Flying a Kuyt! Brenden Aaronson at Leeds United A.A. Milne r Liverpool’s Milner? Brenden Aaronson at Leeds United Can He or Kante? Brenden Aaronson at Leeds United
Move confirmed: ✅ OFFICIAL: We can confirm that Brenden Aaronson is joining Leeds United on a permanent transfer. The American midfielder spent 18 months with us, making 66 appearances in the process. Good luck and thanks for everything, Brenden 🥺 pic.twitter.com/vCSeHcgwTC— FC Red Bull Salzburg EN (@FCRBS_en) May 26, 2022
Thanks for everything, Medford Messi 🇺🇸We'll miss you <3pic.twitter.com/CERYFdqr0h— FC Red Bull Salzburg EN (@FCRBS_en) May 26, 2022
Truer words were never spoken... American fans going away from our page to follow @LUFC instead...pic.twitter.com/Y3048OV4j9— FC Red Bull Salzburg EN (@FCRBS_en) May 26, 2022 (Well, except that we were already following Leeds).
Brenden Aaronson's first interview after joining Leeds United.(via @SkySportNews) pic.twitter.com/1r3FzcnkQU— USMNT Only (@usmntonly) May 26, 2022
Please note my rep is for the hilarious and offensive nature of this thread title and in no ways an endorsement nor vote for the eventual new thread title
🤝 He's here!We've taken a look at new @LUFC midfielder, Brenden Aaronson, and his stats from his time at Red Bull Salzburg. #LUFC #MOT @stainforthcon pic.twitter.com/vUhUnZz3O4— Leeds United StatZone (@lufcsz) May 26, 2022
Man, I was convinced that BA wouldn't make it abroad. He never wowed me at Philly and I figured he was too slight, lack the technique, lacked a bunch of the tools one needs to succeed over there. I figured he'd go the way of a whole bunch of guys with similar profiles before him......but I was completely wrong. And I think he'll do really well at Leeds. And I think his next fee and team will be yet another order of magnitude larger.
You can lead a lad to Leeds, but can you make him score? This will certainly make following Leeds even more fun (and potentially heartbreaking!) Will be interesting to see how AA's play translates to "desperately trying to not give up points to much better teams for 25 or 30 games" style. It's not an easy row to hoe, that bottom 1/3.
I made it a point to watch his last 4/5 games with Philly, can't remember if it was before or after news of the transfer. Came away thinking his technique in the sense of right touch, right body shape, right turn, right decision wasn't always very clean. He'd get the first two right but fluff the third for example. And I felt it was gonna be that moon door for him right back to MLS. When comparing him with the MLS standard of that moment, guys like Pozuelo, Lodiero, Gil, etc, etc he wasn't at that level. And he's still not wildly creative, but he's very direct and effective. And he bucked the trend I mentioned before. He was one of the few to strengthen his weaknesses and also enhance his strengths. The guys who went over and failed never could.
Passing accuracy is the main concern I have for him. 78% is not a high number for him in the Austrian league. And you would expect that to decrease in the EPL where he has much much much less time on the ball. It will be interesting to see how he adjusts.
It is not good. Games I watched he made the right decision on almost all his passes but sometimes either waited a bit too long or telegraphed where he was going to the D and didn't get the ball there fast enough. Leeds is a nice next step for him. It will be fun to watch him continue to develop.