Brenden Aaronson

[andrewjohnsmith]

Is he getting a bit of an easy ride because he works so hard?

An attacking midfielder whose only managed 1 goal and 1 assist despite being a regular set piece taker and regularly in attacking positions and playing more minutes than almost everyone.

Less than 50% of his shots his the target.

Harrison gets tons of criticism (deserves it)but Aaronson doesn't.

Is he getting a bit of an easy ride given for all his effort there is a lack of substance?

Those numbers aren't a fair refection on how well he's played. Many of us are convinced he has 2 goals - the one against Wolves that was marked offside. His work rate in the final third has been tremendous. And he's constantly making those penetrating runs and making key penetrative passes. His lack of assists has been impacted by our inability to finish. If he played for Citeh, he'd have double figure assists by now.

[Cjay]

Well I guess we'll see, my #1 in my combined POTS rankings so there's that. The assist stat is laughable, he's been involved with lot of goals including the pen today

His all round performances have been decent and he is high for chances created (although taking a lot of set pieces will obviously inflate that).

Amd I'd agree on the pots stuff, he'd be up there for me to.

But as an attacking player he needs to get more goals directly.

He needs to do better especially in front of goal.

[Cjay]

Those numbers aren't a fair refection on how well he's played. Many of us are convinced he has 2 goals - the one against Wolves that was marked offside. His work rate in the final third has been tremendous. And he's constantly making those penetrating runs and making key penetrative passes. His lack of assists has been impacted by our inability to finish. If he played for Citeh, he'd have double figure assists by now.

He definitely deserves more assists and is suffering like Raph did whilst here from our poor collective finishing.

But he should be scoring more imo.

He has the worst shot conversion rate of all our attacking players I think Leon's stats showed on a thread recently.

In Austria it was the area highlighted.

His shooting needs to be better.

All round he has been decent but attacking players need to score goals.

He has to help replace what Raph left (that was what he was signed for).

Goals are part of that.

[BlackHillsPaul]

Rumors out of the USA camp are that Brenden Aaronson will be in the starting eleven tomorrow against Iran.

[mentalcase]

Rumors out of the USA camp are that Brenden Aaronson will be in the starting eleven tomorrow against Iran.

Personally, I think they have missed his guile, it hasn't worked with the others in that position, dosen't the manager rate Brenden ?

[BlackHillsPaul]

Personally, I think they have missed his guile, it hasn't worked with the others in that position, dosen't the manager rate Brenden ?

Everyone in the USA set up rates him. But he is a bit of a square peg in the set up. We usually play a 4-3-3 with Pulisic on the left and Tim Weah on the right. Weah has been our best player in that position. Gio Reyna of Dortmund is number two on the depth chart in that spot. So Aaronson has taken the role of backup to Weston McKennie as part of our middle three.

Against England we came out in a 4-4-2. Which again left Brenden on the bench as McKennie played wide right. And that was the right decision. Our midfield was absolutely dominant.

But tomorrow Berhalter will be looking to get his best 11 players on the pitch. And that includes Brenden Aaronson. I think Reyna will be the odd man out. I have no idea what the shape will be. But don't be surprised if we stick with the 4-4-2 something like this:

--------------------------------Pulisic--------------------Weah---------------------------------

Aaronson------------------Musah--------------------Adams-----------------McKennie

Robinson-----------------Ream----------------------Zimmerman------------------Dest

----------------------------------------------Turner------------------------------------------------

[mentalcase]

Everyone in the USA set up rates him. But he is a bit of a square peg in the set up. We usually play a 4-3-3 with Pulisic on the left and Tim Weah on the right. Weah has been our best player in that position. Gio Reyna of Dortmund is number two on the depth chart in that spot. So Aaronson has taken the role of backup to Weston McKennie as part of our middle three.

Against England we came out in a 4-4-2. Which again left Brenden on the bench as McKennie played wide right. And that was the right decision. Our midfield was absolutely dominant.

But tomorrow Berhalter will be looking to get his best 11 players on the pitch. And that includes Brenden Aaronson. I think Reyna will be the odd man out. I have no idea what the shape will be. But don't be surprised if we stick with the 4-4-2 something like this:

--------------------------------Pulisic--------------------Weah---------------------------------

Aaronson------------------Musah--------------------Adams-----------------McKennie

Robinson-----------------Ream----------------------Zimmerman------------------Dest

----------------------------------------------Turner------------------------------------------------

Cheers Paul
I like it when a manager can swap and change personnel and tactics to suit the opposition, obviously helps with a bigger / better squad.

[Cjay]

Feels like he deserves a mention.

Was only a fairly brief cameo.

But that imo was the best Aaronson has played for months.

Was a threat and worked hard.

Better

[JoeDenver]

Feels like he deserves a mention.

Was only a fairly brief cameo.

But that imo was the best Aaronson has played for months.

Was a threat and worked hard.

