), but on D it means he’d have to try really hard on that side of the ball. we’ll see
Beach, we don’t all percieve things the same way. I think you and I probably have pretty drastically different opinions about what good defending is. IMO, Reyna was outstanding defensively against Mexico in the first Nations League final. I have watched all the games both Reyna and B Arronson have played for the US mens team and I don’t consider any of B Aaronson’s defensive performances to be anywhere near the level of Reyna’s in the game I mentioned. Just curious, which side of the fence are you on with Brooks?
Tele57: that was the match that instantly sprang to mind for me to.
hey Tele, Gio injures himself when he defends hard, yes? and one game is just that. again, I root for him to succeed, not against him, just observing
Re. what we think is good or not is probably not as different as you think, and it’s what I get called in by other coaches to teach 😉
what is the ask defensively, does it make sense and fit the player, does the player fit the scheme, and on. Zendy defensively gets it done in the uni whatever else he does. When BA and Gio were both asked to play outside and out of position for a long sample size now, who got it done defensively more? who struggled in that role more?
anyway, I just hope he’s able to go without getting hurt or whatever, so he can stack games and find a rhythm and earn that self belief he can endure so he can be relied on, which is what I’d bet all, including Gio, wants
on Brooks, again, what’s the ask? what’s the scheme? On Ream, in the 4 3 3 pressing thing, no for me, but like how we played vs. England where the CBs aren’t asked to cover so much space behind them, yes. and with his running mate Jedi next to him, yes. I have nothing against Brooks depending on what we’re doing
scratching the surface thoughts on it but fun. your thoughts man?
Beach, I generally agree with your take on Brooks. The way Gregg played in qualifying didn’t suit Brooks (and wouldn’t have suited Ream either; both were dropped early in the qualifying cycle). Brooks had a lot of really bad performances for US because he was being asked to play in a way that exposed his weaknesses (same.with Ream). He is still a good player but at WC roster selection time, essentially all the players Gregg gave chances to at centerback played poorly which is why Ream made the team, but Brooks was wasting away on the Benfica bench so taking him would have been a much bigger gamble than Ream who was a locknstarter on a mid table EPL tram. Had the WC been played in summer where teams have a month to prepare, I have no doubts Brooks would have been called in to camp and been given a chance to earn a spot by being better than the competition and he likely would have. To me, that is one major disadvantage of winter world cups. With Brooks also, there have been more than one source that has suggested that the core group of players Gregg was building around did not like Brooks and didn’t want him on the team for non-soccer reasons. If that were/is the case, he would have needed to not only prove himself on the pitch, but off the pitch as well and if that is the case, right now good performances won’t earn him another chance, only spectacular performances. His assist in the Dortmund game was not spectacular and was very poorly timed. He may have been called in for these games if not for that, but we will never know. The same group of you tubers, who I stopped watching because they are so ridiculously biased against Gregg to the point they just sound stupid to me, that criticized Gregg for not saying Brooks can’t play a high line and the other players don’t like him, criticized Gregg when he spoke the truth about Reyna’s behavior at the WC, which is of course completely contradictory to laud it in one instance and criticize it in another. I probably strayed off topic a little but I gave you one example of Reyna showing that he can be a very good defender and in my opinion much better than anything B Arronson has ever shown. I have always said that Reyna prefers not to defend and that isn’t a knock on him. Having defensive responsibilities takes away from your freedom to attack. People criticize Gregg for playing him wide as a wing but that limits his defensive responsibilities. The attackers are allowed to move freely about the field and interchange positions. He is allowed to push inside as a wing. In a 4-3-3 with two 8s, the 8s have a lot of defensive responsibility, which is something Reyna would prefer not to have. McKennie’s best position is an 8, Musah’s best position is a 6, but he wants to play as an 8. McKennie is one of the best attacking players on the team and contributes significantly to many more goals than Musah: they are not really even comparable in that sense. Gregg is trying and was always trying to find ways to get his best attacking players on the field togethor which includes Pulisic, Weah, McKennie, Reyna, and now Bologan. Coming back to topic a little bit, if you are being asked to come in and coach defending, you can’t possibly be advocating ball chasing, but that is what I see BA doing about 90% of the time. When he does that, not only does he waste his own energy, it is so easy to just pass around him to an open man that eventually the other team always goes by him, he is then he is out of position to defend, and the other team has a man advantage going forward resulting in the other US players having to break their formation. I have played with ball chasers and I hated it because as team we ended up having to defend reactively instead of proactively meaning we lost the ability to dictate how the other team could attack. I think Gregg sees the same thing I do which is why BA is listed as a fwd on this roster and Reyna a midfielder, the opposite of how it has been for years. Just my opinions though …
hey Tele, this is fun, enjoyed your reply.
no, I do not teach ball chasing, lol. Of course, that’s not what BA does in his role, though; he’s typically the trigger on the pressure, his role; for me it’s the others who do not cover and balance behind him that causes issues. He’s really good at taking away an option and forcing the play as the pressure defender, which is what the ask was from GB in that role…he did it. so did Weah. Gio wouldn’t;’t do it, and the game exemplified when he did, GB wasn’t the coach. Interesting that, yes? Says more about Gio than GB to me.
