71515_isi_reamtim_usmntjd07081516 John Dorton/isiphotos.com
Player Spotlight

Tim Ream Got His Second Chance. He Plans to Use It

A few years back the 27-year-old defender suffered through a few poor performances with the U.S. national team, and Ream didn't know if he would get another shot. Well, he got another shot. And he's ready.
BY Brooke Tunstall Posted
July 16, 2015
9:00 PM

TIM REAM KNOWS second chances like this don’t come around very often and he plans to make the most of it. 

Once a promising up-and-comer on the United States national team, Ream saw his path to international glory begin to fade.

But instead of panicking or pouting, the St. Louis native rolled up his sleeves and put together a series of strong seasons for Bolton Wanderers that earned him another chance with the national team. And because of a suspension to John Brooks, Ream is now the likely starter for U.S. in Saturday’s Gold Cup quarterfinal match (5pm ET, FoxSports1) against Cuba in Baltimore. 

“I’m excited. Really looking forward to it,” Ream said Monday night. “We have a deep team and when one guy goes down or can’t play, it’s the other person’s job to step up. Now it’s my turn to be the one to step up.”

U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann prefers specific sides of the field for his center backs. On the U.S. Gold Cup roster, Omar Gonzalez and Ventura Alvarado have been the right center backs while Brooks and Ream are assigned to the left. 

So it wasn’t hard to figure out who was starting Saturday night in Brooks’ place.

“No, (Klinsmann) didn’t say anything to me (Monday night) but our roles are pretty clear and John can’t go” said Ream. 

While Brooks started the first and third group stage games, Ream started the middle, a 1-0 win against Haiti.  Klinsmann, who used all 20 of his field players in the group stage, said using so many players was by design, in part so they’d be ready if they were called upon unexpectedly in the knockout rounds.

“I think that was the good thing about rotating the group in three games is we wanted to get everyone into the tournament minutes, so we can count on them going forward,” Klinsmann said after the Panama game. “So when you have that situation of two yellows, you know (a player) suspended for the next game, you’ve played Omar already, you’ve played Tim Ream already.  They’re ready to jump in so it’s not really a big deal.

"So that’s the advantage of our group phase since we used everybody in the tournament and we don’t have a drop when we go the bench.

“We were lucky in that way that we rotated, because everybody has been on board now, and now going forward we believe in everyone that starts a game.”

Klinsmann didn’t always feel this confident about Ream. After a strong rookie season for the New York Red Bulls in 2010, the Saint Louis University product debuted for the U.S. under then-head coach Bob Bradley in a friendly in South Africa. 

The next year, he became a Bradley favorite and was part of the Gold Cup team, starting five games. But against Panama in the group stage, he had a poor showing as the U.S. lost 2-1—the only time the U.S. has ever lost a group stage match in the Gold Cup and its only loss in the Gold Cup to a CONCACAF team besides Mexico.

Bradley benched Ream for the rest of the tournament then was fired after the U.S. lost to Mexico in the final. Ream wasn’t used in the first four U.S. games under Klinsmann but entered in the 72nd minute for Carlos Bocanegra in a match against Ecuador in October with the U.S. nursing a 1-0 lead. In that game, Ream made another mistake that led to the tying goal. He wouldn’t play for the U.S. again until last year. 

“It was humbling,” Ream said. “But you learn from the mistakes and decide to get better.”

What Ream decided to do was leave his comfort zone in MLS. With the Red Bulls, he was a lock starter, a clean, cerebral player who rarely fouled and relied on anticipation more than athleticism. But at the national team level, Ream seemed to struggle with bigger and faster players so he went someplace where he’d consistently get tested by rugged play: England.

In January of 2012 he joined Bolton, then in the Premier League, and made 13 league appearances after debuting in an FA Cup win over Milwall. But Bolton were relegated at the end of the season and suddenly Ream, a player known more for finesse than physicality, was playing in the English Championship, one of the more rough-and-tumble flights of soccer on the planet.

Ream played sparingly his second season but became a regular starter his third year, showing versatility in addition to a newfound ability to handle the physical play. Switching between positions across the backline and occasionally in midfield, Ream played in more than 90 games, most of them starts, the past two seasons.

Ream wasn’t just playing, but playing well. The past two seasons he’s been named Wanderers’ player of the year. That piqued Klinsmann’s curiosity and when he began the new World Cup cycle last September, Ream was part of the roster, making a reserve appearance against Slovakia.

“Being in that environment, it just makes you better,” Ream said. “The game is faster, it’s definitely more physical, and you’re dealing with all the pressures that come from things like being in a relegation battle.

"It just toughens you up.”

He made five more reserve appearances before starting alongside Gonzalez in the Gold Cup win over Haiti last week—his first start since his ill-fated appearance against Panama four years earlier. He admits he thought this second chance may never have come. 

“Yeah, it goes through your mind when the rosters keep coming out and you’re not on them,” he said. “But I was definitely thinking about it and I wanted another chance but I couldn’t worry about whether I’d get one because that’s not something I could control. All I could do was focus on getting better, and thankfully it got me back here and I’m very excited about it.”

Ironically, it was Brooks’ card against Panama that led to this chance to start against Cuba. But Ream isn’t one for irony.

“It’s just another team, it doesn’t matter who it is,” he said. “He’s out, for whatever reason, and now it’s my turn to step up.”

Brooke Tunstall is an American Soccer Now contributing editor and ASN 100 panelist. Follow him on Twitter. 

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