Marco Reus skipped Euro 2020, now he can profit with club and country
Germany and Borussia Dortmund can reap the rewards after the 32-year-old decided not to play at the Euros over the summer
Marco Reus chose not to play at Euro 2020 and has started the new season brilliantly. Has the 32-year-old finally learned how to manage his body? And can he make the most of it with Dortmund and Germany before it’s too late?
“It wasn’t an easy decision, I considered it for a long time. Of course I’m looking forward to having some rest and then, obviously, in a few weeks we get going again.”
The final game of the 2020/21 Bundesliga season had just ended and Marco Reus was being asked about his decision not to play at Euro 2020.
“After a really intense year for me personally, and having reached Dortmund’s goals, I’ve decided to give my body some time to recover,” he had already explained on Instagram as he announced his decision to have the summer off.
It wasn’t an easy decision for the forward and it wasn’t well received by everyone.
“I can’t understand Reus renouncing his place. The guy is in incredible form, the Euros is probably his last chance to win something big, but he’d rather go on holiday,” now-Köln head coach Steffen Baumgart said. That, obviously, wasn’t the choice Reus was making.
The Dortmund captain has had to learn to listen to his body and to give it the space it needs to recover. Doing so gives him the best possible chance of making up for lost time and missed opportunities. Reus, unbelievably, has just two DFB Pokals to his name despite being one of Europe’s finest talents for a decade.
He would have surely been eager to make up for that with an appearance at the Euros over the summer but the 32-year-old decided to play the long game, or at least what’s left of it, instead.
Why? Because 2020/21 was rough. Emotionally, sure, but also physically. Reus played 3366 minutes in all competitions in 2020/21, the third most of any season in his career. The only two campaigns that have seen him play more were his first two at Dortmund, back-to-back, with the latter quickly followed by an injury in a World Cup warm-up match that prevented him from being a part of the Germany squad that went on to win the tournament.
His team-mates became world champions without him.
The 32-year-old has gone on to suffer injury after injury in the years since missing out on World Cup glory. Dortmund played 204 Bundesliga matches from 2014/15 to 2019/20. Reus appeared in just 120 of them.
When fit, though, he has remained at the top of his game. Dortmund lacked consistency in 2020 but Reus continued to deliver, even if the side’s struggles often overshadowed his own performances.
Thanks to Scott (@oh_that_crab) for the data viz.
And 2021 has been superb for both the club and the player, even if his own end product has dropped off a little in league outings, Reus has never been a more important cog in the Dortmund machine.
The question has never been and still isn’t how talented Reus is, even if he took some time to get going after his most recent injury a year ago. It has always been about whether or not he can stay fit.
Right now he looks as sharp as ever and that decision to take a summer off looks like it could give him one final shot at glory on the biggest stages/
It’s understandable that so much of the attention at Borussia Dortmund goes to Erling Haaland but Reus is as crucial as any player in the team. The freedom he was given to roam under Edin Terzić saw Reus inspire the side to the DFB Pokal (he was heavily involved in all four goals in the final) and a Champions League berth (he scored in five of Dortmund’s final seven league games last season) after an incredibly rocky campaign for the club.
And he’s picked up where he left off since returning from his summer break. The decision not to go to the Euros already looks like a smart one, especially when Dortmund team-mate Mats Hummels, generally less injury prone, continues to battle an ongoing knee issue. Hummels is yet to start a game in 2021/22 after playing through the discomfort for his country over the summer.
Reus has had no such issues. He ended last season brilliantly and has started the new one in the same vein; even if Haaland’s exploits tend to overshadow those of his captain. All eyes were on Haaland again as Dortmund beat Frankfurt 5-2 in the Bundesliga opener. Why wouldn’t they be? The Norwegian was involved in all five goals. But Reus had a hand in four. Haaland had scored a hat-trick the previous weekend, against Wehen Wiesbaden, with Reus involved in all three.
Now Germany are also seeing the benefit of a summer without the attacking midfielder.
Like at club level, the focus has turned to younger stars, with the likes of Jamal Musiala, Karim Adeyemi, and Florian Wirtz all already taking on roles under Flick. But Reus has the experience to help guide them and the new national team boss knows it.
“Marco Reus is one of the best players in the final third for me, with the way he can open up spaces. That's why I see him as one of the best players in his position,” Hansi Flick told reporters as he gave his first press conference as Germany boss. It’s a role Reus is eager to take up.
"I'm one of the oldest and the captain of a club team,” he told reporters after arriving for international duty. “I want to take on responsibility and play an important role here too.
“We're now in the middle of a new start. I hope that we have a successful future. We want to get started well now and bring a breath of fresh air into it.”
The Dortmund captain hadn’t appeared for Germany since October 2019 until this latest international break. And he was brilliant in his solitary start against Armenia, scoring and assisting in a 6-0 win.
It’s not much of a sample size but it was the first hint that Reus could, finally, bring his club form for his country. The 32-year-old’s two greatest talents are arguably his ability to steal possession and his superb decision making on the break, fitting perfectly into Flick’s vision for Germany as an intense, hard-working, transition-heavy side. Reus will have to compete with Thomas Müller for a place but he has everything Flick wants in the role behind the striker and, like at club level, a supporting cast full of talented young players who are perfect for combining with him and for doing some of the extra running that Reus may need to preserve his legs.
It really is now or never for Reus but he looks ready to make the most of whatever time he has left at the very top. The fate of his club, and possibly his country, depends on how well he can manage his body and steer clear of any further injury setbacks.
Marco Reus is a player I adore my favourite Dortmund player. Enjoyed reading this article hope he can make the most of the time he has. Also liked how this points to his maturity in handling adversity and not to feel sorry and say if only for the injuries. Fingers crossed both Marco and Dortmund can achieve something special over the next few years.