Leeds United’s fans made clear their feelings on Brenden Aaronson in pre-season when they booed the USA international. In their eyes, Aaronson abandoned the Elland Road club following their relegation to the Championship, leaving on loan for Union Berlin when he might have stayed and helped the Whites push for promotion again.
He, along with USMNT teammate Weston McKennie, was one of the players blamed for relegation in the first place. Aaronson scored just one goal in 36 underwhelming Premier League appearances and was written off by many supporters who saw a player with a good work ethic, but not much else.
This season, though, Aaronson has grabbed a second chance to make a first impression. The 24-year-old has registered seven goals in the Championship with his latest strike an 89th minute winner against Derby County that Leeds manager Daniel Farke described as “poetry.” Aaronson is finally winning over his critics.
“He’s been excellent so far this season,” said Farke about Aaronson and the impact he has made for Leeds since returning from a loan spell in the Bundesliga. “It’s always good when a player has extra motivation or perhaps a bit of a bad conscience to improve. He was not happy with the last season he played in a Leeds shirt. It was difficult for him for several reasons, and he wanted to prove his worth.
“In our initial conversations, I was convinced by him as a player. there are still several things in his game that he can and has to improve. He’s still a young guy, but I like his work rate, his ability to work against the ball, his ability to make many runs with the ball, his ability to set up players with assists, and his ability to score goals. They are excellent for us so far this season.”
Aaronson’s promise has been clear since the moment he broke through as a teenager in Major League Soccer for the Philadelphia Union. When Red Bull Salzburg signed him for a reported $9m, they made Aaronson the most expensive homegrown player in MLS history. This illustrated how highly the young attacking midfielder was rated.
Only two years later, Leeds paid £25m for Aaronson in another transfer that said something about the American’s potential. He was signed to be a difference-maker at Premier League level and yet the fundamental flaws in Aaronson’s game were exposed during a difficult first season at the Yorkshire club.
For someone whose favoured position is the number 10 role, Aaronson is remarkably ineffective on the ball. He ranks only in the 45th percentile for passes into the penalty area per 90 minutes and the 54th percentile for progressive passes per 90 minutes. For progressive carries per 90 minutes, the American is also only in the 24th percentile.
This is what makes Aaronson such a confusing player. Technically, he can hold his own at the top level, but lacks the composure to make him a conventional number 10. At 24 years old, it’s unlikely Aaronson will be able to fundamentally change that part of his game. Playing ‘Red Bull football’ for so long might have done him some harm in terms of his all-round development.
Farke, however, seems to have a grasp on how to get the best out of Aaronson. He isn’t a creator, he’s an arriver – see the aforementioned goal against Derby and the way Aaronson made a late run into the box to finish off a chance that had been 20 passes in the making. The American’s role is to put the ball in the back of the net.
He is the box-crashing chaos merchant who gives Leeds United a different dimension. No team has averaged a higher share of possession per match in the Championship this season than the Whites, but Aaronson is the player who stops their approach with the ball from becoming predictable.
There has still been some criticism of Aaronson despite the impressive numbers he’s putting up. Indeed, the 24-year-old was targeted for his below par performance in the 1-1 draw against Preston before Christmas with some arguing that Dan James should be moved into the middle and Manor Solomon brought into the lineup.
In Farke, though, Aaronson has a manager who believes in him. Only four players have played more minutes for Leeds than the American this season while Mauricio Pochettino has started the attacking midfielder in the two USMNT matches he’s been available for since the appointment of the former Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham Hotspur boss.
Aaronson might never become the superstar many predicted he would be as a teenager in MLS, but he is making up for some lost time at Leeds this season. If the Whites win promotion back to the Premier League, the American will have played an important role. Those pre-season boos have faded.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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