Well................if that ends up happening, then I'm glad he's found an opportunity. The World Cup is gone. He was seemingly hanging on by a thread anyway. The Gregg haters may have to admit that he was right on this one.
In another tweet, he claims that his agent has confirmed that the deal is until 2025 and that he arrives on Friday for his medical. I am skeptical -- if only because his profile says he's a journalist for Essex Live, which is the online site for an obscure local Essex paper called the Essex Chronicle, but I cannot find any evidence of a George Jack working at either. And I can't find any tweets from him dating back further than a couple weeks ago.
The latest claim will be that Gregg has alienated Brooks so hard that he's just going to look for his payday regardless of the competition of the league, and that he is still our best CB (or at worst second best). Which, you know, might HAVE some truth in it... but again, until the book comes out in ten years, we have very little to go on. It is too bad though, because a Brooks starting in a good league is definitely in my top 4 CB pool.
He's still the same player in Saudi Arabia. I've hardly been a Brooks supporter, but unless he's hurt or fell off a cliff, this really shouldn't change the dynamic massively. Yes, he's not facing as good competition day to day, but that's not the only factor. He's not going to forget how to pass or something.
Eh, I'm going to push back a little bit on this. A lot of Brooks' issues are his concentration and his propensity to ball watch. That would be less glaring/punished in Saudi Arabia than in Germany or even the Netherlands or Turkey. I would want to see him cut those bad habits out before giving him a starting spot in Qatar.
Yeah, to be clear, his performance needs to be evaluated in context. And I can see an argument that the speed of decision-making slowing might make for a harder adjustment in Qatar. So you are probably right there. But he's not going to suddenly crater because he's in Qatar, just like he wasn't without flaw because he was playing in the Bundesliga.
I think this is it as well. He is great in the air and no one will argue with his passing. But, more than being able to play a high line is what I noticed with Wolfsburg and in matches like Honduras is an inconsistency in holding a line. He drops and drops even when around or inside the 18 without respect to the other defenders. Not all of the time but that is a concentration thing and can mess up your defence as it provides more room for the attack to move into. Just my guess/speculation of what GB doesn’t like and may not have trust in JB to do. GB to me sounds like a coach who has had this discussion with a player a number of times about an issue and finally decided to move on while trying to be somewhat tactful in regards to the player when asked about it.
I have given up on the Brooks issue because I think that ship has sailed. But it is one of a set of decisions that seem to reflect a preference of like-for-like players across the roster in each position. Given that the roster is expanded for this World Cup, I find that a little surprising. It seems to suggest that we will be playing one way and one way only regardless of opponent. If that’s the case, then there really isn’t much need for a person like Brooks who can do certain things well that are particularly well represented among the center backs, or a person like Pefok, who can do some things that our other CFs can’t do well.
If he was USMNT level today he would have had better suitors than Saudi Arabia....money not withstanding.... Couldn't even hook up in Belguim or Netherlands or Portugal or.......
If he goes to Saudi that's definitely the end of his World Cup hopes. Either way I imagine no one will get worked up over his absence on the September roster. Hard to know without more information as to whether it was a money driven decision in that European clubs were interested but at a lower price point, or if there was just very little interest from European clubs (which would be odd).
World Cup hopes were hanging on by a thread with or without the Saudi Arabia move. He was out of the team, and that was before CCV and EPB were called in for the last camp. Both of those guys are younger and on an upward trajectory. A player shouldn't be eliminated because he's playing in Saudi Arabia. It just makes it a lot more difficult. I think its possible that Brooks has played in his last USMNT game.
He's almost certainly going to be paid better in Saudi Arabia than those leagues. If I had to guess, I think he could catch on quite a few places for what I expect him to get paid this year. Could be wrong, of course, but when someone heads to the Saudi league, it's usually about money.
The money thing is a big difference. It's possible there could have been some broad interest from many other clubs, at half thr salary. We probably might not ever find out.
There are some fairly popular content creators already saying that. But FWIW the account that broke that news is apparently fake. Brooks still may end up in Saudi but that account isn't reliable
got his paper, I can never hate on that. Good for him there. Obviously, terrible form a soccer move perspective, but he probably thought it was his last big paycheck. He got it. End of. Also end of his national team chances.