{"id":163371,"date":"2025-06-06T16:22:35","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T16:22:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/163371\/"},"modified":"2025-06-06T16:22:35","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T16:22:35","slug":"brenden-aaronson-my-game-in-my-words","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/163371\/","title":{"rendered":"Brenden Aaronson: My game in my words"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article is part of our My Game In My Words 2025<\/a> series, an exclusive set of interviews with USMNT players where they talk us through how they do what they do on a soccer pitch.<\/p>\n

Brenden Aaronson<\/a> has a secret which may take admirers of his all-action, lung-busting style by surprise.<\/p>\n

The Leeds United<\/a> midfielder doesn\u2019t like running.<\/p>\n

He might lead the press for Daniel Farke\u2019s 2024-25 Championship title winners, and routinely cover most of the pitch in his efforts, but the 24-year-old has long been wary of being miscast.<\/p>\n

It is his creative side that flourished during Leeds\u2019 triumphant campaign in English football\u2019s second tier and, as he gears up for their return to the Premier League<\/a> next season, he talked The Athletic through his game and how he wants to improve as a provider even further next term.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hate running,\u201d Aaronson says. \u201cI know it seems like I don\u2019t, but I just want to get the ball. That\u2019s the No 1 thing for me. I\u2019ll never do it (run) in the summertime without a ball. I never have enjoyed it but I\u2019m just good at it.\u201d<\/p>\n

So running may be a necessary evil, but it is part of what makes the USMNT star a physical outlier for his club.<\/p>\n

Last season, he logged more than 3,500 minutes of game time for Leeds (third-highest of their outfield players) across the 46 Championship matches, and his energy has helped lead the way. That is comfortably the biggest workload of his senior career \u2014 he appeared in all 46 games, and started 43 \u2014 so how has he stayed so fresh?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s knowing your body,\u201d he says. \u201cI know what I need and the muscles I need to focus on. I run a lot, so calves and hips are always a big thing \u2014 keeping on top of the things that get tight. This is the most I\u2019ve been in the gym for a whole season. It\u2019s not easy to keep the weight when you run as much as I do, and as much as a Leeds player does, but I\u2019ve been working on strength and flexibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not for the first time in our conversation, Aaronson references the 2024-25 Premier League\u2019s title-winning top goalscorer as a source of inspiration.<\/p>\n

\u201cI read about (Liverpool<\/a> forward) Mohamed Salah<\/a> being consistently in the gym,\u201d he says. \u201cHe has an unbelievable build and stature and that constant work on the little things adds up and has made him what he is. It has helped me too. For the hips, it\u2019s yoga and massage, because when you\u2019re just using foam-rolling it\u2019s not always easy to get the spot you need. So deep-tissue massage helps me a lot \u2014 the top of the glutes and hips.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Leeds physios have been great. Sometimes the pain still gets me but we have a good laugh in the physio room and we haven\u2019t had many injuries this season, so credit to those guys behind the scenes. They do a great job.\u201d<\/p>\n

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(George Wood\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Aaronson\u2019s physical robustness last season is also linked to his mental well-being.<\/p>\n

\u201cI put it down to simple things; the support system I have with my fiancee being out here,\u201d he adds. \u201cA lot of football has to do with those outside things, staying happy. There are so many games and ups and downs, so I always have my fiancee, I have had my friends come to visit and it keeps you going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aaronson is typical of many modern attackers in his multi-positional capacity. He has played as a No 10 for Leeds, as a central midfielder and also on the left. Though he primarily played No 10 last season, he would often pull into those half-spaces on either side of midfield too, as shown by his heatmap below.<\/p>\n

