The 21-year-old Hertha Berlin defender is undeniably talented but he is coming of age on a very big stage. So that's why we asked Laura Greene to give him the On the Record treatment.

BY Laura Greene Posted

December 19, 2014

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in the German press, John Brooks is currently earning rave reviews for Hertha Berlin—not long after being demoted to the club’s reserves.

The last 18 months have been full of ups and downs for the 21-year-old. Told to “grow up” by Hertha manager Jos Luhukay, benched after getting inked with a new back tattoo, scoring that goal against Ghana in the World Cup, and playing his way back into contention as one of the Bundesliga’s best young talents, Brooks has been busy.

In this edition of, we take a look back at the central defender's tumultuous Bundesliga career and discuss what people have been saying about the Berlin native.

After joining Hertha’s youth setup in 2007, Brooks has risen through the ranks at the Olympiastadion. The towering defender reportedly turned down interest from Bayern Munich in 2011 to pen a four-year professional deal with Die Alte Dame.

The 2013-14 campaign was Brooks’ first season as an active player in the German top flight, the previous campaign having been spent in the 2. Bundesliga.

On July 26, 2013, Kicker reported from a Hertha preseason training camp that the Bundesliga newcomer had received his first call-up to the United States men’s national team.

“John Anthony Brooks faces his Bundesliga debut. The center back, who has established himself in the 2nd league as a regular force, received—as confirmed by sporting director Michael Preetz—an invitation from Jurgen Klinsmann to the USA international friendly in Sarajevo against Bosnia Herzegovina on August 14. Brooks has already completed caps for various youth levels of the United States. ‘The appointment will give him a boost and we hope that he will take the good performances he’s shown in the second division Bundesliga this season. This shows we have some very interesting young players.’”

Brooks made his Bundesliga debut on August 10 against Eintracht Frankfurt. He wasted no time in announcing his arrival in the division—scoring his side’s second goal in front of 54,000 spectators in a 6-1 home win.

John Anthony Brooks scores on his Bundesliga debut against Eintracht Frankfurt. Having a very good game too. — Cristian Nyari (@Cnyari) August 10, 2013

Just four days later Brooks made his debut for the U.S. senior team, going a full 90 in Sarajevo. Ahead of the friendly, Brooks told USSoccer.com:

“The U.S. really wanted me, so it was not a hard decision to play for the USA. I talked a lot to my family. My dad, who is from Chicago, my mom, my sister, my grandparents, my agent … all of them gave me advice. Since I decided to play for the U.S. they have been very happy, congratulating me and wishing good luck.”

Despite the U.S. defense conceding three goals—a brace from Manchester City’s Edin Dzeko and a single strike from Stuttgart’s Vedad Ibisevic, the 4-3 U.S. win marked the second impressive debut in less than a week for the then-20-year-old.

“I think John Anthony Brooks looks like he has been with us for 10 years," Jurgen Klinsmann said. "First camp, 19-years-old [sic] and he played against Dzeko. I mean, you don’t get it any bigger. We were really, really happy with his first [cap] as well.”

Back in the Bundesliga, Brooks was involved in five more ties following his debut, getting a full 90 minutes on two occasions before being forced out by injury against SC Freiburg.

“He will have to pause for about two to three weeks," club doctor Ulrich Schleicher told Hertha’s official website on September 23.

Despite playing a full 90 minutes for the U.S. in a friendly against Austria on November 19, Brooks did not make it back into the Hertha first team until December 8. He completed 90 minutes in a 2-0 win against Eintracht Braunschweig and—said to be at fault for two of the opposition’s goals in the following game—was substituted after 38 minutes against Werder Bremen.

“John needs to grow up," Hertha manager Luhukay told German newspaper Berliner Morgenpost after subbing Brooks against Bremen. "We’re in the Bundesliga, which is tough as nails. He needs to become an adult. John is on the right track. If he does not do that, I need to, as coach, lead him there. But it has to come from within himself. Because this is not the first time.”

Either forced to watch from the bench or demoted into the reserves (where he scored twice in three games), Brooks went on to play a part in only four of his side’s next 13 first-team fixtures, clocking up just 247 minutes of Bundesliga football.

Injury suffered by team captain and fellow center back Fabian Lustenberger looked like it could open up a spot in Luhukay’s plans for Brooks in the final third of the season. However, after missing training due to getting a large new back tattoo, Brooks returned to the bench and his manager’s firing line.

“I don’t have any understanding for that,” Luhukay told the Berlin media. “The tattoo could lead to an inflammation, and, naturally, that is not good.”

Berliner Morgenpost also commented on Brooks’ situation: “It may be assumed, that coach Luhukay had had enough. Annoyed by a lack of professionalism.”

Responding to the tattoo story, site user Eric P wrote on MLSsoccer.com: “Wow. The kid is immature, that's well established. But he's also exceptionally talented. There's a reason he was on Bayern Munich's radar. Now he's very young, we don't know what he'll become but he's only 20 (last time I checked). And he has been playing in the Bundesliga, one of the best leagues in the world. He gets world-class players to compete against all of the time. He's 20, he's only a kid so let him make his mistakes. He will learn.”

Israel Canchola added, “If I get a tattoo when I know I have a game in a few days, please feel free to call me a jackass.”

Days later, Brooks—tattoo and all—was back in his manager’s reckoning and completed 90 minutes against FC Augsburg on April 19th.

In the following game, against Eintracht Braunschweig on April 26, Brooks found the back of the net for the second time in the league—his opener helping Hertha to its first home win of 2014.