Yes, attackers with defensive responsibilities can detract from their attacking, OR it can ADD to it; it’s not like Pep doesn’t ask his attackers to defend, quite the contrary, Klopp too, it’s a sign of the times, or you can go to Saudi Arabia now and still get away watching others defend and waiting to be fed the ball. it’s pretty spoiled imho, at this point of the game’s evolution
Brooks matches up well with some, not with others. Ream too. And we need the versatility seems to me; it’s not like we just roll out a group of players who stylistically can impose their will game after game. We don’t have that, who does really? Tactics and game plans suited to the ask, that’s the key. GB surprised me with some of his adjustments actually, and for me, we need more of that, more changeups that we can execute.
Tele57,
Re: JAB and Timmy
If both Brooks and Timmy are at the top of their games, and right now it looks like if they aren’t they are getting damn close, I put both on my 23-26(?) roster.
I understand that they are both on the wrong side of 30 and speed may be an issue but they are the only legit top level center backs in the pool. SBI fans tend to be dismissive of “football intelligence” and prejudiced against the ability read a game but it takes a while to build that up and it’s not a coincidence that centerbacks can play longer than most other outfield players. You don’t play as long as they have without having figured out how to make up for their flaws. It’s not an accident that speedy Jedi and Timmy play almost every game together.
When Bayern had Davies at left back they played a much higher line because Davies , who had great recovery speed, was the designated mistake cleaner-upper.
“The bigger question is how to use him when defending where formation is much more important.”
This brings us back to what is the identity of this team. You can’t figure out how Gio fits into the defense until you can decide what kind of defense you want to play.
Gregg hasn’t really settled on that yet.
Attacking mid – 10
Center midfielder – 8
Inside lines winger – play inside wing backs who provide width.
That was for Vacqui…
MofO, I hope to never see the US attack based on the wingbacks being the farthest forward again. That was essentially how he played in qualifying with 7 primary attackers and 3 primary defenders (his plan against teams that bunker which was always going to be most of the teams in qualifying). It didn’t make the team exciting and result in tons of goals; instead it forced numbers into the attack in non-dangerous places on the field, crowded his best attacking players with no space to work, left his centerbacks on an island completely vulnerable to counter attacks, and allowed vastly inferior teams to be competitive and get points they shouldn’t have. Admittedly that is not at all how he played the team in the world cup (even against bunkers) as he had no intention of doing that against better competition, but it still made the qualifying games the opposite of what he intended; exciting with lots of goals.
MOB,
Care to elaborate?
Tele,
in CONCACAF, because of the shenanigans, certain tactics come with greater risks, right? one silent whistle here that leads to a counter in your own 3rd, boom, or another here in the middle channel that leads to a counter goal, boom, etc. You see the games, I know you know
I really think that dictates a lot of the ideas, tho I’m not disagreeing with your post’s points
But a key is our regional quails, imho, is to take the reffing BS into account in our tactics to avoid situations like the above mentioned…which leads to playing up the wings and whipping it in, for example; lose the ball there and we can recover…lose it on an unblown whistle it often seems the refs are looking to swallow in one of those more vulnerable spots, much bigger ask
Is this the first time Gregg has mentioned Gio can play centrally?
“In terms of Gio, we see him being able to play three positions: center midfielder, attacking midfielder and winger,” Berhalter added. “And we use wingers in different ways. Sometimes the wingers are wide against the line, and sometimes they’re in between the lines, and we see him as more of an in-between-the-lines winger.”
JR,
What’s the difference between a center midfielder and attacking midfielder?
Are center midfielders not capable of attacking?
If a winger is an in-between-the-lines winger is he then a center midfielder?
I believe so. I actually felt myself exhale with relief. LoL
Hopefully seeing Reyna in that light will open his mind to the possibility of using a CAM in general. Our pool screams for using a 4231- particularly w/ Adams out which is likely to be a fairly regular occurrence if the first part of his career is any indication.
One of the more painful, frustrating things about GB: His plodding, glacial pace at learning- adjusting. It’s taken him 4 years to realize something that was glaringly, immediately obvious to so many. I’m not sure if it’s that he doesn’t / did not see it, or an inability to admit he is wrong- it wasn’t his idea in the first place.
rico po,
“One of the more painful, frustrating things about GB: His plodding, glacial pace at learning- adjusting. It’s taken him 4 years to realize something that was glaringly, immediately obvious to so many. I’m not sure if it’s that he doesn’t / did not see it, or an inability to admit he is wrong- it wasn’t his idea in the first place.”
