The midfielder is back with the U.S, albeit in a limited capacity, and all eyes are on how he rebuilds his relationship with the returning head coach.
It was the one name everyone was looking for in the United States men's national team squad. At 11 a.m. on the East coast, U.S. Soccer unveiled the list of 23 players called in for the upcoming matches against Germany and Ghana but, fairly or unfairly, all eyes will be on one of those players and the coach he will once again be playing under.
Gregg Berhalter's roster is out, Gio Reyna is on it, and, now, finally, all of these months later, all involved can begin to heal.
It's been the U.S. men's national team story of 2023. It's a familiar one now: post-World Cup drama, betrayal, investigations, friendships ruined, a federation plunged into chaos. And yet, somehow, it's brought everyone right back to where they started: with Berhalter in charge of the USMNT and with Reyna as a key young star that the program is hoping will soon become a key young superstar.
Still, too much has changed for things to stay the same, right? This camp, for all involved, will surely be a bit awkward on some level. You can't fix all of it in one reunion.
This is the start, though. Reyna is back. Berhalter is, too. And, as this camp begins, Berhalter says that both seem ready to treat this as the fresh start it could be.
Getty ImagesFinally aligning
From the moment Berhalter was rehired this summer, everyone wanted to know the answer. How would he begin to fix all that was broken with Reyna? The answer to that question would probably define his tenure.
It took a while, but that process began recently. As of September camp, Berhalter and Reyna had not yet had their long-awaited sitdown, as Reyna remained out of action due to an injury suffered this summer. However, ahead of October camp, that conversation needed to happen if Reyna was to return to the team.
Berhalter says the two finally met on Zoom a few weeks back. The conversation, Berhalter says, went about as well as anyone could have hoped, even if Berhalter wasn't too willing to get into specifics.
"The conversation was a positive conversation," Berhalter said. "I'm appreciative of him taking time and being able to connect. Really for us, it's about aligning on how we're moving forward, and I think we did that. The exact contents of the conversation I'm gonna leave private, but we're in a good spot to prepare for this camp."
AdvertisementGetty Images'It will take time'
Conversations are good. Time together in camp will be even better. However, Berhalter knows that there's no fixing everything, especially not this quickly.
What happened between the Berhalters and the Reynas was deeper than soccer. The two families, for years, were the best of friends. Berhalter's relationship with Reyna's father, USMNT legend Claudio, made him something of a family member. Berhalter watched Reyna grow up, and then he watched it all fall apart.
Berhalter's relationship with Claudio and Danielle Reyna may never be repaired, but his relationship with Gio will have to be. The two have to come together for the sake of the USMNT and figure out some way, any way, to make it work.
The initial signs have been good, but Berhalter admitted that it won't all be washed away in this camp.
"The conversation was positive," he said. "I was really, really just appreciative of the conversation and, having said that, acknowledging that, I think it will take time. There's a difference between a Zoom call and being in person, but I think that both intentions are positive.
"The idea is that, we work together for the team to be successful and I think we're both prepared to do that. I think that, although it may take some time, we're both aligned with what we want to accomplish."
GettyBuilding him up
With that off-field stuff out of the way, Berhalter also explained his expectations for Reyna this camp.
The Borussia Dortmund midfielder hasn't played a minute since June's Nations League triumph and only recently returned to the bench on the club level. He has yet to come off the bench, though, as Edin Terzic has yet to use him in the Bundesliga or Champions League.
Last camp, Berhalter made a point to ease Folarin Balogun into the team, as the striker joined up with the U.S. after only recently completing a move to Monaco from Arsenal. This time around, Berhalter says he envisions a similar set up with Reyna, who probably won't play 90 minutes in either of the two games.
"Really, in my opinion, we're treating this very similarly to how we did with with Balo last camp: build him up, build his minutes up so that he goes back to Dortmund in a better place. We'll be using him on the field in a way that he can return to Dortmund ready to go. That's going to be important for this camp."
He continued: "How many minutes can we give him on the field that he can build up in a safe way and then go back to Dortmund and really propel him to make a big impact for his club? We're going to be creative with the minutes. We want to certainly get him on the field and work through both the Germany game and see 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."
Getty ImagesThree positions
For much of last cycle, Reyna was used as a winger by Berhalter. With Christian Pulisic generally on that left wing, though, and Tim Weah on the right, Reyna was squeezed out of the USMNT starting XI at the World Cup.
This summer, though, Reyna was deployed as an attacking midfielder with fantastic results. His assist on Folarin Balogun's first goal showed what he can bring to the role and, in the months since, the debate has raged on about how Berhalter can best use Reyna in this cycle.
For now, that answer is TBD. We likely won't get a concrete answer this camp as Reyna is on that minutes restriction, but Berhalter isn't ruling out anything going forward.
"In terms of Gio, we see him being able to play three positions: central midfielder, attacking midfielder and winger," he said. "We use wingers in different ways. Sometimes the wingers are wide against the line and sometimes they're in between the lines. We see him as more of an in-between-the-lines winger, so those are the three positions he can be utilized in."