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But what does he feel is his best position?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s tough to say because I have played so many \u2014 mostly at the 10 \u2014 but I see myself as a box-to-box midfielder,\u201d he says. \u201cI defend and I attack. One of the underrated things is when I can pick the ball up in the midfield and drive the team forward. For me, it\u2019s also having the freedom in the midfield to go and get the ball, play, turn and have that freedom in between the lines.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I\u2019d say, ideally, I\u2019d be an eight and a half.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis formation this season has been a dream position because it\u2019s a 4-3-3 in the way the left winger comes into the pocket, I\u2019m in the right pocket, sometimes the eight, who is Joe Rothewell or Illia 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, Leeds\u2019 striker) too.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo for me it\u2019s a 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1, and either the 10 or the eight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aaronson also believes the approach USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino wants to see from his players mirrors the style of football he himself prefers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe shape and the way he wants to play with the ball, combining, pressing and being attacking is the way I want to play,\u201d he says. \u201cBut I\u2019ve played winger for the attacking team a lot and that\u2019s great too, because the winger comes inside a lot as a No 10. Ideally, it\u2019d be as an eight or 10 but if I have to be the winger coming in, that\u2019s fine.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t see many wingers staying out wide much but you do with Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona<\/a> \u2014 wide, wide wingers creating space for the others centrally. It\u2019s a mixture.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aaronson picked a good time to deliver his career-best goal haul. His nine for Leeds in 2024-25 was a personal high for a single season, and saw him capitalise on Farke\u2019s attacking formation. It was also a case of the old phrase: the harder he worked, the luckier he got.<\/p>\n

He cites the clinical first-time strike in a 2-1 win over Watford<\/a> at Elland Road last October, below, as an example.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is staying alive to the play always,\u201d he says of how he times his run into the area, latches onto the ball after Wilfried Gnonto<\/a>\u2019s cross is palmed away by goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann<\/a> and sweeps it first time into the net.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019m arriving late in the box. This season, I\u2019ve had goals from being centrally in the box and that\u2019s something I\u2019ve learnt from the coach: staying centrally in that area,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s smelling it and being in the right place at the right time for where the ball might go. I would say there\u2019s a little bit of luck but also sniffing out these opportunities to get on the ball at the top of the box.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had one (in April\u2019s 4-0 home win against Bristol City<\/a>) when everyone was looking at the ball, but I seized on it and got my shot in, although I put it over the bar. If you watch it, three or four players are watching the ball and I know there\u2019s a chance it will come back across, so I got there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with Farke\u2019s advice, he also puts his improved goal tally down to putting in extra effort on the training ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cEd Wootten, the goalkeeper coach here, CJ (analysis lead Christopher John) and Eddie (assistant manager Edmund Riemer) have been great,\u201d Aaronson says. \u201cThey let me stay out there and do repetitions and it works for this type of goal. Other clubs will look at the numbers from the weekend and say, \u2018You ran a certain amount so you can\u2019t do this or that during the week (to rest)\u2019. Repetition is huge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aaronson models his practice on the near-obsessional attitudes of Premier League icons from the past, and he values Leeds\u2019 trust in him to balance that extra training with the necessary recovery time.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoing back to when Cristiano Ronaldo<\/a> and Wayne Rooney were at Man United, do you think they told them to stay off the pitch?\u201d he says. \u201cThey were always doing extra stuff in the Prem back in that era. The clubs never said no. But clubs are saying no a bit now.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d never push myself too much because I want to be playing every game and if I\u2019m injured, I can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

It has certainly worked.<\/p>\n

In December, he applied another fine finish to what was a goal-of-the-season contender against Derby County<\/a>, later called a \u201cperfect team move\u201d by Farke.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a typical goal from us,\u201d Aaronson says. \u201cThe movement has been so fluid. A lot of teams have sat back and (then) it\u2019s difficult to create opportunities but the way we\u2019ve been structured and our movements were hard to pick up.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a great example, the passes were intricate and very difficult to pick up. It\u2019s hard for teams to do much about it. I know Joel Piroe<\/a> is a striker who wants to combine, and I can run off him. This is a false-nine type of thing. I feel like I\u2019m pretty good at running off him and playing these one-twos.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it\u2019s one of the goals of the season. We do a lot of small-sided games and 11 v 11 in really tight areas (in training), so when we\u2019re playing on a bigger pitch, it pays off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another goal, on the opening weekend of the season in a 3-3 draw with visitors Portsmouth<\/a>, was a result of Aaronson studying some of the game\u2019s best finishers. \u201cSometimes I don\u2019t shoot enough because I want to give the final pass. But in the summer, I worked a lot on trying to get off my shot,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Three Portsmouth players are between him and the goal as he moves into the penalty area and shapes to shoot after receiving Piroe\u2019s pass. \u201cThere are defenders in front here but it goes through their legs,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

