Add another to the Hertha brigade. I found this guy while looking into Castaneda. Brooks is a '93 (making him eligible for the next two U-20s) and on Hertha's U-17 squad. He's a dual citizen, but one of his idols is Gooch, so that's good. http://hertha.de/index.php?id=20103 He's a defender and has played in all 13 U-17 matches this season, and has scored 2 goals.
I have had this guy on my watchlist for a while now -- glad to see Hertha updated their site on the sly, so someone else could get the scoop. Nice work and thanks.
Kind of reminded me of my inquiries about Kevin Bauer at SSV Jahn Regensburg..............had him on the watchlist for months until we finally got confirmation from our German Friends that he was a yank.
He gets a U20 callup: http://www.ussoccer.com/News/U-20-MNT/2010/08/U20-MNT-Set-for-Three-International-Games-in-Peru.aspx
Called up (again) to the U-20s: http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2011/05/09/gil-among-youth-driven-squad-called-us-u-20s
I know I have said it over in the YNT forum but this kid is talented any under the radar of most fans. Even the ones who troll in the YNT forum.
A very close personal friend of mine had an opportunity to watch some U-23 matches while living in Berlin. He said that Brooks looked like a very, very early version of Jerome Boateng. He has very good feet and can play on the left if needed. He's probably always going to be the faster of the central defenders but will likely not be the strongest.
You can see him score a goal at minute 2:10 in this video: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOFcYHaNhPc"]YouTube - 6. September 2009: U17 SV Werder Bremen - Hertha BSC Berlin 4:4 (Bundesliga Nord/Nordost)[/ame]
Well, if soccer doesn't work out, he can always join the cast of Jersey Shore (As an aside, I feel completely dirty knowing he looked like The Situation. I don't watch Jersey Shore and don't think I've ever seen The Situation on TV. Yet I saw JAB's photo and that's immediately what I thought of. How does that happen?) Well, that explains why Rongen didn't have him in qualifying. Rongen much prefers smaller CBs like Ofori Sarkodie and Bloggin' Jules Valentin to backs with size.
I was just reading that Jann George thread and thinking, "Hey, if BShredder could just find us a German center back, we'd be in great shape." And voia.
Sounds like Hertha might be worried about getting raided for Brooks and getting nothing in return (as it happened when Man Utd poached Rossi and Piqué, for example), so they decided to lock him into a contract. They must value him pretty highly. And it also makes me wonder if some bigger teams haven't already been sniffing around.
From everyone I've talked to, all rate him very highly. I have him on my predicted US 2014 WC team. Getting him to play for the US is an absolute steal in the form of grand larceny
Makes it even worse that we didn't qualify for the U20 WC. Are the Olympics considered a cap tying tournament? I think thats the next opportunity in terms of cap tying to the USA. Unless he's already cap tied to the USA I don't know, so many to keep track of
I thought getting Chandler was a complete steal. Now Brooks and Fabian Hurzeler. bshredder you comments about Brooks are very encouraging and I know he's been on the scene for a while but the recent "hype" is a bit unexpected. Anyhow, Germany must be absolutely loaded to loose these guys and not blink an eye. I can't wait to see how Brooks compares to young CB' like Gale and Kitchen.
It shouldn't be unexpected. Rongen tried to bring him in for just about every camp since last summer but it was Hertha that denied his release every single time. I like Brooks more than Gale or Kitchen Like the U20 WC, the Olympics (and Olympic qualifying) preliminarily cap tie a player. A player could still use a one-time switch. As long as US Soccer is interested in Brooks, he'll stay. And I don't think that's going to be a problem. Brooks just needs to get physically stronger but the tools are there.
As far as I can tell, the German fed is open for a competition for a player in case he takes part in youth camps for two countries (usually Turkey and Germany), "we want them to have the chance to look at both opportunities, and then decide what's best for them"; but I don't think they'd try to lure away a player who never had been in the picture of the DFB youth coaches, and breaks through for another country. The German soccer community won't like it anyway. The public opinion is rather "we want these dual nationals to play for Germany - if they really want to. If they just want to play for a different country - fine, it's their choice. Playing for Germany up to U19 or U21, and then change the flag - extremely bad style, parasitic behavior. Playing for a different country earlier, to become interesting for Germany later? No, that's not our style. We're Germany, we have other options, and don't have to behave like that."
. Now before you get off of that high horse, don't forget how the German fed tried to lure Subotic...