“Score some goals. Make some assists. Don’t fall over so easily. Then we can talk. MOT.”
When The Athletic asked back in the summer if there was a way back for Brenden Aaronson at Leeds United, one reader provided the above response.
It had just been confirmed that, after a season out on loan at Union Berlin in the Bundesliga following Leeds’ relegation from the Premier League, Aaronson would be returning to the club for another crack at English football, this time in the Championship.
Those words have been a handy checklist, as it turns out, for the United States international, as he has sought redemption at Elland Road. Make no mistake, the 24-year-old still has his doubters following that 2022-23 debut season and is far from universally loved among the fans. But he has made strides to make himself into a player who makes a meaningful difference to manager Daniel Farke’s side.
After a goal and an assist in a 4-0 rout of Oxford United in the final home game before Christmas on Saturday, Aaronson’s tally for 2024-25 stands at six goals and two assists.
In the festive spirit, maybe it is time to have the conversation again about whether Aaronson has done the improbable and found a way back from a frosty place with Leeds fans.
It feels a long time ago now that both the American and the equally unloved Max Wober were booed by their own team’s fans at the pre-season home friendly against Valencia in August. They were among those to have exercised clauses in their contracts and left Leeds on loan the previous summer — to German clubs Union and Borussia Monchengladbach respectively — rather than stay to try to help earn instant promotion back to the Premier League.
Nobody expected any of Leeds’ loan army to return to Yorkshire a year on but Aaronson and Austrian defender Wober did, the former after positive chats with boss Farke and with a desire to prove his worth in England.
Aaronson is a self-confessed people-pleaser. He told The Athletic in June that he felt like he “had unfinished business at Leeds” and was ready to front up to the criticism expected to be heading his way.
Aaronson during Saturday’s game against Oxford (George Wood/Getty Images)
The second-tier season so far has been one of learning and positive performances for the former Red Bull Salzburg midfielder, who signed from the Austrian outfit in summer 2022. Aaronson has been used at No 10 following the sale of Georginio Rutter to Brighton, and his energetic running and attacking creativity are proving assets to the team.
Though Leeds looked at signing a replacement for Rutter in the summer — as a comparison, a leading option in Sheffield United’s Gustavo Hamer has five goals and five assists this season — Aaronson has seen off competition internally from Joel Piroe to make the position his own.
Under Farke, he has had to learn that intensity does not always equal efficiency. There are ways to channel the manic pressing and always-forward approach on the ball that made him a good fit in Red Bull teams. Farke has been candid about this when asked about Aaronson’s performances, feeling the additional fire in needing to prove himself at Leeds has been beneficial, as well as indicating where he might improve further.
“Sometimes he runs so much that at times he overloads on the wings, and this impacts in the decisive moments, because he is not always where it counts: near the striker, where he can make things happen,” Farke said in November. “Out of good intentions, sometimes he has so much energy he has the tendency to run too much, instead of waiting for the moment that the ball comes to him, letting the opponent shift and then he will receive the ball in much better positions.
“This is just due to his feeling for his positioning, his age, and he has also played a different style of football before, for teams who were playing a bit more hectic.
“I love his energy and his workload but sometimes he has to channel it into the areas where it really counts(…) If you play football with the pulse always at 100, then it is difficult to be calm and composed in the moment. We are working on this, because we don’t want to take his strength, his energy, away but if he’s able to do this, then he will be at the highest level.”
Aaronson has improved, albeit playing at a lower level of the game than Leeds fans last saw him in action for the club.
In his debut season, Aaronson contributed one goal and three assists in 36 league games, 28 of them starts, for a relegation-bound side. In the Championship this season, he has become a guaranteed starter — with an intense workload for both club and country.
There are still moments where he lacks the calmness to make the best decision when on the ball but his performance against Oxford was arguably his best of the season. This was him laying down a marker amid talk of a need for Leeds to sign another No 10 in the looming January window.
The graphic above shows Aaronson’s touches in all games this season, reflecting both his energy and ability to get around the pitch. Finding the correct pockets of space is something he has worked hard on with Farke and his relationship with the manager has been beneficial to his individual development this season.
“We have a really good relationship, not just with the coach (Farke) but with all the coaches,” Aaronson said after his performance against Oxford. “I really enjoy working with them and he’s been great, he’s shown a lot of trust in me. It’s big for players to have the trust from the coach. Means a lot. We’ve talked about what I can do better, and what I can work on.
“For me, it’s continuing to get goals and assists and putting myself in spots, because sometimes I get a little… I want to get on the ball so bad that I leave positions. But staying patient, like in the first half when it was congested in the middle, I had to stay in the pocket and be around the goal. That’s how I got my goal, by being patient and staying in the pocket.”
With another meaningful contribution to a comprehensive team performance against second-bottom Oxford, Aaronson has shown that he is an asset to Farke and is happy to keep showing the fight that has put him on the road to redemption with the Leeds fans.
He is not the complete package yet but while he has favour with Farke and second-placed Leeds continue their winning run, Aaronson is on course to achieve his goal of proving he is a player capable of succeeding at this level.
(Top photo: George Wood/Getty Images)
