Leeds United attacking midfielder Brenden Aaronson is looking forward to the Premier League next season, in which he’s already got his eye on what his boyhood club Liverpool are doing.
For many, the season just gone was an opportunity for a redemption arc, no more so than Brenden Aaronson after his unpopular Union Berlin loan straight after relegation.
He came back knowing that he’d have to put the graft in to win the fans over, so nine goals and two assists helped Leeds on their way to the Championship title and ensured he’s back in the good books ahead of another testing season in the top flight.
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Brenden Aaronson gives tactical insight into Leeds United’s setup against top sides like Liverpool
Leeds dominated the Championship like very few sides ever have with possession and goals aplenty, which will not be the case next season.
How Daniel Farke approaches it remains to be seen, eager to showcase his learning from two failed attempts with Norwich City, and against the top sides, Leeds cannot afford to be open like they were on their way to relegation.
Attacking midfielder Aaronson was signed by Leeds for £25million with Marcelo Bielsa (in the January prior) and Jesse Marsch both admiring the American’s off-the-ball efforts.
(Action Images/Jason Cairnduff)
Such work against possession is going to be a key focus, according to Leeds’ number eight, noting the battle of going to Liverpool away from home, the club he grew up supporting as a child:
“It’s a mentality shift,” Aaronson told The Athletic. “When we go to Anfield (to face champions Liverpool), maybe we have to be smart and organised and wait for our chance to counter-attack.”
Brenden Aaronson discusses his No10 role with suggestion of what Daniel Farke wants in his Leeds side
Aaronson is a stark contrast in the ‘number 10’ role to what Leeds had last season in Georginio Rutter, a maverick playmaker who could carry the ball beyond several players and lay it on a plate for a teammate to score.
The Frenchman was a hard-worker out of possession, but a much more attack-weighted presence than Aaronson has been who has put in effort equal parts in defence as attack.
Farke’s unwillingness to drop the USMNT man throughout the season proved not only his trust in Aaronson, but how he sees the role behind the striker in his side, perhaps hinting at how the club might invest in the summer in that position.
“So I’d say, ideally, I’d be an eight and a half,” Aaronson also said.
“This formation this season has been a dream position because it’s a 4-3-3 in the way the left winger comes into the pocket, I’m in the right pocket, sometimes the eight, who is Joe Rothewell or Ilia Gruev, comes into the left pocket.
“I would compare it to a Liverpool eight, also rotating into the No 10 areas in between the lines and combining with Joel (Piroe) too.
“So for me it’s a 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1, and either the 10 or the eight.”
Brenden Aaronson comments hold weight in Leeds United’s No10 transfer discussion
It goes without saying that Leeds cannot and probably will not go into next season with Aaronson as their only natural ‘number 10’, and therefore will invest in a new signing.
However, what he’s saying does strongly suggest the profile of player that Leeds are going to look for as competition or a replacement for Aaronson.
Someone like Emi Buendia won’t be appealing to Farke or Leeds in the summer, even if he’s available for cheap, because he’s not the eight-and-a-half that can put in the work without possession that someone like Aaronson does.
Leeds’ number 10 is going to have to cope with large periods defending without the ball, while being capable of carrying it well and retaining when we do win it back, and that lends itself to a box-to-box player as opposed to a luxury creator.
Dinamo Zagreb’s Martin Baturina springs to mind, personally.