Reyna’s work ethic again in question in BMG sale to Strasbourg

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Giovanni Reyna turned out to be a letdown for Gladbach—and not because of his susceptibility to injury. Borussia is putting an end to the misalignment with the American after just one year, with no hesitation. It is also a correction of a risk the club should never have taken.
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The fact that Borussia fell for an expensive sham wasn't just due to Reyna's susceptibility to injury, but also to his work ethic, which he brought to Gladbach after a season in which he had previously played only 341 Bundesliga minutes for BVB. It took months before Eugen Polanski and the coaching staff were satisfied with the 23-year-old's fitness.

“I saw qualities today that I hadn’t seen like that before,” Polanski said in December. Reyna was in the starting lineup four times last season and logged 509 minutes of playing time—a sobering tally.

It makes sense that Borussia isn’t taking the gamble on Reyna and his potential into a second year. Better to “cash out” right away than to “crash out” next year—in other words, better to take the money now than to spend another year kicking yourself and possibly end up empty-handed.

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Having worked with athletes there’s a massive difference between those who treat their rehab like a job and those who do not. Part of me is starting to wonder if Reyna’s recurrent injury issues aren’t related to his questionable work ethic. His dad also had injury problems so some of this is likely genetic as well. Here’s to hoping that this move works out for him and he gets his career on track, but at this point it’s starting to look like last chance U.