Gio Reyna isn’t bidding farewell to the German Bundesliga but is saying goodbye to Borussia Dortmund.
Reyna has officially joined Borussia Moenchengladbach in a permanent deal from Dortmund, both clubs announced Saturday. The American midfielder signed a two-and-a-half year contract with Gladbach until June 2028.
“Gio brings plenty of experience with him, in addition to being a young player with plenty of potential,” said Gladbach’s managing director for sport Roland Virkus. “We have been monitoring him for a while now and are convinced that he has the qualities needed to help us on the pitch. He’s familiar with the Bundesliga and can play at a number of different positions in attack.”
Reyna spent the last six years with Dortmund, registering 19 goals and 18 assists in 147 appearances. He helped Dortmund win the German Cup during the 2020-21 season.
The 22-year-old also spent time on loan at Nottingham Forest during the 2023-24 season.
“Borussia are a fantastic, big club,” said Reyna. “I’m delighted that the transfer has been able to be completed and am looking forward to getting to know everyone here, as well as tackling the upcoming games together.”
His move to Gladbach reconnects him with former NYCFC and current USMNT teammate Joe Scally.
Reyna will aim to become a consistent performer against as Gladbach kicks off its Bundesliga campaign.
#PochOut
Johnnyrazor,
Regarding your preference for calling in Freeman instead of Arfsten, Freeeman is the one outside back ( other than Robinson, Dest, and Scally ) that has a CHANCE of making a difference in the World Cup. He has potential, but would need to make significant strides in his development, and in a very short amount of time. Not likely, but a CHANCE. Arfsten has no chance.
In fairness to Blackmon, he has played well in MLS, so him getting a look is not only because Marsch is sniffing around. That said, I don’t believe he would make a difference in this upcoming World Cup.
IV and Johnnyrazor,
No more silly talk about Ferreira. He proved long ago that he offers nothing against World Cup opposition and does nothing better than what is already available in the current USMNT player pool.
arfsten has shown he can produce at this level but hasn’t shown he can defend it. unless we just commit 100% to this is a naive attacking team that tries to win like dutch league 4-2, you basically can only use him at a world cup in a sub package chasing a game. you just throw him on chasing an equalizer down 0-1 or 0-2 and what happens, happens. you hope our way. if he wants to fix that work on marking.
freeman is agonizing. for a few minutes he will look like a solid option. and then he will commit a U14 type howler on a bouncing ball or throughball. did no one teach him that when you are island defending and there is a tough pass near you, that you’re not sure you can get, you stay marked and run with your man at all costs? that if your man has a chance for it, you triangulate the ball and your man — try to meet the ball at the man and tackle? you dive in on a throughball or a skipper and miss, it’s a jailbreak one on one with the keeper behind you. and world class forwards are going to miss less than gold cup ones. it will be punished. it’s worse than even dest because if you get juked when the defense is back you have potential help. if you’re on an island it’s just you. you cannot make those mistakes and in my day it was drummed into you by HS age groups. the primary task is stop goals. winning the ball is a nice side benefit.
(mckenzie and his diving in propensity could use the same lesson)
all due respect to your ferreira argument but it’s a triage discussion. if we have guys out. if sargent would be the next supposed option. if we are that far down the depth chart due to injuries. then ferreira has scored in key WCQ and knockout games. sargent hasn’t. period. it’s a “relative” discussion.
like i said, at a point i’d rather step out of the cubbyholes and put reyna or weah or pulisic uor mckennie up top. if the other choice is sargent disappears for another NT 90 dining out on his championship stats.
a lot of this, to me, comes down to i favor “gamers.” get me the guys who have done it in big games for the US before. dempsey is the nth degree example. if stats were everything wondo and twellman would have been a big deal. it was instead mcbride and dempsey because they could do it money on the table. in our pool some guys show up, say, wright, pulisic, reyna, and some don’t, musah, zendejas, sargent. part of the job is telling them apart. is telling theory from praxis.
I think Freeman used to be a winger/striker type who’s only recently converted to a defender. It definitely shows…as does his lack of experience in general, you can tell he’s a guy who only began starting this year and had almost no MLS-level appearances the two years before that. But physically he’s a right-footed Jedi…and he’s a lot better and craftier on the ball. (Though he’s also not yet even in Jedi’s zip code as far as 1-on-1 defending and understanding.)
Freeman absolutely has EPL-type ceiling. He also absolutely needs another year or so in MLS and he’s got a steep learning curve ahead of him, but you hear him talk and it’s all about mentality, focus, development, and the dude is intense…I think he can get there, and you can tell as far as “mentality” goes he very much resembles his father there as well, not just in athleticism. Orlando’s going to make some money off the guy in a year or two, for sure.
A name I forgot is James Sands. He got good reviews last Spring at St Pauli before breaking his leg and has been getting good reviews in preseason and early season this year. He could play in that 6 role and drop back in the line of three with the CBs in possession like Adams did in GC.
personally i think we have more need at CB than 6. we have adams if he plays like adams. berhalter looked like something we could work on as a late dead ball server.
CB i wouldn’t trust any of the recent guys but richards. which is 1 starter no subs. and if you don’t fix that hole you will flush the world cup. so i feel like there is more urgency to audition CB.
JR,
LDLT did what he usually does but to me it was more about the options now being more attractive than Luca and Tyler in a double pivot.
