Comments

1. Adams going 120 is crazy to me, no concern for him, just being run into the ground by Iraola. Injury imminent with this crap.
   boo

   Reply

   • “no concern for him,”

     He’s a part of this. Tyler is a consenting adult.

     Of course we know he thinks he’s invulnerable, bulletproof and all that rot.
     Gregg was soft enough to fall for that BS. My guess is Pochettino has more juice behind him than Gregg. And he has more toys (Johnny, Emeli, Aidan, etc.) to play with.

     On the other hand, it’s been a very long time since he has played regularly or even at all. So he does need the game time to get back up to sharpness, fitness and speed.

     I don’t know what to tell you since I’m not there monitoring how he feels on a regular basis.
     Bournemouth say they value him as much as the USMNT does so I assume they give a shit.

     Ultimately, if I’m his closest advisor I tell him ” do what you want since you don’t listen to anyone else anyway.

     Reply

     • What do you know about recovering from brutal hamstring injuries? I know A LOT about it. 120 is insane to play a player with his injury history. Reckless and stupid, and hella shortsighted. I stick by everything I said because it’s accurate.

     • beachbum,

       “What do you know about recovering from brutal hamstring injuries?”

       More than a little. But I’m not doubting you. You’re right.

       The guy you need to be pissed off at is Tyler.

       There was a time when I was convinced Tyler was never going to break out of this “get fit, get hurt, come back too soon, get hurt again, cycle.

       And like you I am not 100% convinced that he has broken out of that cycle.

       If it were up to me I’d be a lot more into “load management”.

       I’m just saying Tyler knows what we both know, and more. And he seems to be onboard with the current strategy so there isn’t much anyone else can do. It’s like dealing with a addict.

       Tyler seems to be a very persuasive young man. Gregg was too chicken shit to stand up to him and save him from himself. Pochettino has more leeway and thus more balls. We’ll see how much difference it makes.

       Right now, I’m not counting on Tyler being available for the 2026 World Cup.

     • Vac, Gregg didn’t suffer from playing Tyler. Actually, he benefited as Tyler was pretty important in winning the last Nations League. There is nothing for the US coaches to save him for. If you want to win a game now and he is available and willing to play, he is probably going to play. If you don’t play him in 2025 because you are trying to save him for the 2026 WC, how are you going to prevent him from playing for his club team?

     • Tele 57,

       You’re not on topic. You’re talking about something else.

       I don’t expect the USMNT or Gregg to give a rat’s ass for the player’s long term future. Clearly Gregg did not give a flying fuck about Tyler., who is just a piece of meat to him. Gregg couldn’t do anything about what Tyler was going to do with his club. But Gregg did NOT have to call Tyler in for the NL which he did. If you’re going to say that the NL was important for saving Gregg’s ass then it’s Gregg’s fault/responsibility that he did not have adequate cover for Tyler. Like he did not know Tyler was injury prone?

       And that’s okay.

       Bournemouth have a lot invested in Tyler and are chasing European qualification which is huge dinero. So they care about Tyler’s health but only to a point. If he plays lights out and it means they get into Europe but then , as a result Tyler breaks down and misses out on the World Cup well tough shit but Bournemouth don’t give a fuck. They just made a lot of money off of Tyler’s ass.

       What I’m talking about is Tyler going along with this bullshit and not taking care of his lonesome self.

       He’s the only one who can insist on “load management” or whatever they call it. All I’m pointing out to beachbum is that if Tyler does break down just before the World Cup , and I think he will, the # 1 guy to look at, first, last and always is Tyler himself.

       If I’m wrong and he does the Superman act and is there at the first WC game I’ll be happy to be wrong.

       But at this point, Emeli, Aidan, Johnny, Musah, etc., etc. those are the names that really matter to the USMNT because they are likely to be the guys who will cover Tyler’s loss.

2. I will never forget watching him in the first season where he started getting minutes at Dortmund and watching him throw what looked like on-field tantrums when he wouldn’t get the ball played to him around the box. Often he was open, but in dead space making it difficult to get him the ball. His gesticulations almost felt like he was showing up his teammates or trying to embarrass them for not getting him the ball. IMO it was a bad look and had toxicity written all over it.

