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Gio the Big Winner of the Window & Rog on Michael Bradley 🇺🇸
PLUS: Balo, Dest and the Best of the Rest, the Great, Great, GREAT Lindsey Horan
“So much quality when he’s on the field. He definitely brings it to the game. He’s one of my favorite guys to play with. I’m just happy for him. I’m happy he’s back. Hopefully he can go back to (Dortmund) and get more games. I’m just proud of him. This window for him has been amazing.”
—Tim Weah on Gio Reyna, saying what we’re all thinking: that we’re happy he’s back, and that BVB needs to get him on the pitch more
USMNT Fades Against Germany, Smashes Ghana:
The USMNT’s two “friendlies” against Germany and Ghana — a 3-1 loss and a 4-0 win, respectively — weren’t just a tale of two matches, but more a tale of four halves.
We went toe to toe with Germany in the first half of Saturday’s game in Hartford, the first 45 finishing level at 1-1. But then Die Mannschaft adjusted at halftime, us not so much, and we were left drowning in schnitzel in the second stanza. Hence the loss.
Against Ghana, our first half was all free-flowing, creative football, mixed with clinical finishing. We started out with joy and a hard edge, 11 marauding warrior poets on a cool Nashville night. “The guys really came out flying,” said Christian Pulisic afterwards.
But once again, the second half saw a dip in performance. Not to the degree of the Germany match, but still a case of us taking our foot off the gas. A habit even the players would like to rid themselves of.
“Our concentration went down a little bit,” said Sergino Dest. “We were not as sharp as the first half. And I felt like we wanted it, but not as bad as the first half. So I feel like we should improve that and keep going in the second half as well, to smash teams, you know?”
Perhaps it is just a matter of focus and staying sharp. But perhaps there’s another, more obvious reason why the U.S.’s performances dipped in the second half against both Germany and Ghana.
Gio Reyna was on the pitch for neither.
Gio the Big Winner of the Window:
By far the biggest storyline heading into these two matches for the USMNT was the return of Gio Reyna 🇩🇪. Working his way back from an injury suffered this summer, the uber-talented 20-year-old attacking midfielder had but 27 minutes of club ball to his name coming into this window. Plus, the whole Greggate thing. So how would Gio respond? Would he fit back in with the team? And how effective would he be as our number 10 in Hartford and Nashville?
To quote the late, great Nashville musician and poet David Berman from his aptly-named song Tennessee, “You’re the only ten I see.” Which is how we were all left feeling after the two halves Gio partook in. You are now the only 10 we see, Gio.
Gio hit the ground running against some familiar faces in Germany, his 45 minutes in Connecticut a collage of saucy dribbles, incisive passes, and solid defending. But then he found another level entirely against Ghana, banging in two goals (WATCH: 1ST | 2ND) and playing with the elite skill and offensive daring that make him such an absolute joy for USMNT fans to watch.
The lad from Bedford, N.Y. ultimately emerged as the one big winner of the entire window. Literally, if you consider that in the two halves he played, the U.S. won 5-1 on aggregate. His play even left the big boss impressed.
“Besides the goals, it was how (Gio) brings players into the attack, how he is able to be calm on the ball, gives us that calm and the poise that we need at times, but then is decisive when making final passes,” said USMNT manager Gregg Berhalter after the Ghana game. “This performance was just an indicator of his entire camp. He had, as I said before, a very strong camp, great mindset, great training sessions.”
Hopefully Dortmund was watching.
Balo, Dest and the Best of the Rest:
Gio was not the only standout performer over both matches, though he was the most standout-iest. But the boys from France and Italy also made their mark.
Balo did his best Hakeem the Dream impersonation against Ghana (WATCH) … Sergino Dest played like a Dutch-American Devin Hester … Puli had two goals, one an all-time Hartford Heater (WATCH), the other a cool, calm pen (WATCH) … And Timmy Weah was stealth brilliant at times, mind-blowingly brilliant at others (WATCH).
Now it’s back to Europe for the lot of them, with those heading back to Italy set to partake in an absolutely mouth-watering Americans Abroad clash between AC Milan and Juventus on Sunday. Yet another reminder of this golden age of American soccer watching that we are currently living in. May it never end.
The Great, Great, GREAT Lindsey Horan:
While the USMNT was shipping goals to Julian Nagelsmann’s Flannel Army in Hartford, the USWNT’s Lindsey Horan 🇫🇷 (29; Golden, CO) was kicking some ASSE in France. The Great Horan pulled off a hat-trick in Lyon’s 6-0 win over AS Saint-Etienne on Saturday (WATCH: 1ST | 2ND | 3RD). The goals were Horan’s first of the season, and helped keep OL atop France’s Division 1 Féminine. Allez Lindz!!! 🙌
News and Notes:
West Brom boss Carlos Corberan provided an update on Daryl Dike 🏴 (23; Edmond, OK), confirming that the USMNT striker isn’t likely to return from his ruptured Achilles until after the holiday season. 🗣 “He’s very committed with the club. He’s very committed with his recovery, but it’s a very long-term injury, so he’s one player that I cannot expect to play until January.”
Josh Sargent 🏴 (23; O’Fallon, MO) has signed a contract extension with Norwich City through 2028. 🗣 “"I see myself as being a big part of the team moving forward. My family have settled really well here, we’re really happy with our time so far here. It’s a lovely place to live. I really want to get promoted with this club, it’s the biggest thing." Congrats, O’Fallon d’Or! 🫡
Congrats are also in order to the US U23s — the true Baby Eagles — who beat Japan 4-1 on Tuesday after topping Mexico 2-1 on Wednesday. Mini Medford Messi Paxten Aaronson 🇩🇪 (20; Medford, NJ) was in the goals against Japan (WATCH).
Parting Shots:
A special Parting Shot this week, as Rog provides a tribute to Michael Bradley, the Great American Midfielder and son of former USMNT manager Bob Bradley, who has announced his retirement.
Here’s to Michael Bradley, who announced Tuesday he will retire at the end of this MLS season — his 10th with Toronto FC. The 36-year-old won 151 USMNT caps (third-most all time), went to two World Cups, and had an accomplished European career with Borussia Monchengladbach, Chievo Verona, AS Roma, and others.
His legacy was forever intertwined with the darkness of the failed 2018 World Cup Qualifying cycle, but it should not be. He was a remarkable human being at his peak to witness. Before he returned to MLS, he played with the simmering intensity of Jean-Luc Picard, Yul Brynner, and Jason Statham compressed into a single human being. A ferocious player on the field, and, to be honest, a ferociously guarded interview as well.
In that 2014 cycle it felt like the whole American game depended on the balance between pushing Michael Bradley forward and keeping Michael Bradley back. He was that dominant on both sides of the ball. I interviewed him the night before the Snowmageddon game, and his methodically-selected words emerged with a fierceness that suggested each had been forged in an incandescent foundry burning somewhere deep inside of him. He kept swiping the air with his hotel key card to punctuate his points. I was sure he was going to slice my nose off. We talked for a long time, and he reminded me of his famous quote after the 2009 Confederations Cup when we shocked Spain: "All the [expletive] experts in America, everybody who thinks they know everything about soccer, they can all look at the score tonight, and let's see what they have to say now."
That is how he should be remembered. A player constantly written off, yet loved his chances to win, because of it, not in spite of it. And he most often did win.
