Yes, he's 21 and younger the year the actual qualifying starts. UEFA U21 age cut off is done differently than other youth tournaments. Germans on this board, where would Brooks rate among your 2015 U21 CB players?
Yup, my bad. There goes my theory - but I still think it applies in every other case (Chandler, Johnson, Jones, Morales and Yelldell all have relationships with their fathers I'm guessing.) Brooks appears to have one as well.
I would rate him among the top 3 this cycle, and call him up now; so he'd be among the top CBs in fall of course. It might be different in two years, when/if other very young players break through.
Is it too early to start arguing over who was the bigger turncoat - Subotic or Brooks (if it happens)? I guess it would still have to be Subotic, who got his start thanks to the IMG Academy in Florida. Subotic also had 12 caps for US youth teams, as opposed to Brooks who only has 4 thus far.
This really isn't the appropriate thread for determining levels of "turncoatness" for a national team, but I'll say this. There would be zero "turncoatness" involved if Brooks elected to play for his native German side instead of the US. Subotic was really more American than Serbian, and he was a product of the US national team system. The investment made in him was not reciprocated.
Yes, it's really not. I'd like to reiterate my earlier request. Would y'all like me to move this sidebar to US Men or something? I'd be happy to.
His international future. I see him continuing to accept Germany call ups even as a backup CB on Germany's U-21's. Have to hope for another Fabian Johnson type situation.