The Tragedy of Marco Reus
A lamentable tale, most tragick and filled with sorrow.
Marco Reus is a great player.
Marco Reus never seems to be healthy at the right time.
We’ve seen this story before. Marco Reus just misses out on title. Marco Reus gets injured. Marco Reus just misses out on World Cup title because he was injured. How close was he to a World Cup winner’s medal in 2014? The winning German team held up his Germany jersey while celebrating after the Final.
Dortmund took the Bundesliga by storm in the early 2010s, winning back-to-back Bundesliga titles 2011 and 2012, the first time they had completed that feat since 1996, and their first league title in a decade. Reus was born in Dortmund, and came up through Dortmund’s academy, but didn’t play for BVB until a year later, after he had broken through and become a rising star with Borussia Moenchengladbach. In 2013, Dortmund made it to the Champions League final, and lost to Bayern. Bayern also won the next seven league titles, with Reus frequently injured throughout that reign. Dortmund did manage to make it to three consecutive DFB-Pokal finals before finally winning one on the fourth try, Reus managing to win a trophy with his boyhood club, finally. He also finally made it to the World Cup in 2018, and scored a goal there, even though this time around, Germany exited in the group stage. And now, with a game at home against Bayern to more or less decide whether there will be a challenge to Bayern’s dominance, or if the Bavarians see off Dortmund yet again, Reus is out. And what’s even worse: Dortmund might be better without him.
Don’t misunderstand me: even though Marco Reus has had far from his best season on the field this year, I still believe in his experience and skill. But for the longest time, Marco Reus sticking with Dortmund was the main reason that I, as a Dortmund fan, hoped people like Ilkay Gundogan, Ousmane Dembele, Christian Pulisic, and now Jadon Sancho, Gio Reyna, and Erling Haaland might stick around for a little while longer. Sure, those people were destined for bigger, richer clubs, seemingly from the get-go. But the presence of Reus, someone who was a real international star, good enough to be playing on a loaded world championship side, seemed like it could sway some of these talents to stay just a little bit longer, to see if Dortmund could whisk away another couple trophies. Now, I don’t know where Reus stands in the side. I don’t think he’s as good as Jadon Sancho, and I don’t know think we can say he’s a better forward than Haaling, either. Hazard is nipping at his heels, and Lucien Favre is clearly eager to acclimate Reyna as much as possible. If Dortmund is a better team without Reus in the lineup, is that the end of a dream? Not just Reus’ boyhood dreams, but the dream of Dortmund being anything other than a feeder club to stars?
I don’t know. Dortmund might throw in a late title challenge, but they won’t do it with Marco Reus. If there’s a transfer window this summer, I imagine Haaland and Sancho will both move on for a ridiculous amount of money, and with that money Dortmund will probably purchase a few more hyper-talented youngsters alongside one or two reasonably-priced Bundesliga stalwarts. And Reus will most likely be back in the starting lineup.
But I just don’t know if that’s reason enough to hope anymore.
A Short Play in Two Acts
Just a brief reminder that this is more than money and low risks to so many professional players.
Trivia is BACK
How many people have won the World Cup as a player, and then again, as a manager?