If you think of Tyler as a conventional #6 then the other guy in the double pivot could be a Regista, a Pirlo type, Seba, McGlynn, Gio, Roldan, Malik, Johnny, Weston, Tessman, maybe even Yunus could all attempt a reasonable Pirlo impersonation. ( Cue outrage at daring to bring up Andrea’s name and soiling it )
you mock me then promote LDLT this is like self-refuting stuff you know that
if i am doing a double pivot i want someone capable of stopping someone and who actually gets involved in goals. buzz and buzz
thanks for playing
are you people serious
if you were going deep lying playmaker it would be mcglynn who will knock that ball around and hit long passes
or it’s seb to hit free kicks
or someone out there to break legs
the “value added” on “can dribble the ball straight upfield when there is space” ends about U14
heck, if that’s his value tillman is 10x more productive at the same psuh the ball to the next line then pass behind them schtick
V: certainly more competition than Jackson Yueill, Alfredo Morales, , Keaton Parks, and Wil Trapp.
JR,
I want Nick Lima back. If you believe Adams is an everyday #6 and that they will go with a double pivot Pochettino will have a lot of options on how he wants the other guy to set up.
V: this is a silly discussion. first off, you patch the 6 defense so we can stop transitions or we last 5 seconds next year. that means your prime selection directive is can they mark and physically dominate. LDLT is a softie who good teams shove around.
second, looking at our roster and thinking where our strengths lie, i would prefer reyna or puli or luna creating from a 10 — who can actually ball and might potentially meet the moment against a good team — over having LDLT create from 6. that’s just silly. LDLT’s offensive production is about the level of our defenders.
IV,
” this is a silly discussion.”
There is no discussion. LDLT and Tyler is a pairing that has long been mentioned by many. With Tyler clearly omnipresent the variable member of the two is LUCA. I listed 9 players who could be potential alternatives to LUCA in terms of pairing off with Tyler, should Pochettino go that route. Obviously that gives us at least 9 different ways such pairings could work. Go for it.
No one discusses things with you.
Real discussions are dialogues and you don’t do dialogues.
You respond with monologues that usually have only a razor thin relevance to the original topic of “discussion”.
With Tillman still injured I could see either Zendejas or Miljevic called back in.
And Milan Iloski would be an interesting call up. He can play in multiple attacking positions.
Boy, what a lot of rampant speculation based on little to nothing here. After a while I didn’t bother reading. What’s all this about Blackmon all of a sudden? While he was with LAFC he was good, but nothing special and I haven’t seen him stand out with the Whitecaps. Can someone tell me how and why he has supposedly all of a sudden vaulted into the picture? I don’t see how a mention by Muller makes his callup official. As for Jedi, he looked fine in today’s game. In fact there was a breakaway on the other side of the pitch and the attacker left the right back behind, but Jedi was able to catch up with him and stifle the attack.
blackmon isn’t speculation. muller supposedly slipped in a news conference. it’s on outlets like ESPN.
i think most USMNT fanboys have lost the plot if they think ream or zimmerman or mckenzie or even miles post-achilles defend their position well.
it’s time to try different things. and the calculus on trying blackmon would be that if we don’t get in quick, canada steals him and we never get to test the theory at all. snooze you lose.
y’all are so defensive. we just finished 4th in NL and 2nd in GC. next to no one should be on the lineup card in pen. it should be a 30 or so person free for all for roster slots until next summer. whoever wins games and plays well stays. period. quit making excuses for reputations or guys with statistics that never translate.
and that includes reyna too. when he does get called, no loafing, no sleepwalking, get er done.
IV
“i think most USMNT fanboys have lost the plot if they think ream or zimmerman or mckenzie or even miles post-achilles defend their position well.”
“quit making excuses for reputations or guys with statistics that never translate.”
There is only one person whose opinion on any of our CB’s matters or makes any difference.
And that person ain’t you.
Poch is supposed to announce his roster this week, here’s my prediction.
F: Balo, Pepi, Wright
10s/W: Luna, Weah, Pulisic
MF: McKennie, Adams, Johnny Berhalter, Tessman, Morris
FBs: Jedi, Dest, Scally, Arfsten
CBs: Ream, Richards, McKenzie, CCV
GK: Freese, Turner, Steffen
I don’t think they’ll bring Reyna and Pax as they both recently made moves and Reyna hasn’t been having full training. If U20s like Campbell and Banks aren’t going to be released for WC then I’d bring them into the main camp. My other 3 for the 26 that I think they’ll invite would be McGlynn, Downs, Freeman.
muller supposedly slipped up and said blackmon is picked. and half your CBs can’t defend at that level.
to me the team through the summer is perverse. if you’re gonna pick backs for offense pick offense for offense. we take more risks in front of our own net than the other one.
Notice the line that says “my prediction.” Why on earth would Poch pick CBs that can’t pass when he requires his CBs to pass? My guess would be 5 CBs so add Blackmon. If we had a WC striker like Guirassey we could play 8 defenders and leave him on an island all by himself like Dortmund but we need to get numbers forward when most of our opponents put 9 guys in their box to defend. You want him to pick for an early 90s team that plays like Foosball, defenders never leave their half, midfielders play within 10 yards of the center line and only the forwards come near the box. Soccer isn’t played that way anymore. You’re like the old guys at the coffee shop on Sunday morning whining about if we’d just go back to the wishbone and double TEs we’d win instead this new fangled Pistol Formation RPO junk, State woulda beat Tech.
IV,
You are correct, Blackmon will be in camp for the September friendlies.
Also, with Arfsten as an outside back, the USMNT is taking more risks in front of our own net than the other one. Well said.
