I don't understand all the screaming about Brooks being left off. I would like to see him called in, I think he has someting to offer. But it's clear that Zim and Robinson were the clear starters and CCV, Long, Richards, EPB, Brooks, and others were competing for the other 2 spots. Guys will be left out. That is just a fact. And it's a good fact. Why are guys dying on the Brooks hill? I personally like him, like his story, etc. But he can't seem to play the way his coach wants while others can.
I think for many it's just a chance to be anti Berhalter. Speaking of which here's what Berhalter said with Herc and Seb Gregg Berhalter’s full comments on the situation with John Brooks 🗣 @herculezg (via Futbol Americas on ESPN+) pic.twitter.com/wEoQboPh5C— USMNT Only (@usmntonly) July 20, 2022
Just a few stories that have come out in the past, but I’m not interested in proving anything to random people on the internet. This is where I come to kill time when I’m being lazy.
Yeah there's a long history of him frustrating coaches. Again the most famous being when he had to miss matches with Hertha Berlin due to getting a tattoo... while they were in a relegation battle. Is Brooks a bad guy or cancer? Dunno if I'd go that far. Do I believe there are chemistry issues with the US roster? Absolutely. But that is also a case IMO of people just clashing. You see it all the time how someone is a great teammate one place and hated at another place. Do I think Brooks is a pain for coaches? Yes there's a track record. Do I think Brooks lacks leadership qualities? Yes. Does that make him a bad player? No
Brooks has had a wild career. When he's on, he's great. But he really rubs managers and clubs the wrong way. Yes, there was the back tattoo incident at Hertha. But he wore out his welcome there because of a number of reasons. . At Wolfsburg, he struggled his first season as the club needed to avoid relegation via the playoffs. In January 2020, Wolfsburg bought Marin Pongracic to replace Brooks. Initially he did. But then when Pongracic got a red card, Brooks got another look and then, because his back was against the wall, played great soccer the rest of the season. But the intention was to move on from Brooks at that point. Last fall in 2021, Brooks wasn't playing well. Expectations were high after qualifying for the Champions League, but Wolfsburg crashed out of the UCL and were dismal to start the Bundesliga season. The two negative pieces in Bild that came out in December and January were obviously coming from inside the club. Since it was the last year of his contract, the club didn't want to continue with him or not at least with the wages he was on. Just a week or two after the second piece, Wolfsburg announced Brooks would not return to the club following the season. But it was an ugly exit. But this is coming from a club that tried to replace him just two years before that. Like any club, Wolfsburg moves on from lots of players. But why make Brooks' exit so ugly? To me, it just seemed like built up frustration. It was a bad look from Wolfsburg that those pieces got aired, but what drove Wolfsburg to that? Obviously with the national team, things haven't been smooth. But this also dates back to Klinsmann as well and I heard it wasn't pretty in the end. Brooks is a tricky, tricky guy.. I am not denying his talent. He's had a nice, long career at a high level. But it's been anything but smooth on many, many fronts.
Yes, he said it was a failure of his. Then John Brooks music came on. Brooks appears, sprinting onto the ESPN set with a steel chair! He smashes Berhalter’s head. Berhalter looked down for the count as Brooks climbed the top rope for the Flying HeadButt. But just before he was going for his finishing move, Juergen Klinsmann appears! Klinsmann pushes Brooks off the turnbuckle and outside the ring itself! Then he gives Hercules Gomez a stiff right hand, knocking him out! Finally Klinsmann revives Gregg as they embrace and raise each other’s hands in victory!
This is clearly all Berhalter’s fault. He is McMahon to Brooks, who is clearly Stone Cold. Well, except in Germany. He is more middle to lower card. Here isn the US he is Stone Cold!
There are a couple of good players out there who are still looking for a club. One of them won the Euros with Italy, another the CL with Real Madrid this year. Reducing Brooks' situation to his character is a bit too simplistic in my opinion. Free agents: https://www.transfermarkt.com/statistik/vertragslosespieler
Yeah I've said before I'm not thr biggest fan of Brooks for a variety of reasons but his requested price combined with his player profile make him not a priority. If he brings his price down he'd likely have a bit more of a market. I think a big thing is teams are getting a bit smarter with "free transfers" as those transfers can end up being more damaging due to wages given out (Italian teams have learned this the hardware in the last couple years). And again despite any criticism or critique I have of Brooks, I will still acknowledge he's more than talented enough to play for a lot of teams... just have to be a bit more self aware
There was an article in the Athletic a few weeks back where it was saying the market for free agents this summer has not been as robust as most free agents were expecting and that alot of players are expecting more than is available in the market. This seems like it's probably the case with Brooks as well.
Yep. The wages given on free transfers can be tricky. You add that a lot of teams are going money ball and they have scales
There was a report a week or two ago that JB was "offered" to Fenerbahçe. I saw that their top CB transferred to Napoli for around 15M on July 28 and thought that makes sense for Brooks. But, then I saw Fenerbahçe signed a left footed CB from Marseille on July 29 for 7M so I'm guessing t won't happen for JB there.
Yeah Brooks was reportedly proposed as a replacement for the CB that was departing for Napoli (Kim Min-jae), but it looks like Fenerbahce found their replacement (who superficially has a very similar profile to Brooks, in terms of age, height, left-footedness, etc.) elsewhere. Trabzonspor was the other Turkish team that was mentioned as a possible destination for Brooks, but I haven't seen anything more about that since the initial report a couple weeks back.
Heard a very interesting John Brooks rumor this morning. Seeing what I can track down. #Quakes74— Robert Jonas (@robertjonas) August 2, 2022 Brooks to San Jose?
That appears to be one of the go-to journalists on the San Jose Earthquakes beat, so there may be something there.
Well, it’s something. Euro seasons have begun. We know that none of the minimal interest in Brooks can be because of the type of player he is, maybe money desires or previous locker room coach TD issues. All made up by Berhalter to sabotage his career as we know.
But of course. A few of us point out these issues as well as teams wanting to go with faster CBs due to a high line but that too is ignored