Reyna's Edge

Well, motherfucked Gio Reyna, didn't I?

As I watched Reyna on Saturday afternoon against Paraguay, there was unquestionably an edge to his game. He was snapping at Joe Scally within a few seconds, as the latter took too long to make a pass to a wide open Sergino Dest. Reyna was taking guys on, actually pressing, or pressing as much as he can with his limited mobility (though the one time he didn't, it led to Paraguay's goal). But I couldn't help but wonder where Reyna's career would be if he took that kind of edge, that kind of I'll-fucking-show-you dogma, and applied it to anything other than the first match for the national team after a long time out of the team. Because we've seen this movie before. What if he attacked his rehab from whatever the latest injury is with such gusto? Or maybe training? Or the sporadic appearances he makes for his club team? Because we haven't seen anything like that when he's Haley's Comet'd his way onto the field for Dortmund, or Forest, or now Monchengladbach.

In the end, I didn't think Reyna was that good on Saturday, he was just better than expected, and a portion of that was being in the lineup at all, which wasn't expected. All credit to him for popping up for his goal, as no one expects him to bury headers in the box. He set up the second goal, though all the legwork was Balogun's and Tessman's and Luna's (we'll get to that).

Still, it's impressive that Reyna can go months, years even, without regular time for his club, get on the field for the USMNT, and still have the audacity and belief to play as a #10 and try all the Gio shit that Gio can do, even if it only had intermittent success. That's how much skill he has. But it's also how much has been wasted. What could it be now if he could have stayed on any field over the past four years? How much is his fault, his failure to attach that sort of daring and attitude to the more mundane parts of the job? It can't all have just happened to Reyna.

Unless there's some revolution at Monchengladbach, it's hard to see Reyna cracking the starting 11 come June. What is clear is that Mauricio Pochettino sees what Greg Berhalter saw, which is that there's just too much potential for the creation of something out of nothing with Reyna when he's on the field. Could he be the joker card that Poch tosses out in the 70th minute of a game tied or with the USMNT losing to get create that one goal out of thin air? There's basically no one else to do that.

There really isn't anything about Reyna that isn't frustrating, no matter how he plays. When he plays well, as he did Saturday, it's frustrating to know just how rare it is. It was also in a game that, in the long run, doesn't matter. That's been Gio's thing with the national team. But there are no games that matter until they MATTER. It's funny that Reyna's inclusion is based on theory and hope. But then his actual game is based on that, too. Doing things only he can see and do, seeing what could be instead of what is. Knockout games in a World Cup are sometimes decided on such margins. It's all Reyna has, and it's all that's ever kept him included.

On to the other stuff.

-We know the US is always up against it when facing a deep block, especially robbed of as many of the first-choice lineup as they are for this window. They aren't really capable of stringing together passes and moves through tight spaces consistently. So their second goal, which was the winner on Saturday, is how they'll get most of their chances:

Luna and Tessman harass Junior Alonso into a turnover on the press, which opens up Balogun and Reyna to create against an unsettled and out of position defense. They get to work a 1-2 around an isolated defender, and then Reyna can cross against a furiously retreating defense where everything is going to be frantic. That's how you get bounces like the one Balogun gets to finish it off.

When the World Cup rolls around, this is how the US will probably get most of their chances--upping the pace, trying to cause some chaos through energy, and then attacking directly against defenses that haven't had time to get set and the lanes to pass or dribble into are that much wider.

-As far as the rest of it, picking out anything truly meaningful is a bit of a challenge. Paraguay was definitely treating this as little more than a training exercise. So many guys are hurt and not with the team that even building relationships across the field isn't really happening. Miles Robinson once again didn't really grab the chance at centerback that's clearly being dangled in front of him, as he was caught in no man's land for Paraguay's goal:

It was disappointing because the US's defense was barely tested after that, which Robinson was a part of. But it only takes one mistake to ruin a night's work, especially come June and July. Joe Scally didn't cover himself in glory, either. Which means Pochettino is still searching for someone to back up Chris Richards and Tim Ream, or play next to them when he utilized three CBs, instead of bumping the latter out of the lineup.

The goal was also an excellent example of Tim Ream not having any closing speed anymore. Yet he's going to be out there come the World Cup, because no one else is pushing him out. What Ream does do, especially in the 3-4-3 look, is be able to hit that long diagonal pass to Dest up the field on the right wing. That was the US's main modus operandi on Saturday, overloading the left side to then switch it over to Dest so he could go 1-on-1 with Paraguay's fullback.

-Max Arfsten is really good on the ball, as demonstrated by his set-up for Reyna's goal with his off-foot. He is not good at defending, which is less of a problem with three centerbacks. Or it would be, if the centerback closest to him wasn't Ream, who obviously can't move all that much. This is getting to be an issue, as Antonee Robinson hasn't played at all for Fulham so far this season. It's also a problem because we know Dest isn't doing any defending on the other side, which could lead to a pretty stretched back three, when using that.

But in the end, the B team comfortably beat a fellow World Cup team, flashing things it will have to do when the tournament starts to win. Can't ask for too much more.