So starten die Wölfe bei #BMGWOB! 💚🐺#VfLWolfsburg pic.twitter.com/iTlC0eQTol— VfL Wolfsburg (@VfL_Wolfsburg) June 16, 2020
Apologies for being off-topic here, but I couldn't find his page - What happened to Llanez? He made the bench that one game, thought he was going to the next US guy to break in, maybe get a few minutes here and there, but he's not even on the bench anymore. Is he back with the U-19s?
Brooks having one of those games that send him to the bench from time to time. The yellow for Pongracic was also because he had to apply the emergency brake on a player who was about to be assisted by the man Brooks was expected to mark (JAB got to him far too late).
JAB could never control Embolo, once again showing his weakness when facing good dribblers. On the other hand, the good news is that they play Schalke next.
Gawd, the highlights harken back to Brooks versus Joel Campbell in Costa Rica. He once again reminded me of the Titanic trying to turn away from that iceberg. He’s got zero agility. I don’t know how a guy can get paid so well and look so bad at times. He literally looked like he didn’t know how to defend in those first two goals. The third was an errant pass that got punished so bad luck but this performance has benching writ large.
Brooks is the most puzzling USMNT player I've ever seen. Sure, Jermaine Jones was misunderstood for the most part and generally needed to have the types of players around him that the USMNT didn't have. Mathis was uber-talented but just wasn't all there mentally. He was lightening in a bottle that was harnessed for the 2002 WC. Then there have been plenty of players who were naturally talented and didn't make it. Brooks takes the cake. He's a long-time veteran now and he still swings between being so good at the highest of levels and then having performances so poor that they baffle you. He gets benched. He always returns and does well for awhile and then will be up and down - then he'll have a good run and then be awful. And it gets more noticeable since he plays the position where consistency is needed. He was on a longer-than-usual good run the past 8-10 games but this was bad today.
And how do you think this is different from most players? He's a center back and center backs get noticed when they make mistakes. You cant measure him against perfection but against other center-backs. Brooks is good but not incredible. But he is surely good enough to have a fair shot at starting in the USA team
He's our best CB even when he's having a mediocre day. The problem is when he has a horrible day, one of those and it may cost us the WC if it's true we're going to a 4-NT group format, with only the winner making it directly and the best 2nd going to the inter-continental playoff.
By chance you mentioned two of my favorite Yanks so just a quick comment on them, then back to the thread: Jermaine was just pure class on the field. Not from the standpoint of being gentlemanly, as Neymar can attest, but from a skill standpoint. I wished he had made his decision to switch earlier. Mathis is one of my favorites of all time. Guy could do anything on the pitch. The outside of the foot drive from 35 yards that rattled the Ireland cross bar in the rain was something to behold. His chip to Wolff to set up his goal against Mexico in Columbus was magic. I loved me some Cletus and I'm not ashamed to say it. His confidence was both his blessing and his curse, along with beer and Cheetos. Brooks, I'll agree is just a mystery to me. How do you get to a level that he is occupying with the agility of a tree sloth? One v one against anyone at this level with any pace is 100% a loss, and not a close one. It's like his feet are literally cast in cement. He is imposing, a good passer out of the back, and can win balls in the air. But he is the worst 1 v 1 defender at times I might have ever seen at this level. Is it just expected at that level given his height and biomechanics that he will lose out to quicker guys? Is that acceptable to coaches when they decide to play someone 6'4" and long legged? Do they say to themselves, "well, he'll mop up any long ball into the area, but he's going to need quicker people around him to deal with the quicker attackers." Do they make that calculated risk prior to the game? Honest question. He can't look much better 1 v 1 in practice.
When I started covering the game, I got a chance to see Mathis for the Metrostarts. Immediately, and I mean immediately, you knew he was just different. One of the dudes that was worth the price of admission. One correction on Jermaine Jones... he couldn't have made the decision to switch earlier. He filed to switch to play for the United States the first day he was allowed. There was a FIFA rule change (they got ride of the age 21 limit) at the time. The very day they were allowed both Edgar Castillo and Jermaine Jones filed for a switch.
Yes.. he's the starting central defender for the U.S. team. But he's different when compared with some steady central defenders the U.S. had. Guys like Pope, Besler, Demerit, Cameron, Bocanegra might not have had the legendary type of performances Brooks could put on (like vs Paraguay in 2016) but they rarely, if ever, had the cringe-worthy ones either - at least not in their prime. If you were to do player ratings, Brooks will have a stretch like: 9,8,9,8,7,4,5,6,9,4. The other guys I mentioned will be like 7,7,6,7,7,6,7,7,7. It's different when you're dealing with WC qualifiers and a single screw up is more costly. For a club like Wolfsburg, Brooks is perfect. They're not going to win the title, so an occasional loss isn't going to cost them the Bundesliga title. Wolfsburg has goals which are more forgiving. They just wants to maybe qualify for Europe and they can take a bad loss here or there. Brooks is certainly very, very talented. But you're gonna hold your breath when he plays.
Yeah... he will never be even average at defending one-on-one when the attacker is dribbling right at him. He doesn't even slow the player up all that much to give his teammates a chance to catch. He can defend the dribble when he is side-by-side as he knows how to use body leverage and his long legs can reach out and deflect the forward dribble. He also can get caught gambling on interceptions up field. When he connects he can create good counter opportunities but when he misses he is often caught way out of position. But IMO, JAB is above average at most other aspects of being a CD... and is clearly the best option for the USMNT right now. He just needs a counterpart that can cover him when his weaknesses get exploited. Not the easiest of tasks since I think the USMNT is thin at the position.
If the choice is "hold my breath" with Brooks or "assume disaster" with like, Tim Ream or Omar Gonzalez, I know which I'm choosing.
For that comparison, you are correct. But do you hold your breath the same way you did with Pope, Cameron, Bocanegra, DeMerit, Besler Onyewu, and even Berhalter at age 27 in their prime. That's your call, but that would be the appropriate comparison.
No, it isn't. Comparing him to CBs of years past isn't really relevant. Brooks is better, but less consistent, than all of the players you listed. He's better than, and equally (in)consistent to, every other active international-quality US CB. That's what matters.