John Brooks USMNT return possible? Jesse Marsch thinks it's time for the defender to get another look

Getty Images

With the page is about to turn to 2024, the United States men's national team is turning its attention to next summer's Copa America. The tournament will not only be a chance for he USMNT to get a marquee win on home soil, since they'll be hosting the event, but it's also a time for manager Gregg Berhalter to test players who could be in the World Cup picture as the team builds for 2026. One position that has yet to be settled is center back. Tim Ream was able to step into the side and steady things at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, but that was over a year ago, and he's already 36. It's unlikely that he will be in a position to start for the USMNT in 2026, and if he is still around, it's a sign that something has gone very very wrong. So, Copa America could be a chance to see who is ready to step up.

For Jesse Marsch, the American who managed at RB Salzburg, RB Leipzig and Leeds, as well as in MLS, he thinks that man should be John Brooks. Speaking on CBS Sports' Call it What You Want podcast (you can catch new episodes every Thursday both in podcast form and on the CBS Sports Golazo Network), which he cohosts, Marsch called for Brooks to get recalled to the national team. The Hoffenheim defender hasn't appeared for the USMNT since World Cup qualifying in September of 2021, despite scoring at the 2014 World Cup and becoming a consistent presence in the squad prior to Berhalter taking over.

"I think that we need to have some level of experience and know-how of what these games are about and somebody who is playing at a high level and if you now talk about the left center back for me, that's John Brooks," Marsch said on why Brooks should start over Ream during Copa America. "I know that him and Berhalter aren't on the best terms and that Brooks hasn't always performed at the highest level, but when you watch him now play at Hoffenheim he's playing well."

Hoffenheim sit seventh in Germany's top division, and Brooks is part of the first-choice center back pairing, where he's played the third-most minutes among outfield players at 1082 across 13 matches. It's quite the renaissance for the 30-year-old who seemed to be on his way out of the top of European soccer after he parted ways with Wolfsburg and was unable to make an impression in Portugal with Benfica in half a season before returning back to the Bundesliga and Hoffenheim last January.

The CBS Sports Golazo Network presents Call It What You Want, a weekly podcast where Jimmy Conrad, Jesse Marsch and Charlie Davies cover all things USMNT and the state of the beautiful game in the United States.

Marsch has a point that Brooks is an experienced player who is also performing at a high level and he's left footed and could take over that role. And, as he went on to mention, there's significant uncertainty surrounding other players who might take on that role. Miles Robinson, for example, is out of contract with Atlanta United and his future development could depend on where he lands. If Robinson is challenged in Europe and succeeds, he's a player who could quickly shoot up the ranks, but in Major League Soccer he may have reached his ceiling.

Marsch mentioned the relationship between Berhalter and Brooks, and while the relationship between those two has remained behind closed doors, the USMNT is certainly no stranger to soap-opera-style fights and reconciliations. Gio Reyna (and his family) famously had a public (and legal) feud with Reyna, but when Berhalter was rehired to coach the team, Reyna eventually retuend as the two figured out a way to put the past in the past and work together. Berhalter routinely says that the door is never closed for a player who is eligible for the national team.

Elsewhere in the player pool, Mark McKenzie has struggled with the national team but been a rock for Genk as they're again on pace for a European spot in Belgium. After a slow start to his career there due to integration during COVID, McKenzie is among the first names on the team sheet and could be in for a move of his own to a bigger club sooner rather than later. As he gains more confidence, getting another shot at the national team should be in the cards. Auston Trusty is another player, who despite Sheffield United being in the relegation zone, has shined at times while facing the best forwards in the world. So, it's not like the United States has no options.

If any of these players, whether it's Brooks or somebody else, can establish themselves prior to 2026, it will only mean good things for the USMNT's fortunes at the World Cup and the path for that starts Copa America.