That's not what anyone has said, though. No one has said he's faultless and hasn't made mistakes. People have rightly pointed out how stupid your Goals Against post was. Brooks has far more good games for the US than bad ones. Please point me to the ~19+ bad games that he's had.
I know you like to insult Americans playing abroad and especially dual nationals, but on what basis are you judging Brooks intelligence. I would think you would significant knowledge to determine he is dumb.
This one was short enough to read.... and it is an absolute joke of an example to disprove something nobody is arguing. You apparently dont have much knowledge about Zelalems career, so you are a bit over you skis here. Zelalem is a very talented soccer player but was always going to have challenges playing with men. I dont think MLS and specifically SKC were a good fit for him. The same way he wasnt in sync with u20s 4 years ago, he wasnt on the same page as his SKC teammates, but to a much bigger degree. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. As for the last time he was in a US shirt, I am guessing most fans of US youth teams would know it was the first game of the u20 WC two years ago. His injury put him out for over a year and hasnt really played since then.
You're missing my point that the brand name proved wildly inaccurate as a reflection of quality on him. He can't even start regularly in the USL right now. The rest of this is noise. I could similarly throw out there a provocative name of "Adu" who was approached by ManU and played for Monaco and Benfica and by last year was being released off a USL team. "Living off rep." And that's precisely what I think the club name thing can become. It's a poor proxy that assumes you belong there and accords being there too much power, and knocks people who if it meant anything and had complete freedom might be there with them. Proxy and not a good one. I have made my point that it's really UEFACL starter that is the distinction -- and I think if we looked at the Friedels of the world that would prove sound. I would gladly grant the EPL keeper of the year is on their own planet from a MLS reserve. But in between can get more complicated and the mere name listed on their club affiliation does not tell you what the answer is.
I showed you tape.of 7-8 games. This is someone we only call in a few games a year -- 36 caps in 6 years, 3 games last season (2 of which sucked), 1 game this year so far. There is not endless tape because he is not in for every friendly. If you even looked at the games I put out there, it was a qualifier, two Gold Cup knockouts, two Copa America games, the regional 2015 playoff, key friendlies last season when we got our heads kicked in. If you look at the results achieved, 4th in GC, 4th in CA, lost the playoff, missed Russia, lost those friendlies badly. I am at a loss how this does not prompt reconsideration. It's not like we won anyway and I am nitpicking. I am trying to explain why we lost. Once you screw up that much I want to see what else is out there. I am concerned USSF has become this fanboy thing where we put mediocre players on pedestals. Where I come from you earned that pedestal by going far in world cups and doing stuff. You know, Dempsey, Donovan, Beasley, Friedel. Treating demonstrably shaky players as the equivalent roster lock of them is a depressing level of settling. This is really not a complicated argument nor should it really be controversial. You have a guy who, while in a decent league, and capable of some good nights, blows up about every 3rd or 4th night, and not necessarily a little. In the case of CR, he gave up 3 of the 4 goals all by himself, in a qualifier. We often lose the away ones against the good teams. But if someone folds like a cheap suit in the process, that should be raising a massive red flag. I can get "who else," though I feel like that is often a foot dragging defense where one is scared of change. I cannot get acting like I am imagining things. In prior eras of this team, that sort of play made you disappear. Our coach Berhalter disappeared to the bench for Germany 2006 (pretty much the end for him) after a friendly blowout by Germany where we were exposed for foot speed in the back. Whether it's him, Yedlin, or Robinson, an implosion against a certain type of team we aspire to beat is a big red flag that this particular player is not part of the puzzle that is going to make you competitive in those contests we would like to win. Sometimes we are just in a down ebb and don't have those players. But I think it's settling for a place in the pecking order to not hold players accountable and stop looking. You do that and keep bringing back the Gonzos and Bradleys of the world like nothing happened, and, yeah, the team will continue to slot right where it is, and behind where we want to be. And I know the current vogue is to act like this is simply where we slot into the world, as though 2009 didn't happen, or 2002. As though this didn't use to be the best team in the region, whatever you think of MLS. As though this team has not been more competitive than it now is. We may be more technical than ever, but this is not the best keeping, defense, organization, tactics I have seen. It is a very narrow definition of better that excuses a lot of crap in a lot of parts of the field. And that for a team focused on passing is not the prettiest thing I have seen nor particularly gifted that way.
