Borussia Mönchengladbach head coach Eugen Polanski praises Gio Reyna
Borussia Mönchengladbach head coach Eugen Polanski has praised both Gio Reyna's improved fitness and form ahead of Matchday 14's home encounter with Wolfsburg.
Gladbach host the Wolves on Saturday as they look to extend their five-game unbeaten Bundesliga run. Reyna, who joined from Borussia Dortmund in the summer, will be looking for just a third start in the German top flight this campaign, albeit a second in succession.
Towards the end of his time with Dortmund, the USA international struggled with injuries, managing just 16 league appearances last term. However, Polanski has been eager to highlight his increase in durability since his arrival at Borussia-Park.
Watch: Gio Reyna joins Gladbach
"We wanted to gradually integrate him more and generate more playing time. For that to happen, it was crucial that Gio embraced it the way he did," the boss said. "I have rarely seen a training session from him that I wasn't satisfied with, and I have recently seen values I hadn't seen before."
All in all, Reyna has made nine league appearances this term, with the majority coming from the bench. He is competing for a starting spot with Florian Neuhaus, but the German's own injury problems have opened the door to Reyna for more playing time.
"We can almost replace him [Neuhaus] like-for-like," Polanski explained. "He [Reyna] perhaps has a slightly more attacking profile, is a bit better in the space between the lines, and isn't the same clear playmaker as Flo. He's made extremely good runs and improved from game to game. I'm extremely happy."
Watch: Reyna's Bundesliga best bits
As well as impressing his club coach, Reyna will also want to catch the eye of USMNT boss Mauricio Pochettino ahead of next summer's home FIFA World Cup.
The 23-year-old played his first international games in eight months when called up for November's friendlies, scoring in a 2-1 win over Paraguay and providing an assist off the bench in he 5-1 thrashing of Uruguay.
In total, Reyna has nine goals from 34 senior caps for the Stars and Stripes, who play a pre-tournament friendly against Germany in Chicago next June before beginning their World Cup campaign against Paraguay on 12 June at SoFi Stadium. The co-hosts then take on Australia in Seattle on 19 June and a European play-off winner in Group D on 25 June.
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