Malik Tillman’s Gold Cup success, Gio Reyna’s limited play at Club World Cup create USMNT sliding doors moment

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With 12 minutes and stoppage time left to play in Borussia Dortmund’s final group stage match of the Club World Cup on Wednesday, manager Niko Kovac clearly signaled that the task was complete. They had a 1-0 lead over South Korea’s Ulsan HD that was not vanishing anytime soon, as the final shot count of 28-3 would indicate, meaning top spot in Group F was essentially a guarantee. Out came a few of Dortmund’s starters, who ensured Dortmund would go unbeaten in the opening stage of the competition and would now receive a small break before their round of 16 match against Mexico’s Monterrey on Tuesday. In came fresh legs – or, namely, Carney Chukwuemeka and Gio Ryena.

For Reyna, those 12 minutes were not only his first at the Club World Cup but also his longest shift in a Dortmund shirt since a 26-minute appearance on April 15 as they chased the game against Barcelona in a UEFA Champions League quarterfinal tie they went on to lose 5-3. It was a cameo that provided Reyna with little time to impress, something Kovac quickly explained in his post-match remarks.

“Gio and also Juju [Julien Duranville] played their first couple of minutes during this Club World Cup,” Kovac said. “We try to give minutes to every single player, of course. We want to win, and the first half of the match, we put in a top-level performance, so I was ready to bring on new players. In the midfield, we have a high competition. There is [a] great set of players and Gio is one of them. He does have good qualities, but if you look at the other players, I think they are a little bit more ahead.”

Kovac’s simple and straightforward answer about Reyna is emblematic of the 22-year-old’s career as of late. It is not particularly illuminative, reflective of the fact that five years after he broke out for Dortmund and the U.S. men’s national team, we have learned almost nothing new about his abilities as a professional player. It is not exactly difficult to recall glimpses of terrific play as an attacking midfielder but so far, he has been unable to build a genuine body of work that prove or disprove hypotheses of his potential. It is a humdrum routine that has translated to the national team, Reyna just one player on a team that has felt stuck in a rut, even with a coaching change – that is, until now.

The summer of Malik Tillman

Mauricio Pochettino’s summer of experimentation with an inexperienced Gold Cup roster has so far delivered one major development – the rise of Malik Tillman.

The 23-year-old is not exactly a fresh face, earning his first cap three years ago and carving out a role for himself for the back-to-back Eredivisie winners PSV since. Goal contributions are a feature of his game, notching 25 goals and 17 assists in all competitions over the last two seasons with the Dutch side. There’s a versatility to his game, though, one that allows him to complete a series of attacking midfield tasks, whether it is being present in and around the opponent’s penalty area or progressing the ball forward.

Tillman, like Reyna, has always had the type of skillset that can solve several problems in the USMNT’s unresolved midfield, but their cases are not actually the same – and it is not only because Tillman has valuable reps at the club level. Tillman seems like the first genuine benefactor of Pochettino’s arrival, who seems to be deploying the player in a way that could remind some of Christian Eriksen or Dele Alli when the Argentine was in charge of Tottenham Hotspur. It has worked like a charm so far this month, with Tillman bagging three goals and one assist in his last five games for the national team and so far emerging as the breakout star of their Gold Cup run.

It is the type of output that is not only valuable on an individual basis but makes up for the USMNT’s deficiencies, chief among them at the forward line. The team’s search for a reliable No. 9 continues, the player pool plagued by injuries to Folarin Balogun and Ricardo Pepi, while Josh Sargent is out of favor with Pochettino. Tillman has slotted in nicely behind Patrick Agyemang, who has been at his best so far during the Gold Cup, continuing the USA’s longstanding need for goals in different areas of the pitch. Christian Pulisic is the go-to in that regard, but the more scorers, the merrier for the USMNT, making Tillman’s upward trajectory a welcome sight for a team that has longed for positive signs with the World Cup a year away.

In short, Tillman may be filling the void that was seemingly designed for Reyna, finally bringing a sense of competition many have longed to see for the USMNT – and he may not be the only one.

USMNT’s attacking midfield race heats up

The USMNT have essentially been in a holding pattern since the 2022 World Cup, collectively struggling to deliver on the potential many have seen in them for more than half a decade now. Disappointing runs in last year’s Copa America and March’s Concacaf Nations League finals have raised questions about whether there are hidden talents in the USMNT’s wider pool or if the team is doomed to continue in mediocre form. The jury may still be out on that question as it pertains to the collective group, but there’s a true sense of competition for the attacking midfield role that so far may not exist in other positions on the pitch.

While Tillman stakes his claim in the lineup, Real Salt Lake‘s Diego Luna is another one who is trying to make a case for himself. The 21-year-old has endeared himself with Pochettino in a way few players have done so far, earning the start over Reyna in the CNL third-place match in March and notching an assist to the USMNT’s lone goal. He has yet to string together a series of similar performances but if he also builds form during the Gold Cup in a way Tillman has, there’s a genuine reason to see Reyna fall even lower down the pecking order.

The situation intensifies the pressure on Reyna to live up to his own promise over the next year, a recurring issue for the player. He has not amassed double-digit league starts at the club level since the 2020-21 season and though some of it comes down to injuries, that is as clear a sign as any that Dortmund has not been the right fit for him for years, the present only magnifying the reality. He cannot even get a run out at the Club World Cup, an end-of-season competition where Kovac has preferred players with tired legs after a long European season over Reyna’s relative freshness, all while Tillman and Luna earn real minutes in a different showcase summer tournament. The fact that FIFA rules mean the Club World Cup take precedence over the Gold Cup is not Reyna’s fault, but it feels like another wasted opportunity for a young player who has now spent more time warming a bench than earning valuable minutes at a competitive European club.

How Reyna responds to the pressures of others like Tillman and Luna potentially rising to the occasion, though, is a big question for this summer – but one where the national team, finally, does not have to bear the brunt of the consequences.

This news was originally published on this post .

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