LOL.... Even if this we're true, Barca needs defenders more.... They lost out on David Luiz.... Pique is questionable. Puyol is gone. Song and Mascherano are terrible. Madrid will be ok.
I'd love to hear from people who watch him play regularly with his club about what his cieling could be. I've only seen him play with his club 5-10 times (seen all his US games). Obviously the Bayern contract offer and EPL interest are pretty good indicators, but I've heard that he's not always consistent. That could just be because he's young though. From a US fan perspective though, I really like what I see. Not even just the goal, but he has flashes of dominance as a CB when he has everything clicking. There are still some boneheaded plays mixed in there, but I'm hoping that those will fade away as he matures.
No disagreement here. I posted pretty much the same thing a few weeks back. JAB has lacked focus and intensity at times, but his upside is too high to leave him off the roster given the quality of the competition. It was a calculated risk but the right one in this case. You need difference makers at this level and Goodson was never going to be able to match his length and quickness.
The goal was that much sweeter knowing I'd been following him since he was a teenager at Hertha Berlin thanks to DMN.
He very well may.... Besler going down was a blessing in disguise... His name is buzzing among Stoke, West Ham, Villa and Everton boards. I'm sure if he got an extended look and did well against Portugal and Germany, the big club will come running. I'm not sure it's gonna happen now. Besler's injury don't look to be as serious as Jozy. He'll be back against Portugal.
Monchengladbach is a pretty nice name for Fabian who will probably get good PT there. But yeah Brooks is probably a good bet. I've always been a fan of JAB, and there will be many ups and downs however I think we can be excited about what we've seen from him when he's in form and healthy.
No might for me. That was my favorite reaction I've ever seen for a player scoring a goal. It was such a powerful moment when he realized the magnitude of what he had done.
Good post. It's not a hard decision, and I don't know why anyone would think that Clarence Goodson should have been on the team instead of JAB. Brooks is not Julian Green. He's been a professional for a few years now, and has played numerous games for his club team. While he does have some problems with his decision making and he makes some mental errors, he's a much better player than Goodson. He can dominate games in a way that Goodson can not. You take the guy who can dominate games like that, and you coach him up.
His ceiling is the best American CB ever, and one of the five or ten best CB's in the world. He's not anywhere near being there yet. He still has trouble with consistency, decision making and he still makes some stupid errors. He has all the tools to be a World Class CB though. Name the tool, and he has it. What he needs is time to become more experienced and consistent. The dominant games are there from JAB though, and thats very good to see.
Yes. Will he get to that point? I don't know, but he has the potential. He's already a good player right now. He was the Bundesliga player of the week at the age of 21. Thats very impressive.
Decision making and to a lesser extent experience. He's not Julian Green in terms of experience. He's been a starter with Hertha Berlin for two years now.
consistency and some improvement with positioning. He also isn't as dominate in the air as someone with his size and athleticism should be. BUT he does indeed have a ceiling that's higher than any US player, CB or otherwise, thus far. It will be interesting to see how much he improves his consistency and tactical nuance over the next few years. That will tell the tale for Brooks. The difference between he being an upper mid table CB/good international and a Champions League CB/world class international.
Univision calls him "The Rookie" http://futbol.univision.com/video/4...1e&ftloc=collection16214:wcmWidgetUimHulkMini
Once you see Brook's potential you start to realize why Klinsmann was so keen on him; and why he didn't dismiss Brooks when he had a few bad trials in friendlies. Brook's could potentially be the US's goto CB for the next twelve years. But Brook still needs to mature a bit. He needs to find a bit of consistency. The good thing is he's only 21 and playing good minutes in a top league.
I'm glad Jurgen took my advice and decided to cap-tie Brooks...my paranoia has abated. For now. Paging Shawn Parker....
I loved one of the reactions on Hertha's facebook... "Broooooooooooks! Du geile Sau!" Which roughly translates to, "Broooooooks! You slut!"
"geile Sau" seriously translates to "slut"? All of my German friends have been calling me a slut all these yeaaarssssss!? I always took it to mean "You BAMF!"
Michael Preetz, Hertha's Sporting Director: Michael Preetz @michaelpreetz · 6h Er ist ein Berliner, köpft #USA zum 1. Sieg beim @FIFAWorldCup ! Was für ein Debüt. @HerthaBSC freut sich mit @j_brooks25 – Klasse, John! "What a debut" "class"