Papi: I went and listened to the clip Müller says “Tristan is nominated for the US” it’s probably just a language thing but it might be he’s on the preliminary list. US Soccer has to inform clubs that they might call up their player a few weeks in advance. They inform more than the 26 in case of injuries, so he still might not be called in to camp. There’s been several European clubs in the past that announced “so and so will be joining the USMNT during the international break” and then the roster comes out and they aren’t there and aren’t injured. I mean kick the tires I guess since Marsch is interested but he’s not a solution. Oof, I mildly tolerate Max with my Crew, but he’s a WB at best not a FB. If you watch The Crew as I do, you’ll notice the ball almost always goes down the right away from Arfsten in build out. If Scally and Dest are both called one or the other could fill in for Jedi ahead of Max anyway.
Johnnyr. I’m so old that when I started playing, total football hadn’t been invented yet. Defensive backs never went beyond the midline and attackers never helped on defense. One reason I liked playing center mid is because I could operate from box to box. This was in the mid-60’s to early 70’s. Even in Southern California hardly anyone except immigrants played soccer then.
Johnnyrazor,
Agreed, with regards to a preliminary roster and the process of informing players and teams. That said, word is Blackmon will be called in. Take it for what you will, as there is a lot of time left between now and when players arrive.
Regarding Arfsten, regardless of position, he is not a player that improves the player pool for the USMNT. He will not make a difference for the September friendlies, the World Cup, and most importantly, the knockout rounds of a World Cup. This being the case, leave him with Nancy in Columbus.
Dest for Antonee on the left and Scally on the right. Depending on Pochettino’s tactics, we could see Scally tuck in as a third CB and Dest up and down the left as more of a WB.
Yes Gary, but you realize that the game has changed. Some believe how their club coach in the 80s taught them is the only way to play and can’t understand why no one else gets that.
Papi,
-In my predictive lineup I wouldn’t really expect Max to play. I’d probably bring Freeman instead as my 4th FB, but for some reason Poch likes Arfsten. Honestly Papi, do you see a FB outside Dest, Jedi, and Scally that could make a difference in the WC? I mean Brown hasn’t switched and is just coming off injury beyond him I guess.
-Blackmon is being looked at because Marsch made a big deal out of him.
JR,
The Korea game is Sept. 6.
I never pay serious attention to rosters until the first day after the last weekend of games before the friendly. In this case that would be Monday, Sept. 6.
That would be the last most likely chance for players to get hurt. I don’t think Son has ever played vs. the USMNT before so that’s kind of exciting.
like i said, if you want backs for offense, then it should also be aggressive attacking mids, and you don’t call anyone like sargent or zendejas up top “because they will chase.” you sell out on offense. we did this 2021 nations league with reyna. we won the tournament. it did take some 3-2 OT games.
or, you take this the 2021 gold cup direction where we gave up one goal the whole tournament. in which case you pick 7-8 hustle players who can mark and scrap, and then superglue 3-4 attacking players on the top. pitch shutouts, feed the front few and let them cook. think 2010s italy.
this is contradictory mush. the no marking backs undermine what adams and musah are out there to do. the sloppy hustling mids undermine what the passing backs and productive forwards are picked for.
pick a lane.
fwiw, the inability to pick a lame is why i say this feels like a fanboy all star team. no hard choices get made except reyna, who has become the scapegoat even when he’s riding the bench. previous USMNT figured out you have to make some hard choices — say davis vs. donovan — and that some exciting paper players will not fit the scheme, or cannot translate their club numbers to international ball.
i mean wondo was the record MLS goal scorer for a few years there. and he couldn’t score out of january. and if you’re dumb enough to rely on that, it will bite you in the tookus when you need one.
at some point reality and wins and goals needs to intrude into the paper ideas.
JR: also, to mop this one up for sure, considering blackmon has been fielding US and canadian calls, even saying he was committing to us, independent of does he get called, would be news. akin to campbell picking us over iceland. that’s a “get” even if we don’t put it to immediate use.
but a “commitment” decision could have been made any time at all. this slip is right when the emails are being made and the rosters issued to the press. that feels like a roster announcement. and this would not be the first time it’s happened in the social media era.
IV: just so everyone is clear this would not tie Blackmon to the US. Campbell is tied to the US because he filed a one time switch having represented Iceland in U17 Euro qualifiers.
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Blackmon got some buzz when he came up with LAFC as a RB then started getting moved around CB, RWB, RB. He’d gotten got moved to the bench after Covid. Then traded to Vancouver, who played the late matches and were pretty poor. He just got forgotten about. He’s been the best defender on a bad team. He’s 29, so maybe he’s hitting his stride, but it feels more like a Brian White lifetime achievement award than he’ll be a big contributor. He’s pretty good in the air, reads the MLS game well, good passer, decent with the ball at his feet. An older Jackson Ragen. I’d rather see Noahkai if he’s not going to the U20 WC.
JR,
Fulham are just now easing Jedi back onto the field. I don’t see the point in risking him.
Yeah, I was buoyed by Balogun jumping right back into the starting lineup and I really don’t want to see Max at LB so I’m hopeful. Maybe he’ll play but took into MF in build up like against Jamaica so he doesn’t have to run much.
JR,
I think trying to get Jedi to dial it down is probably a lost cause.
I get that Max is a fake left back. And he’s obviously crazy enough to think he can do the job.
But left backs who really cannot defend to save their lives have been so common for so long that they are cliche’s. Trent Alexander- Arnold (admittedly a right back) has had one hell of a career for a fullback who can’t defend worth a damn. (Cue faux-outrage for daring to compare Max and TAA). Jonathan Bornstein was a converted striker but in his two World Cup games played two perfectly respectable games.