Your point is nonsense. You call people snobs and then draw simplistic conclusions that arent warranted. You dont acknoledge the low quality of the players behind the guys you discard. Making any conclusion about a 22 yo who blew out his knee at 20 is just stupid. Nobody is claiming that youth players were gauranteed of anything. Zelelam hadnt made the jump prior to his injury and is now trying to salvage his career. I'd say Adu was over hyped, but MLS also did its part to not correct flaws and approach to his game. No clue what you are saying about Freidel.
Do you realize that's there a huge difference between being a multi-year starter for a major league team and simply being in their reserves or occasional deep bench? Zelalem, Adu, Kirovski, Kenny Cooper never were core players for their team. This argument is reasonably applied for current players such as Weah, Sargent, Soto, Wright but not for Brooks and Yedlin.
You can be a core player in a good team in a top league and still be a donkey. Humans are not logical. It's enough that the coach or the club's owner likes you for whatever reason, maybe you remind them of their dead son or something like that. Bobby Wood got a juicy contract with HSV because the club's wealthy sponsor wanted him in the team. Yedlin was never that good, finally someone figured that out. And it's only a matter of time until it happens with Brooks.
Does this guy sit around on an MLB board, saying AAA players are superior to MLB because he saw 8 games from an MLB player where he went 0-4? How can anyone compare Zelalem/Adu to Brooks? To put it simply - everything is about money. People are paid millions and millions of dollars to identify the best players. The best leagues are in Europe. Germany is a top league. People smarter than us have selected Brooks as a starter for a decent/good German team for years. If MLS guys were better, the richer teams in Europe would purchase these guys, pay them far less, and get similar production for much less money. Why don't they?
In the meantime, he'll go from WC player, to the most valuable Hertha player, to a more established club in Wolfsburg. And likely will stick around that level, dropping down to low-level Bundesliga status (aka higher than the vast majority of his MLS colleagues will EVER reach) when he starts getting old.
I think at least part of this is I don't watch much UEFACL as the repetition of the rich teams participating bores me to sleep. OK, Barca vs Tottenham again this year, whoop de do. What I do religiously watch are my Dynamo, Dortmund, and the US. Since I am not putting European teams on a pedestal by building my viewing around them, I watch the players we are speaking of when they cross paths with the teams I watch. In that context, long term, though Brooks shows some flashes for the US, too many bad games, and I don't have a bunch of tangential Wolfsburg iin my head to clutter the relevant bit up. And then when I do watch B.1 it's Dortmund vs Wolfsburg, and I see him victimized both games, and any pretense of him being the big club stalwart seems amusing. To the contrary,from an actual big club standpoint, I look at him as victimizable fresh meat that has handed my team 2 wins. I cannot even see where the counter-concept comes from, or at minimum I question its value against a good team like the US' opposition or Dortmund. It's kind of like how Lundkvist or delaGarza occasionally have a decent night wide for my Dynamo, when I know some team like LAG will light them up. I would never fool myself that a good game against a bad team makes them a good player in a big game. That's a fresh angle at this, me deploying some Dortmund-centric actual big club snobbery to knock your half baked center back from a midtable team. That is what actual big club snobbery looks like. Thanks for the 2 wins he gave us. But beyond that, I have grown bored, it's going in circles and I am probably annoying others as much as me in sticking to my principled guns. For both of our good I am done going on about Brooks as of this post. I will feel free to re-visit this this summer when he inevtably is given incumbency rights only to trip over himself in yet another big regional game. I don't get why Yedlin and Robinson have a warning label Brooks doesn't.
Half these threads have people complaining that there is too much "GB might have an MLS bias" argument, and no more REASONABLE discussion. The other half have those same people complaining Brooks stinks, and shouldn't be a starter on the team when in form. Truly wild stuff here.
He's above MLS level, definitely. And I think he may be our best defender, at least in the physical aspect, and he should start with someone who's a lot smarter, positionally, than him. But if Wolfsburg wants to make a run in the Europa, they need to upgrade him. Time and again he's right in the middle of two attacking rivals, in a position where he covers neither and cannot even intercept the pass. Watch the goals Wolfsburg concedes and in the majority JAB is in the no-man's land, marking no one. He's there because he has some great attributes, like aerial defending, speed going forward, good ball control, good passing from the back, and excellent composure when he gets the chance to score. But as a defender he lacks, seriously.
