Borussia Dortmund manager Edin Terzic has told Gio Reyna that he’ll have to be patient as he goes through a spell with limited playing time.
Reyna has started just one game for Dortmund in 2023 and hasn’t got off the bench at all in back-to-back Bundesliga matches.
The U.S. national team attacker has still managed to make a major impact for Dortmund in his limited minutes, scoring goals in three straight appearances off the bench in late January and early February.
But with Dortmund on a run of nine straight wins in all competitions, Terzic has been reluctant to change things up and give Reyna more playing time. The likes of Karim Adeyemi, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Julian Brandt, Donyell Malen and Marco Reus have all been preferred to the American attacker in recent matches.
That doesn’t seem likely to change any time soon, as Terzic said in his press conference ahead of Friday’s game against RB Leipzig. It sounds like Reyna’s recent history of injuries is also playing a role.
“Gio has always suffered [injury] setbacks, he was injured once with the national team,” Terzic said. “He has made a few short appearances, played from the start against Bremen, and had no playing time in the last three games. He knows what we expect from him. But we also know what he can give us. He has to be diligent and patient.”
Dortmund is currently second in the Bundesliga table, trailing Bayern Munich only on goal difference. Union Berlin is three points back in third place, with RB Leipzig and Freiburg also in the mix.
Terzic said that tight race is a refreshing change of pace after several years of Bayern running away with the title.
“The table is extremely exciting, both below and above [us],” he said. “We proved that we can win against anyone. If we manage to consistently get our quality onto the pitch, a lot is possible.”
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