If Pochettino is going down this route it means he is making a calculated gamble.
I don’t know what Pochettino’s ultimate strategic vision is but when I look at guys like Patrick, Luna, Seba and Max who, conventionally speaking, have no business being near a World Cup squad, I see reckless and relentless aggression.
They are too young and naive to know that they aren’t any good. Bielsa’s early Leeds EPL teams were like that. Let’s see how much Bielsa is left in Mauricio.
You can surprise people and go a long way with that kind of crazy in a tournament.
The USMNT is going to have to be a little unconventional in this tournament because a conventional USMNT is at risk of getting humiliated in this tournament.
re jedi, he is one of the few players who relative to his competition is so much better he should be in pen on the rosters. so he has nothing to prove other than he’s not been crippled by the injury and has basic fitness. he has a year to do so. there is zero rush and given the potential downside, too much risk.
the time should be spent auditioning potential replacements and it should be no one from this summer. i think we know roughly the good and ill of arfsten and tolkin. neither seized the job. keep looking. we can always circle back around later.
and dest cannot defend left side. played that side he flinches and gets megged like a U14. you need players for specific positions and not fanboy allstars.
weah will be left with OM to bed in. reyna will be left with BM to bed in. so we need RF candidates and not the mediocre previous ones. this is the window to call cole campbell and try dest as a RF.
gaming it out, we ask for the U20s which is the safe choice. they will say no we need him to rot the bench again as a wing contingency for the first team. at which point you wave the senior callup in their face. they cannot say no without declaring him hurt.
that’s how you deal with clubs playing games. he’s gonna get a couple matches a month no matter how hard you try and mess with the kid.
that gets him a week of fitness and games outside of their control. this is how the US used to operate. you use some picks to help out your struggling stars and prospects. they get a showcase to fight against club issues. he puts on a show for us he helps our team and also showcases himself to get out of BVB in the winter window.
that’s how i’d handle it.
our NT leadership are conservative number driven roster wusses. i expect a call sheet like you propose, which is low risk low reward for a team in trouble. i think campbell is probably channeled to U20 on first team analytics (or lack of) and age. we will ask and BVB will say no to U20 worlds. they “need him” for the bench like all summer.
and that will be that.
i expect an underwhelming call sheet with a 4th string type RF like zendejas or cowell because we prefer familiar experience and first team over upside with risk.
Did you read my “If U20s like Campbell and Banks aren’t going to be released for WC then I’d bring them into the main camp.” They released Cole for U20s in November when he was already backing up the first team. They certainly have asked for releases for the U20 WC it’s 35 days away. I couldn’t find the date the provisional and final rosters are due but we should know at this point if they’re coming. Banks is in a similar situation too good for Augsburg II just waiting for some starters to get injured to get time. Kochen too, although Barca II’s season hasn’t started so he might get time there.
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Campbell situation is weird, I think the front office wants him but Kovac doesn’t. I also think Kovac doesn’t make it to Christmas so they want as many options around for the next guy. Cole will dominate at the U20s and increase his value more than playing against Japan and Korea they’d be dumb not to release him. Of course they signed Kovac in the first place so….
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Weah’s been there awhile I think they’ll call him. If they don’t I’d go Yow or Ferreira. There’s no way they call Cowell (who you wanted to call for GC by the way).
Please get Weah out there. He probably needs a breather from that dumpster fire.
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Kovac got that team out of the mid table and into the CL in what amounted to a miracle. I’d imagine he has a looong leash right now (also a built in excuse with having pretty much only one actual CB healthy. See: 3 goals shipped v St Pauli). It will take a major collapse and losing Guirassy for the season to bring him down.
Campbell is on the roster solely because their transfer window has been one failure after failure. They’ve lost out on target after target with winger being highest on their priority list. Can I assume the U20 WC would be a longer time commitment than an international window? If so they have no depth at the wing so I think it would be dumb on their to let CC leave for an extended time period no matter how much his worth *could* increase. Yes, he’s a fail safe bench rotter at the moment. He has been for three successive coaches last season while they weathered an injury storm. Now it’s a poor window providing a dearth of depth that allows him to make the bench. When that team is at full strength he doesn’t make the bench. I’m not sure Kovac is the person to direct your frustrations at in his case. It seems he just isn’t good enough to get minutes.
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Dest at LB – he’s been playing there at PSV this season. Scally or Freeman at RB. Not talked about – Freeman help Yildiz to a very quiet afternoon in the Turkey friendly. Yildiz then went ont o light up the CWC and has started Serie A on fire. Let’s not sleep on that defensive performance from Freeman.
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Also, there is ABSOLUTELY NO EVIDENCE this coach will play hardball with a club in regards to USMNT players – quite the opposite.
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Regarding the list JR is proposing…I recently read somewhere about how few games Pochettino has had with Pulisic, Balogen, Weah, McKennie, Adams, Jedi, and Dest together – never. In fact he’s never had Balogun or Dest in (full camp). The Jamaica home and away he had three of them – CP, McKennie and Jedi (Pepi too). The Nations League debacle he had four – CP, Weah, McKennie, and Tyler Adams. (Pochettino proceeded to play WEah on the left , CP in the 10, Mckennie as a RW, Musah at RB and Scally at LB…they lost to Panama 1-0.) Anyway, the article was proposing Pochettino has never had a chance with the team he took the job to coach. So if he has the opportunity to bring in the list JR proposed….including the seven I listed plus Pepi (heck Sargent and Haji and Richards too)…He should do it. If for no other reason than because they all haven’t been in together since like … Qatar. Those are the players that should be getting time under his eyes and mastery.