Is anyone saying he should not be a starter? That sounds like a straw man to me. JAB is the best CB we have, right now, which in itself is very worrisome. He's a dunce who has not learned a iota about positional play, and can be a serious liability when facing teams that keep the ball on the ground and make quick combos in attack. Lucky for him, the Bundesliga has a lot of aerial play, where his size, jump and speed help a lot. And they use him as the final straw in attack, the last 15 minutes when everybody is too tired to keep up with him. I always write Brooks as a starter, but for crying out loud we need someone a lot more intelligent to pair up with him when dealing with teams that have dribbling, fast short-passing, smart forwards and AMs.
Obviously not you, but pretty sure juve has said that (at least that Long is far superior). If not, then I'd hate to see his complaints about some of our lesser players. Sure, Brooks isn't a top 10 in the world CB. But, like you, I agree he's in the starting lineup as long as he's playing regularly in B1.
JuveChelsea - this is a reasonable take from someone who clearly sees JB's downside. From the USMNT perspective, it seems far more important to see how to build around JB (who has some elite strengths and obvious weaknesses) than around Will Trapp/Michael Bradley. Recognizing that JB is most susceptible when (1) defending against shifty dribblers and (2) in transition on crosses (he's much better at this when the defense is more organized). On the first point, make sure there's a ball winner in front of him as DM as well as having another CB next to him who's good at that. Secondly, don't give too much space on the wings in transition that will allow uncontested crosses into the middle.
he says it all the time and vehemently. He wants to supplant JB with Zimmerman (assuming that long is the other starter).
I must admit if I read everything Juve types I'd have no time left to watch any soccer. The guy makes good points at times, from what I see. It's refreshing when there are at least some people who don't base their evaluation only on the league and club where the guy plays and/or his transfer value.
Sometimes a club is happy with a player they know has faults because they can cover up for the fault or he happens to complement another player. That's why it is always risky to pick an "All-Star" team based on where players play which is what most of the people on BS do. We can usually deal with a person's good qualities, but what will you do with his bad qualities? We don't necessarily have the same resources/answer as his club. I would try him in 3 cb line in different combinations but we need real wb's for that. Maybe Lovitz will come good. Yeldin isn't the answer. I don't see it yet, tbph.
you have watched Brooks for 180 minutes out of the 2880 minutes he has played this season? good to see you have done your homework to draw such big conclusions. Prioritizing Houston over the CL? you must have an affinity for quality soccer.
I see 3 issues. 1: who are the backup keepers, since Steffen hoovers all the minutes. Horvath has had consistency issues, and then after that we have not even tried to sort out if the likely 3rd keeper is one of the pipeline frustrations or someone new like Frei, Gonzalez, or Miller. You just had Steffen sit a pair so it's not just an abstract concern. 2: suboptimal attacking selections. I think we have plenty of attacking talent, even without a true 10, but we don't necessarily select and play it. 3: spine. For some reason the decision seems to be Adams wide and not as 6, and Trapp and CurrentBradley are soft. And then the backs we seem to be deciding in favor of a passing type over a marking type, which I think is the sort of thing that will be punished with money on the table. Basically was punished last cycle with 17 GF and a positive GD but so many GA and losses we couldn't qualify. And then the last (coaching/fan) issue (4) is we seem to have become club snobs running hereditary pecking orders where the next man up, who may be chosen for club affiliation, gains title upon your demise from international soccer, as opposed to a performance based team. To give an example, Steffen over Guzan is the exception and not the rule. Pulisic as the other but he walked into a vacuum. Elsewhere on the field Bradley punts Adams wide, Zardes makes Sargent and Weah watch, and the backline bit I have argued ad boredom. To take it wide instead, how is Yedlin still playing. Well, because upon the demise of Boca, Dolo, Jones, Dempsey, these Old Guard were annointed by the Queen with her sword and by royal decree it will only be the rookies' real chance when they are broken or retired, performance be damned. This didn't use to be a team where merely being deemed next in line, healthy, and available when your predecessor quit or broke won you a 5-10 year title on your position. This used to be handled like starting keeper where if you had a Robles Night you went away for years of shame, and if some kid was better than the prime age vet then we moved on. And to me that connects up with club snobbery or playing time games in the sense we seem more concerned with abstractions than what the tape actually looks like.
