It’s a harsh sport, the trophy winners finish in the limited chances they are given. His stats for club and country back up the point that he’s not a goal scorer. Have to finish there, and others, including the analysts, agree
The analysts would have you think every match should finish 6-5 because of all the chances players “have to score.” Aaronson is a shitty finisher but that’s not an example of it. He took a .36 xG chance and turned it into .74 xGOT with the attempt. That’s a good shot met by a better save. It happens.
Something tells me if it was another Leeds players, not one of our yanks, people would Not be rushing to defend it. Does he want an FA Cup title chance or not? Glad you agree he’s a crappy finisher. Look, I appreciate what he brings to the game in other facets. But you have to finish that. The shot was ok but not precise enough, and again, if he lifts it, it’s in. Moments like that are what you train for, and it needed to be better. But we can all agree to disagree
This is why he's a Premier League midfielder and not a striker. A world class striker would probably finish that but he's not a striker, never mind a world-class one. Every penalty should be a goal but 22% are saved or missed.
If Calvert-Lewin missed that chance everyone would just move on. But because Brenden is a Yank it's a catastrophe of global proportions. I thought Leeds fans were bad.
That's what the announcer said and I really disagreed. You ask Aaronson to put that shot in a good spot, and he did, and the goalie made a great kick/foot save to keep it out. He didn't weakly finish right at the goalie, and he didn't kick it at the goalie, he fired it to the far post and the goalie saved it with his feet. I'd be bummed and frustrated, much like Pulisic's near goal against the Dutch 3.5 years ago, frustrating, and you'd hope they scored, but half of that at least, is the goalie's excellent save, I guess you can give a portion of that to Aaronson not putting it further to the left, but at pace, he put it in a good spot, and the goalie saved it. Simple as that.
Your take is wrong, even MATH disagrees with you. Both of us wish he put it away, but that was not an empty net shot or a penalty, that was an at pace shot to the goalies left that he made a kick save on to prevent it going in. FFS, he didn't even kick it into the goalies chest, right at him, his hands or whatever, he put it well to the goalies right, and the goalie managed to save it with his leg. No shame in that. Wish he'd scored it, but that wasn't even a 40% probability shot, as xG reminds us, and people are pretending, like you, it was a 60 or 70 or 80% shot. You're wrong. Full Stop. Sucks, but something with our brain makes us forget the math of these shots to such an extent that we fail to realize what the probability actually is. Sucks, and I wish he'd scored it, one of their two best chances that I saw when watching, and you need him to score that if you're Leeds because it's your best shot, but at the end of the day, it wasn't even a 50/50 chance or 40/60.
I’m not rushing to defend anything, it’s just basic analysis. People always overrate the quality of shooting opportunities, fans and pundits alike. And word choices around them matter - saying “oh, he has to score” is fine if it’s a tap-in from 2 yards. But it doesn’t make sense to say that for the chance he had today. It would be like saying that a baseball player has to get on base in any particular at-bat. It’s absurd on its face.
Why are you getting so worked up. My take is that he needs to do better there, it’s not some crazy controversial take that needs essays in response. It’s a cup semi final, a big moment. Some people have it in front of goal, others don’t. You can recite all the math about that one chance, but his club and career history show he struggles in those spots in the final third. Good save, and not a horrendous effort from BA. But teams that win finish those. earlier a poster hinted that we need should Move on and not focus on the opportunity missed, which I’m trying to do, yet you’re still on about it.
You're not really responding to what they are saying though. Great finishers also miss easy chances all the time. One of the problems is when your team is generating so few changes, those that you do get take on outsize importance. I don' think people are disagreeing that he isn't a world class finisher - I think they are disagreeing that this is less of a tap in than you seem to be implying.
Great finishers also finish easy chances consistently. Does Aaronson? I don't expect him to transform into a goal machine, but can he put some of these away? He brings much to the team, but at some point would be nice to see him take a step forward with his finishing. Let's be fair to me, too - I never said that was a tap-in nor implied it, let's not oversimplify. But he was in on goal with only the keeper in his way, albeit briefly. Even at that angle and no matter what Xg was quoted, that is a great chance, and while he did not hit it poorly, he could have done better. I am still baffled as to why that sentiment, which others have shared on the main BA forum, has seemed to hit a nerve. Are we trying to argue that wasn't a big missed opportunity? When does BA start putting shots like that away more consistently? We expect other players to capitalize there, can we not have a standard for him? When does he bring something else to the pitch, other than his usual tenacity and technical ability on the ball? Maybe my take comes more from the place of me knowing he was not going to score in that moment, and I hate that I was right.
Well, at least you are aware of your confirmation bias. I actually think this is an example of BA improving in composure and confidence. Early on this season he would make a mess of decent changes and not even get them on frame. I also think you should watch the chance again - hitting the far corner there was not nearly as easy as you seem to be suggesting. I disagree with people that say "you gotta score there". He had a small window to shoot, and a very narrow angle to hit the far corner.
On the topic being discussed, just a minute ago you saw an example of another player with a similar opportunity but even easier than Aaronson's (which was quick and in a defended box), the PSG player is in alone on goal, noone close to him, what you want, and what Aaronson did, is for him to take his corner, near side or far side, and put it on frame, if the goalie saves it, so be it, there's a rebound, maybe somebody gets to it: instead the PSG player shanked his shot and didn't even put it near the far post while in on goal all alone. Now that error is worth criticizing in the way the announce and at least one or more posters felt like doing here. Aaronson did not do that, his shot was on frame, forced a very good save and provided a deflection for another player to put away (no player was there to do so). This PSG dude? He just shanked the ---- out of the opportunity....fundamental difference in kind, and worthy of the criticism that Aaronson got, but shouldn't have.
Aaronson on the bench an hour in versus Burnley, but Leeds are rolling. 3-0 up and dominating the match, 9 points clear of Spurs with 4 to go. Safety almost official.
Finishes 3-1. Aaronson played 26 minutes including stoppage time and had 6 defensive contributions per Fotmob in that period, and was on the receiving end of a yellow-card hack by Hannibal.
0-0, over 20 min. Aaronson very bright/lively so far, almost had an assist just now off a cross for a header that was just barely saved. EDIT: and as usual, he is runnning his butt off, pressing at a high intensity. I'd be shocked if he is not well ahead of that pack so far in distance covered.
HT, 0-0. Brenden had an excellent run and was in on goal, made a nice cut in and then pass to a streaking Calvert Lewin, who was clearly fouled in the box. It would almost certainly have been a penalty, but Calvert-Lewin was offisides by literally his kneeecap. Nice half from BA, if anyone cares.