Betinho:
Dortmund fans had already started turning on Kovac during CWC. So unless he changes he’s not got as long of leash as you might think. They struggled throughout CWC draw with Fluminense, one goal wins against Monterrey, Mamelowdi, and Ulsan. Did nothing against Madrid for 90 minutes before making it interesting. Then you start with a one goal win over 3Liga Essen, and drawing St. Pauli. As far as being wing cover, Kovac isn’t using any so why need one. He used a 5-2-1-2 against St.Pauli and a 5-3-2 against Essen.
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Somewhere in one of my responses I said I’d probably take Alex over Max because as you said Joe and Serge can cover LB. Freeman did have some big blunders against Saudi Arabia and had several sketchy moments against Mexico that caused Adams to overplay to help on the Jimenez goal so he isn’t without flaws.
“this is how the US used to operate. you use some picks to help out your struggling stars and prospects. they get a showcase to fight against club issues. he puts on a show for us he helps our team and also showcases himself to get out of BVB in the winter window…..that’s how i’d handle it.”
That’s not entirely accurate. If one of the regulars like JJ or Michael Bradley were suspended by their club for some reason and games were coming up, Bob might cap a guy to keep him sharp. And intriguing duals like Kenny Saief, who were otherwise very difficult to see them play have been capped just to see what’s what.
But Cole Campbell is different. On a team that has spent this last transfer window trying to acquire wing help and failing to do so why is Campbell still there? He’s not good enough as far a Kovac is concerned, for the first team but BVB don’t want to let him go because they are short of wingers.
So is it shit or will they get of the pot? That should tell you they don’t think much of CC but he’s still there.
Being capped by the USMNT and then having a couple of great games never hurts but , there is little doubt that BVB know his capabilities and are unlikely to be moved by anything he does for the USMNT. As for showcasing Cole to other clubs
I have no evidence for any of this but I’ve always thought that BVB got sick and tired of Gio getting hurt on USMNT duty. Like lending your car to your brother in law and he keeps getting into accidents with it. I don’t see BVB going out of their way to facilitate Cole getting capped.
At this point it’s up to Cole to fight his way out of BVB.
JR – if Dortmund fans ran the club that leash may not be as long as I think. But I believe (of course what the heck do I know?) that those in charge of such things are on his side and therefore the leash is (what did I say) looong. For what it’s worth I believe the fans are very not happy with the management either…
I haven’t gone back to look at the end of last year’s Kovac tactics…did he play the same 5-3-2? I don’t think so but maybe he did. But if he didn’t, perhaps that’s a change due to the lack of CBs and/or Wingers? If so that would be a even more damning change with regards to CC.
V: sorry, this is in fact how the US used to operate. it is only maybe the last 5 years that we can field a bunch of big club players most of whom start or play a lot.
until then the decision was usually between (a) MLS starters, (b) people starting at small clubs abroad, (c) people sitting at name brand teams. we had very few people like reyna or beasley at city. and so the choices were eclectic and tended to track NT performances more so than club form. in a word, more like a pure “talent” thing. as opposed to now we seem to think we can identify the “hot hand” off stats and it never works. or we bench a good player because their club benches them. then wonder why we’re not winning games as a NT. maybe it’s because we compound the injuries with unforced errors mimicking their club team situations.
and sorry, you are full of it. we would call in some guys who either we trusted but were rusting away on a club bench, or who were out of contract or favor, that we liked, get them some games. we trusted out own horse sense. we pimped our own good players. and it would help them get a showcase for a transfer pickup.
heck, i remember them running out the backup U23 keeper cervi in 2008 when he was out of deal. and that got him signed to celtic. and that didn’t amount to much, but that’s the push we used to give careers. right now we give no career pushes. you create your own push or we won’t even call you. which basically amounts to outsourcing our evaluation process to 50+ pool player club coaches. brave stuff, that.
and before you get going, the 2010 world cup team bradley put together while also pushing some marginal guys along, was either the best world cup team we have had, or top 2, depending who you ask. and to me part of it is bradley was in control and helping his kids out. after klinsi got club snobbery in the blood stream eyeball scouting withered in favor of statistical analytics and reputations and who is playing what minutes where.
and the crazy part is we have settled on a unit this way that then doesn’t look like it has ever played together before. that’s how much chemistry that has.
IV
” sorry, this is in fact how the US used to operate. it is only maybe the last 5 years that we can field a bunch of big club players most of whom start or play a lot.”
Bullshit.
In the time frame we are discussing., once you got away from the regular starters and the regular subs, it was a matter of who they could dig up so whatever game they were playing did not get out of hand. They were turning over rocks, looking closely for passports.
As for “showcasing players ” get real. Big clubs were not impressed just cause you were playing for the big bad USMNT, even if you dropped 4 on Grenada. Being capped for the USMNT in some obscure friendly or a CONCACAF “game” didn’t exactly set of excitement meters for Euro scouts.” “Yeah, we need to get a look at Ramiro Corrales or Justin Mapp”.
“until then the decision was usually between (a) MLS starters, (b) people starting at small clubs abroad, (c) people sitting at name brand teams. we had very few people like reyna or beasley at city. and so the choices were eclectic and tended to track NT performances more so than club form. in a word, more like a pure “talent” thing. as opposed to now we seem to think we can identify the “hot hand” off stats and it never works.”
