FOR THE MOST PART this season has been a series of disappointments for Americans playing abroad but this past weekend brought a series of promising developments.

John Brooks put on a stellar display in the Bundesliga and Aron Johannsson and Terrence Boyd are now fully back. Signs now suggest that there is cause for genuine excitement on the other side of the Atlantic, and here are my key takeaways from the weekend.

Johannsson scores first of the season

Aron Johannsson, who was recovering from two off-season injuries, returned to the field a few weeks ago but on Saturday he showed that he was truly back. Against Vitesse the Icelandic-American scored the game’s only goal when he headed home a Thom Haye cross in the 14th minute.

Here's a look at Johannsson's strike.

Johannsson enjoyed a strong game overall, completing 78 percent of his passes and looking dangerous for AZ Alkmaar throughout the match. The win moved AZ into 5th place in the Eredivisie; next weekend the club will visit 6th place Cambuur in an important matchup.

Boyd nabs first goals in Germany

Johannsson was not the only American to put an exclamation point on a long road back from an injury. On Sunday, Terrence Boyd put on a first-rate performance for RB Leipzig in a 4-1 rout over St. Pauli. Boyd's 30th-minute goal gave Leipzig a 2-0 lead and his 53rd-minute strike put the game out of reach for a 3-1 lead. All told he played 80 minutes and delivered a dynamic performance. Here are videos of both goals.

Fresh off of promotion to the 2.Bundesliga, RB Leipzig is now in fifth place and in the hunt for a Bundesliga spot. Backed with money from Red Bull, it is trailing second place Fortuna Dusseldorf by just one point as the standings remain tight toward the top of the table.

For Boyd, 23, the goals were his first at the professional level in Germany. He only played at the youth levels at Hertha Berlin and Borussia Dortmund before moving to Austria to play for Rapid Vienna.

John Brooks seizes the moment

John Brooks is an interesting player. The talent is clearly there but he seems to get called out by his Hertha coaches every few months and then is sent to the reserve team. So far he has managed to bounce back nicely from these setbacks.

On Saturday, Hertha Berlin defeated Cologne 2-1 on the road and Brooks was at his best. With a team-high 65 touches, Brooks completed 80 percent of his passes and won nine aerial balls. His performance drew the attention of German media as Kicker was just one of many outlets that named Brooks to the Bundesliga team of the weekend.

Joe Gyau could be back soon

When Joe Gyau was injured in the U.S. national team’s 1-1 draw against Ecuador in October, Jurgen Klinsmann said that winger would not be back until January. It now looks like Gyau is recovering ahead of schedule. On Friday Gyau played 34 minutes off the bench for Borussia Dortmund II in a 1-1 draw against Dynamo Dresden.

That is good news for Borussia Dortmund’s first team, which is suffering through a dismal first half of the season—currently in 16th place in the 18-team Bundesliga.

Alvarado starts for Club America

South of the boarder, 22-year-old American central defender Ventura Alvarado made his first career start for Club America in a 2-1 loss to Atlas at Azteca Stadium. The promising talent from Phoenix has been knocking on the door at Club America but he finally got his chance and earned mixed reviews in a 90-minute outing.

Will Alvarado choose the United States or Mexico internationally? It's hard to say and first there is the question as to whether or not he is good enough for either international tam. One report from Mexico, however, said he was holding out for El Tri.

Lletget making West Ham bench

Yes, West Ham United have a bunch of injuries at the moment but it was still surprising to see Sebastian Lletget, a San Francisco native, make the bench in his club’s Premier League game against Everton on Saturday.

Lletget, 22, has been a regular with West Ham’s youth and reserve teams for many years; has made the bench before for Premier League games; and even made one first-team appearance in a cup match. But he has never been given a serious chance with the first team. He has also never been given a chance to go out on loan for playing time.

Once considered a top American youth player, Lletget is still a bit of a mystery. Will his Premier League chance come this season? It’s not out of the question.

Brian Sciaretta is an American Soccer Now columnist and an ASN 100 panelist. Follow him on Twitter.