Brenden Aaronson ultimately would’ve loved to be part of the U.S. men’s national team’s March window, but his absence from the squad could play major dividends for the remainder of his club season.
Aaronson and Leeds United are preparing for Saturday’s return to EFL Championship play against Swansea City. The USMNT midfielder has played a large role for the Yorkshire squad this season, one that has led to Aaronson scoring eight goals in 3,040 minutes of action so far.
Aaronson was not included in Mauricio Pochettino’s 23-player roster for recent CONCACAF Nations League defeats to Panama and Canada. Instead he stayed in England and rested, something that Leeds United manager Daniel Farke believes was a positive thing for his fitness levels.
“He is a player who always gives everything,” Farke said Thursday in his pre-match press conference. “It was beneficial he was left out of the U.S. squad. It was good to let him recharge for a few days because although he has so much energy, even his tank was empty.
“You could feel in the last days in training that he is recharged and looks sharper,” Farke added. “He’s scored many goals and assisted in training a lot. He’s on the up again. We need that for the last eight games.”
Leeds United remain top of the EFL Championship table on 80 points, level with second-place Sheffield United and only two points clear of third-place Burnley. After missing out on Premier League promotion last season, there shouldn’t be any reason why the Lilywhites can’t get over the hump in the coming weeks this spring.
A fresh and rejuvenated Aaronson could be key to Leeds United outlasting the Blades and Clarets to the top spot in England’s second-tier. Farke admitted that Aaronson’s production early in the season was important but also voiced his concern for the attacking midfielder’s recent goal contribution drought.
“I’d say he was outstanding for a pretty long period, chipping in with goals and assists and endless workload,” Farke said.
“[But] you can’t burn the candle from both ends in 46 games. He’s had a more difficult spell, not in terms of his workload for the team because he’s always outstanding in those terms. His end products were really good in the beginning and middle third of the season then it dried up for a few weeks.”
Luckily for Leeds United, they won’t have to play either Sheffield United or Burnley over its final eight league matches and will be at Elland Road for four of those fixtures.
And he scores 40 secs into the match. A very Brendan goal, poking a ball that was pinging around inside the 6 yard box into the back of the net.
haha definitely, very BA
He did do a lot of work in the run up to get the ball into the middle of the box.
quozzel,
If I’m Pochettino or some Technical Director of a top football club in Europe wanting to know about Brenden and I’m reading what you just wrote, I’m not encouraged.
The USMNT or top clubs are supposed to be about the best players.
Not guys who an MLS team would not spend a DP spot on.
Brenden remains in the USMNT picture because he’s proven he can run all day and past it. And that matters to USMNT fans. And he’s by all accounts one hell of a person and coaches like him.. We’ve had worse but that’s about it.
He’s mediocre but he’s also a good story and the USMNT fans are all about a good narrative not winning.
The “wow, we stunk horribly without me” feeling probably puts a little extra pep in his step too
My sense with Aaronson is that he’s a guy you have to manage. He’s not a big guy and he doesn’t have good evasion radar, and he gets hacked and roughed up constantly, but he’s such a zealous competitor he’ll tell you he’s fine and literally run himself into the ground to compete…and you can’t let him. Jedi Robinson is sort of the gold standard top-tier as a tough-as-nails iron man who can survive playing almost every minute in a super-physical league…but even Robinson is showing some wear on his tires this late in the season. And Brendan Aaronson is absolutely not a Jedi Robinson.
He’s also clearly not the elite $30 million player Jesse Marsch though he was, but I do think he’s still a top-5 league guy if managed correctly. I’ve thought for awhile he fits better in Serie A or La Liga than he does in brutally physical leagues like the Prem or Championship or even the Bundesliga…and while I don’t think he’d be a starter at AC Milan, for instance, he could definitely contribute as a squad guy there. When he’s in form, healthy, and still has tread on his tires, the guy can contribute to most teams, IMHO.
If he were to ever to return to MLS, I wouldn’t spend a DP spot on him if I were an MLS GM, but he’d be one of the first (if not THE first!) guy I’d go for as a TAM player because I think he’s as good a buy as you could make at about the $1 million-or-so-a-year level.
We tend to rag hard on guys who end up not being superstars especially when they’re somewhat overhyped early as Aaronson was. That doesn’t change the fact that Aaronson’s still a very good soccer player and can help a whole lot of teams even if he’s not quite world class…and I still think he’s very much got a chance of being in the 26 for the World Cup.
quozzel,
If I’m Pochettino or some Technical Director of a top football club in Europe wanting to know about Brenden and I’m reading what you just wrote, I’m not encouraged.
The USMNT or top clubs are supposed to be about the best players.
Not guys who an MLS team would not spend a DP spot on.
Brenden remains in the USMNT picture because he’s proven he can run all day and past it. And that matters to USMNT fans. And he’s by all accounts one hell of a person and coaches like him.. We’ve had worse but that’s about it.
He’s mediocre but he’s also a good story and the USMNT fans are all about a good narrative not winning.
In the Championship they play a lot of games. Aaronson has already played more than a full season of EPL ball. He obviously got tired. In the meantime, guys like Sargent and Wright have lost a lot of games due to injury. As I recall last season Aaronson was loaned to a Bundesliga club and his numbers were pretty good. He started out the season well in the Championship in the team that is in the lead for promotion and has run down after playing a ton of minutes. Should he be penalized for playing too much compared to players who don’t play as much due to injury? Hardly seems fair. I agree that he would probably be better off in a less physical league, as Pulisic has been. BTW, Dempsey got hacked a lot. I think there were times he led the league in number of fouls against him. That shows that Dempsey and Aaronson were/are getting hacked because they are shifty enough that defenders have to foul him/them to stop him/them. I agree with you that he is likely deserving of at least a roster spot. His club manager seems to value him.
Gary,
“Should he be penalized for playing too much compared to players who don’t play as much due to injury? ”
You say that as if Brenden, Josh or Haji have a lot of say in the matter. Fair has nothing to do with it.
If Brenden is asked to play, he will if he can. He’s not at the point where he can go to the manager and say, “You know it would be better if I have a game off every once in a while just to keep my batteries fresh.” He’s not going to do that. He’ll play to a fault. It’s on the manager to figure out where the limit is. In this case Farke wore him out. That’s not Brenden’s, Josh’s or Haji’s fault.
As for Josh or Haji why are you blaming them? No one asks to get injured. Fair is not an issue here.
If you’re saying Brenden should be favored over Sargent or Wright, if everyone is healthy and in form I put Wright and Sargent in the WC team before Brenden.
“That shows that Dempsey and Aaronson were/are getting hacked because they are shifty enough that defenders have to foul him/them to stop him/them.”
Not necessarily.
Clint scored a lot.
Brenden does not. In his career in 264 first team games he has 32 goals. In 47 games for the USMNT he has 8 goals. He is scoring well this season. I would not say Brenden is shifty. He’s a midfielder who plays a lot of games. Those guys get the ball a lot and get fouled a lot. A lot of teams ( Manchester City) foul as a regular defensive tactic.