Better

Agreed Cjay. Said the same in the match thread. Was better than Harrison for my $ as Harrison’s final ball/final decision was left wanting. I think Jack might be holding the ball too long as he selfishly wants the shot on goal for himself.

Anyway, back to Aaronson. I’m wondering if this is his best role, as a super sub type, to come on midway and just go pedal to the metal. Hope to see more of the same from him going forward.

[theBlingGoblin]

I think that's the role for Aaronson, for a bit. Comes into the match full of energy and gets a chance vs. some tired defenders. Less likely to get constantly knocked over?

Let him play/force his way into a larger role.

[BlackHillsPaul]

It was nice to see Brenden come on and impact the game a bit. He looked more confident. And I agree the Super Sub role suites him well. He is often the first guy off the bench for USA as well. And all that energy against tired legs can be dangerous.

[Lumiukko]

A lot of agreement here. Based on his performance last night, the super sub against tiring defenders will be a good weapon to have. Less pressure on his shoulders too to find some form. We're going to need him over the next 17 games so we want him fit and firing.

[1964white]

Much better from Brenden

[weasel]

It's interesting that Aaronsen and Adams had their best games in a while.

[BlackHillsPaul]

It's interesting that Aaronsen and Adams had their best games in a while.

In what way Weasel?

[weasel]

I know he has been dropped recently but I wonder if Aaronsen being an auto pick for so long, whilst out of form, compounded the problem for Aaronsen. Maybe he was then trying to hard for Marsch to repay the loyalty but sometimes the harder you try the worse it becomes rather than just trusting your natural game. Maybe it had got to the point where he simply needed a different voice talking to him, it might have been someone telling him the same thing, i.e. trying to build up hi confidence, but because it was a different voice it sort of gave him a lift. Maybe he was told to just go back to basics and do what he is good at and had been getting bogged down a bit in the system. Maybe both him and Adams felt extra pressure because they were Jesse's boys and the pressure was now off. Maybe just slight tweaks to their roles. Maybe just having McKennie around has given them both a lift.

I do find it very strange that neither of them have expressed any messages of support towards Marsch since he left. I don't know if they are big into social media but it seems very peculiar given that they had both played for him before so were obviously happy to come to Leeds to play for him. Was there a decline in their relationship with him, especially Aaronsen.

May all be nothing and just a coincidence and especially with Aaronsen it was just a brief cameo and Adams has had a good season and hasn't really dropped off formwise.

The silence from players since Marsch left is almost unheard of these days.

[JoeDenver]

I do find it very strange that neither of them have expressed any messages of support towards Marsch since he left. I don't know if they are big into social media but it seems very peculiar given that they had both played for him before so were obviously happy to come to Leeds to play for him. Was there a decline in their relationship with him, especially Aaronsen.

May all be nothing and just a coincidence and especially with Aaronsen it was just a brief cameo and Adams has had a good season and hasn't really dropped off formwise.

The silence from players since Marsch left is almost unheard of these days.

I’m wondering if there’s a split opinion in the locker room and players aren’t saying anything so as to avoid conflict. They’ve got a relegation fight on their hands and I think they are just trying to stay focused on the task at hand. My 2 cents…

[King Hennessy]

Brendan is still very young. 22 years young and playing his first season in the best league in the world. He will have his ups and downs with form and confidence but he will be very good I believe. He's definitely the future at #10 with his creativity, and dribbling. He just needs to get stronger, get more adapted to the speed of the premier league and get more clinical in the final third.

[Lumiukko]

I’m wondering if there’s a split opinion in the locker room and players aren’t saying anything so as to avoid conflict. They’ve got a relegation fight on their hands and I think they are just trying to stay focused on the task at hand. My 2 cents…

I hope it isn't the case that there's a split in the camp. That said, we all experience the same thing in our personal and professional lives that we don't get on/agree with everyone. As long as they stay professional and respectful to themselves and each other I guess is as much as we can ask.

[weasel]

Brendan is still very young. 22 years young and playing his first season in the best league in the world. He will have his ups and downs with form and confidence but he will be very good I believe. He's definitely the future at #10 with his creativity, and dribbling. He just needs to get stronger, get more adapted to the speed of the premier league and get more clinical in the final third.

There's a very good player there, he showed flashes early on but does seem to have lost his way a bit over the season. When I first saw him, in the Leeds friendlies, he looked like he was going to be playing more of a midfield role, someone who could pick up the ball deep and run with it, especially when we were breaking out of defence. I saw him in a role that Samu Saiz last sort of played for us. I think he would have been a great fit doing that in a Bielsa team. I think with the right guidance he could be superb, similar to how I think Adams could be a brilliant defensive mifielder if mentored better - not knocking him now as he has had a good season but I think he could be moulded into something brilliant - like Kalvin Phillips was but potentially better. Hopefully whoever we get in as manager can help these 2 become brilliant players for us and then for US.