Talking Tactics: Why Monchengladbach are a perfect, if unspectacular, fit for USMNT's Gio Reyna to finally resurrect stalled career

You would be forgiven for forgetting what Reyna looks like these days. After all, despite being so young, he is a player that exists only in highlights and memories. A weaving run through the pitch of the Estadio Azteca goes viral every now and then, which pretty much encapsulates what Reyna is - a footballer of immaculate technique, at his best, capable of producing moments of magic. 

There are some other basics. Reyna, nominally, is right-footed, but is equally skilled with both feet. He can both pass and dribble with either. There really isn't a move that he doesn't have in his locker. He can play pretty much anywhere across an attacking trio, but works best as either a No. 10 or perhaps coming off the left.

That bag of tricks - and crucial versaility - is very, hard to find in professional soccer. But perhaps the most valuable component of Reyna's game is his improvisation. There are plenty of players with immaculate technique, drilled into them from a very young age. Reyna, crucially, knows when to cycle through his various skills. Put more simply, he makes the hard plays, but also the right ones. 

So what gives? Why, if this skillset is so valuable, is Reyna headed to a lesser team for a cut-price fee?

There are some fundamental weaknesses here. And they are, unfortunately, the less tangible ones. Fair or foul, Reyna has a reputation for having an attitude problem. His work rate can be laughably poor. It is not too simplistic to admit that he sometimes just gives up on plays in a defensive sense. He is a maverick in a soccer world that seldom has room for them. 

Enter Monchengladbach, who are, ironically, the exact kind of team who could use a bit of flair. Monchenglabach are wonderfully reliable, but never excellent. Last year, they finished 10th, and scored almost as many goals as they conceded. They were never under threat of relegation and, after a late-season slump marked by a series of draws in their final five games, ended the campaign seven points out of a European spot.

Everything about their game is typical of a solid Bundesliga team. Most of their starters are in their mid-to-late 20s. They play a 4-2-3-1 that has become the run-of-the-mill formation for most sides in the German top flight. They rely on a decent No. 10, with a couple of creative players out wide, and an imposing No. 9 to do the fun stuff in front of goal. 

They are defensively resolute, occasionally sloppy, but mostly reliable. Their manager, Gerardo Seoane, had one good season with Bayer Leverkusen but was dismissed when expectations were raised. One bad start to a season saw him sacked - and replaced by Xabi Alonso, who did far more with the same squad.

Appropriately, they opened the 2025-26 campaign with a 0-0 draw. Nothing to see here. 

And so we have Reyna, who is the safe, unspectacular sort of level raiser for a team who could do with a smidge of an attacking lift. Alassane Plea, who scored 11 goals and added four assists in a career best season, left the club last summer after six years of agreeable service.

He was their main man creatively, but after another year of mid-table mediocrity, asked to depart. He is 31, and PSV came calling. Monchengladbach were left trying to decide between offering a long-term deal to a player on the wrong side of 30, or looking elsewhere. They chose the latter. 

In some ways, Reyna is a bargain-bin replacement. Plea spent good portions of the 2024-25 campaign playing out wide. With him gone, Monchengladbach could use more impact. 

They are also  light in the No. 10 position. Veteran attacking midfielder Kevin Stoger, who joined at the advent of last season as a free agent, started in the opening game of the season. Last year, he provided three goals and four assists in 33 appearances. Florian Neuhaus - once linked with bigger clubs - is also an option, but spent most of last season in a deeper role.

More broadly, then, Monchengladbach need options. Reyna provides one. 

But where that comes to fruition remains to be seen. Sporting director Roland Virkus - who does not, it must be pointed out, select the starting XI - speculated that Reyna can play a bit of everywhere. 

"He can play in different positions," Virkus said. "As a hanging striker, on the wing, at number 10, or directly behind a central striker. It's important for competition that you're not tied to one position. He puts pressure on all the forward positions - but he doesn't actually block anyone."

And therein lies the point. Virkus also admitted that Monchengladbach would not typically attract a player of Reyna's quality. He's right. Reyna is too good, too technical, and too gifted. On talent alone, he should be playing Champions League football. But right now, he is a fine fit. Monchengladbach need a bit of help everywhere, and Reyna can play, well, anywhere.

What that will require, though, is plenty of patience - at least at first. It is no secret that Reyna has a long injury record. Part of the reason he was never able to carve out a consistent role at Dortmund was the fact he could never stay on the pitch long enough.

He will likely need to be wrapped in cotton wool as he returns to fitness, and ramps up for the season. It would not be a surprise to see him miss matchday squads, or settle for odd minutes at weird positions - at least to start.

Reyna has found something quite remarkable here: stability. Dortmund is a pressure cooker of a football club where expectations are high. They are supposed to be in the Champions League every year. Don't perform? Welcome to the bench. There is no time there to return to fitness or find your feet. 

Monchengladbach, meanwhile, can afford to practice a little patience. There is no big outgoing to replace. Plea's departure will hurt, but they will be able to plug holes here and there. Reyna can settle in, and, if he needs to, make mistakes until he gets things right.

And more broadly, that's what Reyna needed. Monchengladbach, in effect, check all of the boxes. The system is familiar, the pressure is certainly apparent, but not too intense. He gets to stay relatively close to home and continue to develop. 

And at 22, he gets a fresh start with a club that will probably be just fine if he takes a while to discover his best football. Very few get that luxury. The fit could not be more perfect - even if is a little unspectacular.

But Reyna 2.0 now has a chance to form.