“I didn’t have any particular feelings that it was going to be a good day for me,” Brooks told Bundesliga.com. “It just seemed to happen that way.”

With one eye on the World Cup, Bundesliga.com assessed Brooks’ season:

“Having learned his lessons, the youngster may be one to watch as he looks to continue his maturing process during the postseason. The potential is there, but only time will tell whether Klinsmann is prepared to take a risk on the youngster, and whether Brooks can continue to deliver on his undoubted talent.”

Brooks played every minute of Hertha’s next two games, with his side finishing the season in 11th place.

The 21-year-old’s form arrived at just the right time, and on May 23 Klinsmann announced that Brooks would be travelling to Brazil as part of his final 23 for the 2014 World Cup.

Those who did not already know Brooks’ name soon did, after the defender was subbed on for Matt Besler against Ghana and scored the USA’s 86th-minute winner in Manaus.

BBC Football described the moment as, “Center back Brooks reacted with a mixture of disbelief and delight, the Germany-born 21-year-old marking his FIFA World Cup debut and fifth cap in style.”

Brooks did not feature again in subsequent games against Portugal, Germany, and Belgium. However, 44 minutes of World-Cup football was all he needed to achieve cult-hero status.

I love this! Team #USA fans from around the globe react to John Brooks' game-winning goal vs Ghana in World Cup. » http://t.co/vuNX1gA7rl” — Skip Fleshman (@SkipFleshman) June 18, 2014

The 2014-15 season kicked off with Brooks back on the Hertha bench. Three 90-minute performances (two losses and one draw) followed before he was dropped altogether for a further three games. Going from the World Cup stage to the Hertha reserves, rumors started to swirl that Hertha would release Brooks.

Noting subpar performances, @HerthaBSC coach Jos Luhukay boots John Anthony Brooks to reserves http://t.co/86GtyRE6V3 http://t.co/JDIMEINEI9 — Soccerly (@soccerly) September 29, 2014

Klinsmann downplayed the controversy ahead of the United States' October friendly against Ecuador.

“I would describe it as something typical in the early stage of your career," the coach said. "You have moments where he does something wrong at a training session, or maybe he’s not as attentive in a moment and coach wants to give you a little lesson. So he leaves you out for the next game and puts you down with the U-23 team. That's the education process that he’s going through.

“They know how much quality he brings to the table, but at his position they’re loaded with four, five guys. So they gave him a little signal to send him down to the U-23s and then bring him back after these two games and keep developing him. He will sooner or later be a regular starter.

“[Brooks needs] to not have the feeling, ‘I’m guaranteed here, I’m coming back from the World Cup, I even scored a goal so now it’s all good in my club team I’m undoubtedly a starter.’ That's not the case. Not in Europe. So that's what they are teaching him right now.”

One week later, Brooks was back in contention—used as a sub against Schalke. In the buildup to Hertha’s subsequent tie with Hamburg on October 25, Luhukay discussed Brooks’ club future with the German press:

“Patience is needed and we have that patience—we want [Brooks] to become a mainstay for our team in the near future. "John has had the chance to develop as a Bundesliga player for two years now. That's a process, and it never stops. You need to give it your all in training every day. That's how you get consistency and stability in Bundesliga games. He plays on a position where you are sometimes brutally punished when you don't have that last bit of aggressiveness. "I hope that John has again learnt from the past few weeks, and that he one day makes it big here and we no longer need to talk about him. We are all more than happy when he's in the starting lineup because we all know that he has come through our ranks, and there's nothing we want more than that.”

Someone tell Hertha to stop ruining John Anthony Brooks. Midtable clubs should always rely on such talented guys instead of benching them. — Red Rocket (@redrobbery) October 26, 2014

After getting six minutes against Hamburg, Brooks was benched against Paderborn on November 2. Since then, he has been involved in every single fixture, turning in 90-minute performances in five of the last six games.

John Anthony Brooks goes a strong full 90 for Hertha in a 1-0 loss to Bayern Munich #USMNT — Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) November 29, 2014

Hertha’s last two outings have impressed and Brooks, who helped his side defeat Borussia Dortmund on December 13, has received plenty of praise.

His performance against Die Borussen prompted the Berliner Kurier to ask, “Is this the real John Brooks?”

Luhukay told the newspaper, “John played his best game of 2014. That was the Brooks I always hoped to see. I am really happy for him. I’ve fought a lot with him but we are always honest with each other. So I’m really happy for him.”

Brooks was named in the Kicker team of the weekend and was named Man of the Match against BVB.

Should add that John Anthony Brooks had an outstanding performance against Dortmund today. Won more duels than any other player on the pitch — Cristian Nyari (@Cnyari) December 13, 2014

#USMNT @j_brooks25 named MOTM and to the Bundesliga Team of the Week after his performance in @HerthaBSC 1-0 win v. Dortmund. — U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) December 16, 2014

In Bild, Luhukay called the performance “the best game of the year” and Brooks told the newspaper, “This was the perfect game from us!”

More good news followed in Hertha’s midweek game against Eintracht Frankfurt, in which Brooks scored his first goal since the World Cup—the opener in a 4-4 draw away from home.

John Brooks is in some kind of form. Good to see him finally living up to the potential. — Usry (@RobUsry) December 17, 2014

https://vine.co/v/Ogw525rrw2ZWho knows what’s next for the unpredictable defender. On an upward trajectory, it seems there are big things—and much more—to come from John Brooks.