No one scouts for players who play badly. So yes, it is about talent. And you can’t get on an NT without first playing for a club so you make an NT based on club performance. This collapses your entire argument that club form is meaningless.
“heck, i remember them running out the backup U23 keeper cervi in 2008 when he was out of deal. and that got him signed to celtic. and that didn’t amount to much, but that’s the push we used to give careers.”
Right.
If the USMNT was trying to showcase Dominic, they did a shit job.
Cervi got a call up or two but never played a game for the USMNT. He was not capped and has 0 US caps. He played two games for the U-23’s.
He was drew attention because:
He had an Italian passport
He was 6’6″ keeper.
He had no MLS contract refusing to sign with them.
He went on trial with Celtic and NEVER played a game for them, He got loaned to Dundee and never played a game for them.
He got loaned to Greenock Morton ( 2nd Tier) and finally played 7 games for them.
“right now we give no career pushes. you create your own push or we won’t even call you. which basically amounts to outsourcing our evaluation process to 50+ pool player club coaches. brave stuff, that.”
Nonsense. First of all, creating your career push is the best thing That’s wat Pulisic did. Minimum bullshit about you that way.
Second, those “pool player club coaches” just serve as a time saver, time you, as a NT coach, don’t have and as a gatekeeper. Can you miss a player that way? Yes but that is a risk inherent in any system.
“and before you get going, the 2010 world cup team bradley put together while also pushing some marginal guys along, was either the best world cup team we have had, or top 2, depending who you ask. and to me part of it is bradley was in control and helping his kids out. after klinsi got club snobbery in the blood stream eyeball scouting withered in favor of statistical analytics and reputations and who is playing what minutes where.”
?? JK was manager AFTER Bob. He built the 2014 WC team, the best WC team we’ve ever had, on the basic framework of Bob’s 2010 team. Bob planted the field and JK harvested it. But JK harvested the right crops
How he did that, I don’t care and it doesn’t matter. That’s why the manager matters. In a variety of ways, he can help set the stage for the next guy. I don’t know if Pochettino was ordered by our American MLS oligarchs to emphasize buy American or whether he’s doing it on his own but the long term effects of Pochettino’s seeming love affair with MLS will be fascinating to follow.
JR how much better a winger than Max is Cole Campbell?
“and the crazy part is we have settled on a unit this way that then doesn’t look like it has ever played together before. that’s how much chemistry that has.”
In international football a team has “chemistry” fairly early on or it never has it. It’s not like a club that gets to build it up over the course of a long season. Gregg’s team had country club middle of the road chemistry.
Bring Jedi with a time management agreement with Fulham. It will be good for them to have him get game time with USMNT. Two 45s should do it.
Pepi on the other hand…he was in for like 5 minutes in the last game for his first post injury action. Unless he sees real minutes this weekend I don’t know if he is far enough along for this camp.
Sargent has to be called in. He’s had just under 300 minutes since Qatar. Considering the competition the US has faced (lot’s CONCACAF crud) and the crap rosters he’s played with…he hasn’t had a good look.
people need to think back to HS or select or college or whatever. reyna’s issue at dortmund was he was so far down the pecking order he was getting like 10′ every 2-3 games. surely people see how there are roles along a spectrum from starter to rotating to regular sub, before you hit 10′ once in a while.
BM (a) actively sought him out, (b) lost players over the summer, (c) isn’t BVB. they also (d) will probably consider him at more positions than BVB did. i could see him starting or rotating. i don’t think they have the quality where they could justify him playing 10′ unless he pulls a stunt.
i also assume scally is a buddy from when they were NYC academy together and i think he could use a friend and advocate. you hear players speak about him and like bellingham or haaland speak well of him. reyna is one of the top technicians and producers on the team and the chatter lately has been obnoxious, subjective, and political.
My understanding from what commentators have said during broadcasts was that he refused to play on the wing anymore at Dortmund and only wanted to be played in the center of the pitch.
Both Bellingham and Haaland don’t seem to be regarded as the most humble people. I’m not sure how far their character reference will carry,
How do you know BM actively sought him out versus since they showed interest in the past weren’t just offered him at a bargain rate once the Parma offer fell apart?
Watched LA V Colorado last night. Elijah Wynder Josh Wynders brother lit up Colorado. Kid reminded me of Jude Bellingham with his all action CM performance. One to keep close eye on going into the future. Pace, power, and the ability to drive the game forward.
Consistency is needed to get to the NT level. That was by far his best match with LAG. He’d even bent sent down to MLS Next Pro as late as July. The only reason he even started was because they’d played midweek in Leagues Cup. He didn’t even get off the bench for LAG from May 31 to Aug 10.
Will he play in Monchenglablach?
I’ve read German pundits scratching their heads at this decision but I think he will play:
BMG play a 4-3-3… a 10, 6 and 8. Last season the ten position was filled with Plea and Stoeger. Plea – now with PSV – played all along the attacking front for BMG…including quite a bit at the 10. When Plea wasn’t at the 10 it was now 31 year old Stoeger. Those two players basically split the time at the 10. At 31 Stoeger can’t do a whole season there anymore. And Stoeger is not a goal threat (more of a playmaker) whereas Plea was a goal threat. Gio looks will be the Plea replacement. If that is true does that mean he will be on the wing sometimes? Maybe if Reyna allows it. In any case a playmaker that can score goals would be an upgrade – especially with striker (and most of their goals from last season) Kleindienst out through October at least.