   Reply

   • “watching him throw what looked like on-field tantrums when he wouldn’t get the ball played to him around the box. Often he was open, but in dead space making it difficult to get him the ball. His gesticulations almost felt like he was showing up his teammates or trying to embarrass them for not getting him the ball. IMO it was a bad look and had toxicity written all over it.”

     I’m not saying you are wrong but I have seen so many other players, young or old, do more or less the same thing. I’ve gotten to where I don’t notice it though I do remember Pulisic and Gio both very obviously staring daggers at Lletget. If looks could kill.

     And no one calls Christian toxic,

     Gio has been at BVB a very long time ( and Gio has been this way a long time) and if he was regarded by the others as a dick who no one wants to play with I’m pretty sure the topic would have come up a long time ago and been addressed, in house, one way or the other. If it matters, they don’t fuck around with this stuff.

     You or I might not want to play with such a jerk but I get the feeling that players there find it more or less “normal” and deal with it in there own sweet, shy way.

     Reply

3. So after two starts with Dortmund I don’t think Reyna is improving his worth to the team much. I’ve really focused on him watching these starts with great interest and expectation. He is great when he is on the ball. He plays a lot like McKennie – he plays quickly and keeps play moving. He dribbles more than McKennie. He is accurate with his passes and rarely gives up possession. However….at first glance it seems his teammates are not playing the ball to him. He finds himself in space often and the ball goes somewhere else. He’s good at finding space but he also has the habit of standing in that space such that he has a defender between him and the ball so there is no clear passing lane. It happens so much that in the last game Sabitzer gestured to him twice that he needed to move over out of the passing lane. His movement off the ball in both games was shockingly kind of bad. And his pressing was half hearted. The fall off in both areas from Brandt to him is very noticeable.

   All that being said, it’s hard to expect a player with barely any minutes to just jump in and play lights out. I hope someone is watching film with him. It seems just a little adjustment to his positioning could unlock him.

   Reply

   • I saw pretty much exactly the same. Maybe even more damningly, I didn’t see any particular interest from him in keeping up with the run of play…when the ball went forward, you’d see him just sort of loaf downfield, instead of hustling his butt down to try to get himself into a space at the top of the box where he might be able to receive a square ball or put himself in position to pick up a second ball. I actually found myself yelling at the TV a couple of times: “do you have something better to do than go help score a goal?”

     I saw similar passivity at Nottingham. I wasn’t sure then if it was laziness, lack of conditioning, or just lack of confidence – guys who are worried about messing up often hide from the play – or maybe a combination of all the above, and truthfully, I’m still not. But he’s not going to stay a starter if he keeps playing like this. A 10 should never be invisible and he frequently was.

     If he can’t turn it around the remainder of the season there at Dortmund, IMHO, it’s time for him to go back to MLS, with a coach who’s not afraid to bench him or call him out if the intensity isn’t there. I think more than anything, the guy just needs to play and produce regularly…which is something he has never really done his entire career. LA Galaxy is struggling bigly without Ricky Puig this year, and Vanney is a tactical, structured coach who is very good at developing young players; that’s an obvious fit, IMHO. But I did not walk away with the impression he was making anything resembling a breakthrough there these last couple games. It was still very much the same old Gio – flashes here and there, but nowhere near enough product.

     Reply

     • quozzel and MotO,

       “I saw similar passivity at Nottingham.”

       Yeah?
       What do the two situations have in common?

       1. A player who hasn’t played a whole lot for some time suddenly asked to perform at a very high level.
       2. A manager who is seemingly not all that invested in Gio and is playing him so that he can say he was doing his due diligence. And both Nuno and Nico were/are under more than a little pressure and have little time to deal with such seemingly high maintenance player.

       At this point you’d think Gio would have figured out what his “game” lacks.

       If he can’t, why isn’t Claudio, for one, watching these games and telling him what Master O and quozzel just wrote?

       The flaws you both cited are remedied by good coaching and diligent application by Gio.

       If it isn’t happening either Gio has given up or the manager has given up.
       At some point a “Perrenial Prospect” either blossoms or deliquesces.
       Gio is liquifying before our eyes.
       I’ll bet Pochettino looks at him and sees Delle Ali.

       Still it is not the end of the world. Somebody, somewhere is going to want to take a chance with Gio.

