More like someone who grew up in a country where proper technique was taught at early ages, and demanded at every age afterwards.
No, Gooch was a very different player. Much more a pure strength and height based defender. Although his skills showed improvement just before his injury, he never had the smoothness of Brooks.
Gooch never had the touch JAB has. Gooch was commanding in his box, very good getting forward on set pieces. Intimidating as heck, but never as smooth nor close to the attacking vision JAB has. Despite their similar size and position, they have fairly different skill sets.
No, not even close. Gooch was much better in the air and a tad stronger but JAB is far more agile and technical.
Gotta say, while that was a simple goal (a great run and pass, but then a simple goal), there were a lot of ways it could have been screwed up. Good play by both players - one to do a lot (to get the pass off) and one (JAB) to not try to do too much. Great call on his part to let the ball cross his body and play it in with his left foot- much easier angle off the surface of his foot and into the net.
It looked like he was some guy in the stands that ran out at the right time and scored the goal. The Frankfurt defense just couldn't have bothered to defend. Awful, the coach must be pulling his hair out.
I thought the same thing, I watched the highlights last night and was wondering how the hell he was so wide open with Eintracht defending a 1-0 lead.
Defenders typically aren’t prepared for the opposing center backs deep run into their box so it can really flummox them.
From the replays, he was at that moment playing as a 9, and started his run from a perrrrty typical 9 position (midfield). Not sure why they couldn't account for him.
Not saying they shouldn't have done a better job, but marking an opposing CB in the run of play can really cause confusion. Of course, it is a high risk attack strategy because you are likely to get burned on the counter if the defense wins the ball. That's why it usually only happens in goal desperate situations.
With 3 goals and 2 assists Brooks may be the central defender with best stats in the BuLi right now. They're better than Bobby Wood's (3/1), Pulisic's (2/3), Sargent's (2/0), McKennie's (1/4), Morales's (1/1), Fabian Johnson's (1/0), Wright's (1/0), Tyler Adams's (0/2), making JAB our top Yank in the Bundesliga when counting goals and assists, at this point. On the other hand, Brooks has been responsible for five goals conceded, if my memory serves me right, which tempers my enthusiasm. Also, of note, all the Yanks in the Bundesliga have a combined 14 goals, 13 assists. Sancho alone has 11 goals and 13 assists.
So, you're saying that it's perfectly fine for us to say that Brooks is among the best defenders in the Bundesliga?
Depends on ideology. If you think a defender who scores and assists even though he commits defensive blunders is good, then yes, why not. I still prefer defenders who are solid at defending, even if they never score. But I'm old-fashioned.
I think Brooks ratings are pretty much right in the middle of the pack via Kicker and Whoscored, fwiw. Wolfs GA are 8 or 9 - so pretty much as average as you get. My casual watching has him about average for B1 defending as a CB and bit above average going forward for a B1 CD.
eh....i think you undersell him. 1. he's the highest scoring american in the bundesliga. 3g/3a damn good for a cb. 2. no team above them in the table has scored less goals than wolfsburg - they are as high as they can be considering the lack of goals they score compared to top teams....and brooks is more than making up for that with his contributions to the offense. 3. only 6 teams have given up less goals than wolfsburg - all above them in the table as well. to me they are punching a bit above their weight as a club and brooks has a lot to do with it. (that said, yes he does have some games where he isnt at his top form...but not that often)
It's actually 3g/2a, which is very good for a CB in the Bundesliga, and even good for a Yank there, in any position. By comparison, Fabian Johnson had 6/4 in his best season (15/16), playing mostly wing and sometimes fullback.
I remember there was a season where Boca scored 5 league goals for Fulham. Even more striking he was their 2nd highest scorer that season. Who was the highest scorer? Some dude they named their bar after.
Being an "average" starting Bund defender and "a bit above average going forward" for a starting Bund defender is a pretty good level. Is he maybe a bit above average for starting CDs? Sure, depending on how you rate them. Is he in the top 25%? I think that's probably a stretch. But being in the middle of the pack among starters in one of the best leagues in the world - that's a pretty good level in my book
With a win today Wolfsburg are officially in a fight for European football next season. They've done a great job turning things around and Brooks has played a positive role in that.
Wolfsburg has just about the easiest run-in you could ask for as well. Nuremberg home Stuttgart away Augsburg home Everyone else around them is going to drop points, so if they can win all 3 of those extremely winnable games, they're definitely bound for the Europa League. There's an outside shot at Champions League, but Frankfurt will either win just enough to get there, or one of Leverkusen or Gladbach will slip into 4th at the end.