That makes sense. I was sort of scratching my head on this one too.
Might actually be a better fit than I or the pundits were thinking. Lord knows the kid could use a break. Yes, yes, yes, attitude, entitlement, bit of a diva, etc. etc…at the end of the day the guy still has a world of talent and he’s been past the point of snakebit. All he’s ever really needed, IMHO, was consistent minutes and a run of good health though good health eluded his dad too.
Hopefully this is the place.
Let’s be honest – us USMNT fans will have way more faith in Reyna than an average soccer fan. He basically hasn’t played soccer in two years. He’s been one injury after another and been clouded in drama. Why would anyone other than us be particularly excited in this acquisition? I can see this as being a few million dollar throw of the dice for BMG.
For better or worse it’s obvious Reyna has enormous confidence in himself. For me that was what was behind the NF move (He probably thought he could quickly could work his way up the depth chart). I think the safer move would have been to Parma. From all accounts I read he could have been a lock starter at Parma however they just signed a Danish CM last week. This came after Reyna was rumored to have been in Parma. Maybe after meeting him they lost interest? Maybe there was something in a medical? Maybe they soured on the investment they would have needed to make for an injury prone player like Reyna? In any case maybe Parma backing out (if that happened – I read one account that they “gave up”) might explain the BMG transfer fee being a bit lower than Parma’s offer and what BVB was wanting. BMG was rumored to be in the mix last season for Reyna before the NF loan. I wonder if Parma pulled its offer making BVB panicked a bit and they went to BMG offering him at a discount in order to salvage something and get him off their books. Their transfer market business has been awful this window especially. Imagine their embarrassment if the window closed with Gio still there.
*few million throw of the dice = only 3 million ore guaranteed. Performance will bring it to 7.5 million. Parma was offering more in total and more up front. Me thinks Dortmund got beat at the poker table. I also don’t think there are any winners here. IMO Gio would have been better served at Parma. Parma was excited to have him and need his profile. Dortmund stood to make more money through the Parma deal (unless Gio turns it all around and goes on to be resold for over ten million). BMG more likely than not gets a an injury prone head case. Losers everywhere. When this concluded one Parma news headline read: Telenovella over: Reyna signs with BMG. Drama seems to follow this kid like the cloud over Eeyore’s head.
As you say, a roll of the dice that cost BMG less than Colorado spent on Pax Aaronson, for a player with a much greater existing track record. The glass half full future is that Reyna is healthy, fit, and motivated, maybe even a little pissed at his recent treatment by Dortmund, and locks down a starting role, starts impacting a team in B1 positively. BMG gets a couple good years from him, sell him on for profit. It’s not that far-fetched for me, the talent is there, he has already had some fantastic games at international level, played some champions league. I personally think the diva thing is way overblown. The real question is whether he is physically fit and able to run the way he used to, hard for me to believe another B1 team would sign him if they thought otherwise. I would take the gamble for sure at that price.
Betinho,
“Drama seems to follow this kid like the cloud over Eeyore’s head.”
Compared to who? Lots of players have clashes with ownership, though I will say his relationship with BVB is really weird.
I can’t remember the last time I heard of an off the field incident with Gio.
No OD’s, no PED’s, no arrests with intent to distribute, no drunken brawls in night clubs, no accusations of rape or sexual assault, no vehicular manslaughter charges, no DUI’s, no sexual allegations of misconduct with massage therapists. no ownership of dog fighting rings.
He didn’t even try to date Taylor Swift when she was single.
Does he even have one Tatoo?
Off the field the most I ‘ve heard about him is how much Haaland and Jude Bellingham love him.
As an American sports fan I see Gio as pretty vanilla.
Vacqui – that’s some pure comedy. Love it. Hahaha. I forgot what sports are like outside of the world of soccer. I have only focused on soccer since about 2005. The bar you set is pretty low but yeah, ok, vanilla.
Betinho,
Eventually a lot of the behind the scenes stuff will come out but for now it looks like BMG is probably is better solution for Gio than Parma would have been.
Long term, who knows?
But in the short term:
BMG looks like a more together club. Parma were a relegation battler last season. Parma signed a shiny new striker this window but he just blew out his ACL. They sold arguably their most promising player ,Leoni, to Liverpool to understudy VanDijk. Neither team is in Europe but at Parma Gio might have been doing a lot of losing which can get tough on a player. BMG seem solid enough but are short of goals and creativity. Gio’s main competition for the #10 role is Stoger , a good player who is 31 and not the offensive threat that Gio is.
Joe may be Gio’s BFF but I would think he would be professional enough to have told Gio if he thought that Gio could not break into their lineup.
What Gio needs to be doing if he wants to be at the World Cup is be playing regularly and being a positive contributor for a good team.
In the little amount of time we have left, that is more likely to happen at BMG than Parma. Long term, who knows but if Gio can beat out Christian Roldan for a midfield spot, get to the World Cup and do well, he should have a lot more options. Also people forget that BMG has been home to many American type players, Scally, Fabjo, Kasey Keller, Nepo Bradley, Pefok and now Gio.
Vacqui – nepo Bradly? Really? You were (are still) one of those? Interesting…
I loved when Ives was still running this site back in the MB90 days. I swear he would post USMNT articles with Bradley in the photos every single time just to trigger the Bradley hating crowd. I’m assuming a lot there but it was often enough and worked every time. I’d chuckle each time a post came up with his picture.