You are bored by watching the most talented club teams in the world play competitively against each other. Alrighty then. High quality, fast paced, technically and tactically excellent soccer gets old and boring to you. Fascinating.
2019 A Germany Borussia Dortmund Spain Atlético Madrid B Spain Barcelona England Tottenham Hotspur C France Paris Saint-Germain England Liverpool D Portugal Porto Germany Schalke 04 E Germany Bayern Munich Netherlands Ajax F England Manchester City France Lyon G Spain Real Madrid Italy Roma H Italy Juventus England Manchester United 2018 A England Manchester United *** Switzerland Basel B France Paris Saint-Germain *** Germany Bayern Munich *** C Italy Roma *** England Chelsea D Spain Barcelona *** Italy Juventus *** E England Liverpool *** Spain Sevilla F England Manchester City *** Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk G Turkey Beşiktaş Portugal Porto *** H England Tottenham Hotspur *** Spain Real Madrid *** Using the knockout fields from 2018 to 2019, 11 of the 16 knockout round teams were the same as the year before. (***) 2017 A England Arsenal France Paris Saint-Germain *** B Italy Napoli Portugal Benfica C Spain Barcelona *** England Manchester City *** D Spain Atlético Madrid ^^^ Germany Bayern Munich *** E France Monaco Germany Bayer Leverkusen F Germany Borussia Dortmund ^^^ Spain Real Madrid *** G England Leicester City Portugal Porto *** H Italy Juventus *** Spain Sevilla ^^^ Going back to 2017, 6 of the teams would then be in 3 straight knockout stages (***), and a further 3 teams would be in their second knockout round in 3 years (^^^). The pretense is this is where I can see the stars. Nope, I can see them play league. I can see them play international. This is a reshuffle of the same deck over and over year after year. I watched CL for years. I would like to watch some teams and players I have not seen 20 times already. So, for example, let's watch B.1 this season instead of EPL like I always have. That is not, let me ignore good players, that is, let me watch something new. And on this argument we start to see a little bit of the anti-JC unprincipled gamesmanship coming out, because I earlier argued one could distinguish teams' playersat a high level in this tournament from the usual suspects. That if you want to kiss the blarney stone of big clubbery in terms of equating teams to players this is where it actually is. That if your guy is in, say, the quarters of this tournament, yeah, that might be a stamp of approval. I got crap for comparatively calling a midtable first division team merely midtable and not that special relative to the elites of other leagues. Now I get crap for giving this its due but saying it's a bit repetitive of a field because there are a short list of teams that spend the money to be back every year (which affords you the star players year on year, but also makes the tournament composition feel the same every season). OK, is there any consistency to any of this is or is it just troll Juve? I'm thinking watch MX or Serie A or Ligue 1 or whatever next season. Something that doesn't feel like a reshuffle of the same few over and over. I watched CL a bunch of years and at a certain point as a spectator event it blurs together. I also feel like CL and big club snobbery runs into a sort of overdog lamery akin to being a Patriots fan the year they win, Eagles that year, etc. Any idiot can root for the obvious. Any idiot can assume every player on the elite teams must be better than any other team (but it's really a marginal thing, quality of the leading edge, quality depth on the bench, incremental distinctions that truly apply to x% of the players that make that team better). I do tune into the final or when a team I am following is involved. I can appreciate what I see. [And this is not even getting into how many of these teams actually use the tournament in terms of rosters, which can be like USOC. Tune in for a late group stage game and you may be watching the reserves, not the stars. They do come back for knockout play, but it is not a constant star show.]
You'd probably have a bit more success in sounding like you think JAB is "the best CB we have" if you didn't spend all your time sh*tting on him. Even here, you have half a sentence of positive, then a laundry list of insults/negatives, rounded out with some backhanded compliments.
I have no problem with Suyuntuy pointing out all of JB’s flaws as long as he compares the rest of the pool to the same high standards. Quite frankly, it’s better to view his withering commentary as a compliment - if he says nothing about a player, he’s too shitty to even warrant benchmarking against the UCL level talents that apparently is his baseline.