     • “If he can’t turn it around the remainder of the season there at Dortmund, IMHO, it’s time for him to go back to MLS, with a coach who’s not afraid to bench him or call him out if the intensity isn’t there. I think more than anything, the guy just needs to play and produce regularly…which is something he has never really done his entire career.”

       His entire career has been at Dortmund and with the USMNT.

       With the USMNT his entire career there was with Gregg. Cue expected criticisms.
       With Dortmund he was developing nicely until his injuries hit big time and coincided with a revolving door of coaches.

       My problem with MLS?
       What MLS manager has the gravitas to face up to Gio and the Reynas?
       Who is is going to bring Gio in and sit him?
       Don’t forget returning home means bringing him back into the Reynas sphere of influence.

       If I am a decent, sober MLS team, I don’t want or need that circus.

       Gio’s best course is to win over Nico otherwise it gets very dicey.

     • Vacqui – I’d bet that at least 20 MLS teams would take Reyna in a heartbeat, assuming the money/salary cap could be worked out.
       There’s been exactly one report of Gio having a less than professional approach, and that was Gregg’s comments after Qatar. Which was a couple of years ago, when Gio was still basically a kid. He’s a little older now, and certainly more experienced in the adversity that a professional athlete can go through.
       Maybe he’s just not good enough for the Bundesliga or the Premier League. He could still be a difference maker in MLS.

     • johnny99,

       Reports are that BVB tried to move him to Leipzig and get him back with his old manager, Marco Rose but the deal fell through at the last minute.

       “Maybe he’s just not good enough for the Bundesliga or the Premier League. He could still be a difference maker in MLS.”

       If that’s true then all this worry over Gio this is mostly a waste of time and Gio is then competing with the likes of Gutierrez, Djorde, and McGlynn, etc.

       We got lots of guys who can be a difference maker in MLS. Gio was supposed to be a difference maker at the highest level.

       I guess Pochettino’s opinion could be the deciding factor here.

     • V: who could take and handle Gio and his family. Mascherano, Messi, and Beckham, but they have plenty of attacking talent and no space or cash for Gio. Other than that I’m not sure there is anyone, maybe Nancy, he benched Cucho a couple times when he acted up. The Crew would have a DP spot and cash to spend after Cucho but I don’t think Columbus is flashy enough for his entourage. The teams have the same colors so Gio wouldn’t accidentally pass to the wrong team. And of course Uncle Gregg.

     • johnny99,

       I think you’re probably right but “assuming the money/salary cap could be worked out.” it always gets back to money. Gio makes about 2.6 million dollars per which puts him about even with Jonathan Rodriguez of the Timbers.

       There are reports that Leipzig wanted him:

       https://www.footballtransfers.com/us/transfer-news/de-bundesliga/2025/03/gio-reyna-usmnt-borussia-dortmund-rb-leipzig-john-textor-lyon-rayan-cherki-us

       So odds are he can stay in Europe if that is his desire and the price is right.

       It seems clear now that BVB have been hoping against hope that he would get “back to himself” and they could make back some of that money that they had always hoped to make off of him.
       At this point, if they hope to get any of that valuation back they are going to have to convince Nico to work on him. That seems unlikely since Nico seems unimpressed and has bigger fish to fry.

     • Quozzel and Master O,

       Looks like I jumped the gun. From ProSoccer Wire:

       “Reyna’s defensive contributions have often been criticized during his career, but Dortmund boss Niko Kovač said the U.S. men’s national team midfielder has been putting in work over the past two matches.

       “Giovanni Reyna has done a great job in the last two games, even if he didn’t shine as much offensively,” Kovač said in a press conference on Monday. “Defensively, he was very strong. That’s what I expect from every player. Every single one is important.”

       It’s been another difficult campaign for Reyna, who has tallied two goals and an assist in 19 appearances across all competitions. Recent reports have suggested that Dortmund will try to sell Reyna this summer as his contract nears its final year.
       ”

       I still believe Gio’s best course of action is to win over Nico. He needs a hard nosed manager to just tell him exactly what he wants and then send him out there. Straight forward old fashioned hard nosed coaching.

       I remain against the MLS option because I firmly believe the Reyna Flying Circus will be a much larger distraction anywhere in the US of A than it would be anywhere in Europe.

       And Gio needs to focus.