I don’t know that Gregg is as slow at learning as you think. He’s not stupid. He’s most likely pretty sharp.
That does not mean that he is going to take that information that he has access to and we do not and do the same thing with it that you all would.
I don’t want Gregg as the manager because he does and has done a lot of things I think are very questionable.
I think his basic managerial DNA is contrary to the short term interests of the USMNT.
However, the USSF seems to be more interested in the “long term” interests of the USMNT. I’m not convinced there is a long term but we will see.
Mostly Gregg doesn’t do what I think he should. It’s like IV, if you don’t do what he thinks, then you must be an idiot fanboy.
The thing with Gregg is I don’t know all the variables that go into why he makes the decisions he does. And, I’m not sure about how independent he really is.
If you got rid of him and replaced him would things be different ? Absolutely, because that is how these things work.
Would it make a difference overall? That is unknown. Jason Kreis or Josh Wolff might be worse or better. And now Bruce is out there.
What I do know is that you can’t separate Gregg from the players in terms of the end product of the team. The whole thing is a package deal.
Change player/players or change Gregg and the unit changes. Will it be better or worse? Unknown. You saw how different this A team looked under BJ. People now seem to be trying to ignore that.
Anyway, doing stupid things is different from being stupid. Gregg isn’t stupid. It may be that he’s just not very good at explaining why he does the things he does.
Rico, the formation is more important in defending. If you are going to defend in a 4-3-3 with two 8s, the 8s have a lot of defensive responsibilities. Reyna prefers not to defend. Using him as a wing limits his defensive responsibilities. Everything he did in Nations League offensively could have been done as a wing, a 10, or an 8. It is hard to tell because you don’t see the whole field on TV, but contrary to many’s opinion, I am pretty sure he played as an 8 in Nations League. I don’t recall him being higher up the field than Pulisic or Weah when they were defending and McKennie certainly wasn’t playing a 6 against Mexico. The team was fluid and looked great but it started with Musah who is far better than adams at handling the ball at the 6 which gave McKennie and Reyna a lot more freedom. Just my opinions of course.
V: Was trying to keep it brief. Gregg to my memory has always brushed aside the idea of Gio playing in midfield in either Wes or Yunus’s roles whatever name or number you give those positions.
I always leave brief comments to you.
You’re right, it took BJ to play Gio centrally for the first time. That game was shocking once I realized that Gio was actually going to be playing centrally.
Gregg seemed to want to keep Gio as winger. Either he wanted to keep him away from the ball or perhaps he wanted to give him some space to work in but Gio seems to thrive in a crowd.
Landon usually started out on the wing and they left it to him to figure out where he needed to be as the game wore on.
And at the time Gregg started doing that Gio was playing a lot centrally for BVB so I never understood why Gregg felt he had to put Gio on the wing. Transfermarkt has a little graphic where they show where a player mostly lines up and if you drill down into their stats they will list where he starts in each and every game. Back when Gio was a BVB regular that was almost always in the center.
The same was true for Brenden, another guy that Gregg insisted on putting out on the wing.
Yeah those transfermkt lineups can be a bit deceiving too. You can look at some teams and one week they’ll be listed as a 4-3-3 and the midfielders are listed as AM, another week their RM/LM, then CM. Likewise you could be listed as AM one week as Gregg’s term an in-between the lines winger the next week but on the transfermarkt graphic your dot is out on the touch line. When Gio was playing with Sancho as W/AM underneath Haaland, people were saying “finally Gio’s playing as a 10, come on Gregg play him there to.” But if you looked at his heat maps of where he was actually playing exactly in the same space for both US and Dortmund.
————————-
I think Tim Weah’s continued development plays a big role. When Gio imerged it was right at the time Tim was out with muscle injuries. So it became play Gio at W and get Yunus on or play Gio at AM and have Jordan Morris at W. Then Tim comes back and Gregg’s realizes verticality is a thing and Yunus and Wes aren’t scoring regularly for the US so we can sit one of them instead and get Pulisic-Reyna-Weah on all at once.
There were times, especially early last cycle that drove me absolutely out of my mind… where we had our striker dropping deep, Pulisic playing on the left, doing what he does- cutting into the midfield, Dest on the right… cutting into the middle, Reyna playing right wing cutting inside. Literally half the team was trying to occupy the same space. I couldn’t possibly think of an easier thing to defend. Weah is the only player we have who consistently stays wide, tries to beat a defender to the end line… put in a decent cross.