Vacqui – your analysis of how Gio will fit in at BMG is good. It’s like you took notes from my original and first response in this particular thread 😛
I’m still not convinced Parma wouldn’t have been a better option but we will never know and it’s fun to think about. I’m crossing all my fingers and toes he has a long and successful career and breaks free from the tag of his parents controlling his life and being a locker room disruption (no matter what Bellingham and Haaland think of him). I’ll be following him as close as anyone and pulling for him.
Good shout on BMG not being afraid of an American (even if two from the list were nominally Americans).
Betinho,
I saw almost all of MB90’s USMNT games early on. Early on he wasn’t really USMNT ready but instead of being told to go back out there and learn him his job better, Bob kept capping him until he learned to get better control of himself. And he did get better to where I believe he deserved his spot on the roster. MB 90 was not a great player. He was a very good player who played for the USMNT at a time when he was surrounded by some very good players ( Los, Dolo, Howard, Jermaine, FabJo, Jozy, LD, Clint, Cameron etc. many of whom were better than him. His greatest asset was his consistency and reliability. 80 % of life is showing up and MB90 always showed up. There were guys who could have seriously cut into his playing time but they they were comparatively brittle, JJ, Holden, Mo, kept getting hurt or, like Rico, they were just not that good.
Bob built the team around him. Now does this happen because Bob is a great manager and knows how to develop players? Does this even happen if MB90 is not his son?
I don’t know but it certainly was a big help to be given that kind of trust so early on.
Player sons often have a hard time playing for Dad as the coach since many Dads bend over backwards to prove they don’t play favorites. But Bob, a very tough man, did not give a shit what the fans or media thought. He saw Michael as central to his team and built accordingly. MB90 is called MB90 for a reason. Was he extra tough on Mikey? I don’t know. In the end MB90 was a slightly above average servant and had a distinguished career but Bob set the foundation. For me it’s nepotism but a pretty mild case. The thing about Bob that I will never forgive him for is losing that 2-0 halftime lead over Brazil in the Confederations Cup Final.
Despite that I think Bob is a great manager and it’s too bad he and the USSF have such an icy relationship..
I would have preferred Gio go to Parma. Serie A is the kind of league that could really appreciate Gio. It would have made him a better player and the food is better. But right now it’s about Gio getting back to “normal” as soon as possible and staying consistent for a while.
Staying in Germany shouldl help as will playing with Joe.
When the criticism of JK rose to a low roar I used to take those articles and compare them to similar articles about Bob. I found that you could cut and paste Bob’s and JK’s names between the articles and you would not see any difference. The moe things change…..
Will he play in Monchenglablach?
Happy for Gio thought we were going to have to call a mediator from swat team to free Gio from being a hostage. Glad he is leaving Dortmond.
Going to a team with a familiar face and someone to show you around is really helpful and a very good start.
Wishing you all the best kid and can’t wait till your first debut!!!!
Interesting fact, when Jude Bellingham was asked who his best friend was outside Madrid, he said Gio Reyna. I found that very interesting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-buZOSxPjA
.
i havent posted in awhile, but i have faith in this kid just like i did with zelalem. maybe i should stick to golf
sounds cute but (1) arsenal never let zelalem near their first team, (2) the last time he was close to fooling anyone was a stint in SPL which is generally below MLS.
plus (3) the general level of the teams still knocking his door should hint at something. kind of like weah may have lost some windvane type US fans this year but if OM is willing to buy then world soccer kind of thinks he doesn’t suck. US fans are getting so up their own snobby tookus they can’t tell the opinion of one UCL team from general soccer opinion.
it’s hyperventilating to compare a kid with like 2 career first team goals with a guy who’s been involved in more than that in single US games.
I was just joking man
Hey! I remember you!
Saga over Cotton.
Reyna needs a consistent year. Because quite frankly the US needs wide options, and Reyna can play wide right drifting inside with Dest overlapping. Gives the US team better passing options in the final third.
Especially because in this 4-2-3-1 that morphs into a 3-4-3 in the attack that Poch so loves to run, you get your width from your outside backs anyhow…which Robinson and Dest, anyway, are absolutely suited for. That means the left and right “wings” essentially tuck inside and become left and right forwards, and play far more in the half-spaces than the wide ones. Reyna really does suit either, OR the 10…though if he wants to play for Poch, he’d best bring his pressing boots, or he won’t get on the field either.
Jedi-Puli-Pepi-Weah-Dest
————-Wes—-Adams———
—-Ream——Johnny—Richards
I’d say you could also slot Reyna into one of those CM slots and let him pull the strings from a deeper location. Picture the De La Torre role from GC. The question really is can/does he want to defend because most modern managers are going to require everyone to defend as well as play offense. I could see Jedi tucking in to the spot I have Wes in and pushing Wes into that AM role and Weah wide on the left.
JR,
I’m starting to feel bad for LDLT. There did not used to be a lot of alternatives for deep lying midfielder roles.
It used to be just him and Tyler. Now you can mix and match Johnny, Tillman, Reyna, Morris, McGlynn, Tessman, Jedi, and Dest depending on what you want to emphasize.
V: he had 6 matches to cover himself in glory this summer and Luca did nothing to earn more minutes.
JR,
LDLT did what he usually does but to me it was more about the options now being more attractive than Luca and Tyler in a double pivot.
If you think of Tyler as a conventional #6 then the other guy in the double pivot could be a Regista, a Pirlo type, Seba, McGlynn, Gio, Roldan, Malik, Johnny, Weston, Tessman, maybe even Yunus could all attempt a reasonable Pirlo impersonation. ( Cue outrage at daring to bring up Andrea’s name and soiling it )