Inside Elland Road: Brenden Aaronson issue
Leeds were awful in their 3-0 defeat to Brighton on Saturday, and one key player in particular struggled.
Leeds United were brought back down to earth with a bang against Brighton on Saturday, and few players felt that harder than Brenden Aaronson.
The USA international was on cloud nine last week after opening the scoring in a 2-1 win over West Ham United - his first goal of the season, first Premier League strike since August 2022, and 11th overall as a Leeds United player.
Brenden Aaronson’s stats vs Brighton
Brenden Aaronson struggled against Brighton.placeholder image
Brenden Aaronson struggled against Brighton. | Getty Images
Despite the confidence-boosting goal and performance against West Ham, Aaronson was one of Leeds’ biggest strugglers during Saturday’s abject 3-0 defeat away at Brighton.
The 25-year-old played the full 90 minutes on the right of a midfield five, but had practically no effect on the attack. Per FotMob, Aaronson created just one chance worth 0.16 Expected Assists, while he didn’t attempt a single shot and was unsuccessful with both his attempted dribbles.
Overall, Aaronson had only one touch in the opposition box and one successful pass into the final third, and was dispossessed a match-high three times. Furthermore, he lost seven of his 10 duels, and was unable to stop Brighton’s relentless attack, failing to register a tackle, interception or block, while being dribbled past once.
Of all outfield players to complete 90 minutes on Saturday, Aaronson had the fewest touches with just 40.
What did Graham Smyth say about Brendan Aaronson’s performance?
Our very own Graham Smyth once again cast his eye over Leeds at the AMEX Stadium on Saturday, and it’s safe to say he was less than impressed with what he saw from the midfielder.
After scoring 9/10 last week, Aaronson - a product of the Philadelphia Union youth system - tumbled down to a 4/10 this time around, with Smyth critical of his ineffectiveness in and around the ball.
He wrote: “Lost out in duels, gave away possession a few times, wasn't a factor going forward.”
Smyth’s full player ratings from the 3-0 defeat to Brighton can be read here.
Saturday’s defeat sees Leeds slip to 16th in the Premier League table. Daniel Farke will be demanding a big improvement next Sunday when the Whites host Nottingham Forest - the team currently occupying 18th place, just five points behind Leeds following their 2-2 draw with Manchester United.
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