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\u201cA little bit of hesitation can throw a defender off and (help you) find a gap.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just shifting to find the angle, and knowing that when you shift the ball, defenders always open their legs. I don\u2019t know why \u2014 they tell them not to these days, but they always do it. Salah does it all the time. He goes left and then back the way he came, because he knows the defender is going to open his legs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe goalie can\u2019t see the ball until late either, because it goes through a player\u2019s legs. It\u2019s not a powerful shot by any means, but it catches him off-guard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Farke has spoken about calming Aaronson down in crucial moments to ensure he is making the right decisions, and the 47-time U.S. international does feel he is more composed now.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe (Farke) has spoken to me about it in finishing situations,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen I was younger, even though I haven\u2019t been a crazy goalscorer, I would always get chances. Even in the Prem season two years ago, I had a lot of chances, but I hit the woodwork a lot. But at the top level, you will only get a couple of chances a game.<\/p>\n

\u201cBack in the Premier League I might get one or two chances, max, a game and that\u2019s when you have to calm down.\u201d<\/p>\n

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His rapport on and off the field with Dutchman Piroe, the Championship\u2019s 19-goal top scorer last season, has helped. \u201cI have learned from him,\u201d Aaronson says. \u201cWe are always doing finishing together Thursdays and Fridays after training.\u201d<\/p>\n

The drills are simple but effective: \u201cI try to keep up with him, because if I play him one v one he\u2019s always winning,\u201d he says. \u201cMaybe once or twice out of 100, I come out first.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way he strikes the ball, I always try to learn from.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aside from his improving attacking output, Farke has valued Aaronson\u2019s energy and pressing. He is often the player charged with leading Leeds\u2019 pressing game and his influence is especially notable in this next example from that April match against Bristol City.<\/p>\n

In this passage of play, he and Gnonto get close to two City players near the touchline in opposition territory, and when the visitors\u2019 Ross McCrorie<\/a> makes a short pass to midfield colleague Jason Knight<\/a>, it is the American\u2019s cue to start the press.<\/p>\n

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Knight turns and plays a forward pass through midfield towards team-mate George Earthy<\/a>. Seeing the opposing winger has space to run into, Aaronson eats up the yards as he sprints to get back:<\/p>\n

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His presence seems to prompt Earthy to turn away from the Leeds goal and play the ball back to his centre-half Haydon Roberts<\/a>. The defender quickly returns it to Earthy in a one-two but Aaronson is now all over them and closing the space.<\/p>\n

His example is taken up by Leeds\u2019 right-back Jayden Bogle<\/a>, who gets tight on Earthy and challenges, as Gnonto also zooms back.<\/p>\n

In the end, Earthy is forced to play back towards his own goal again and the ball, deflected off the incoming Gnonto, travels into City\u2019s half and goes out for a throw.<\/p>\n

A potentially dangerous situation has been snuffed out.<\/p>\n

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Aaronson will frequently continue to press as far as the opposing goalkeeper and force him to go long. He is also often tasked with man-marking the opposition\u2019s No 10.<\/p>\n

He explains he is not always the designated pressing lead.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s off a feeling,\u201d he says. \u201cMe and Illia, or whoever the other eight is, presses with the two sixes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also have pressing triggers. It can also be the winger or the striker who starts the press if they\u2019re higher in their half. If they (the opposition) come into our half, we morph into more of a 4-4-2 and I can jump from the eight to the centre-back, and that pushes everyone up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Does he look before starting the press to ensure his effort is being backed up?<\/p>\n

\u201cI do \u2014 especially when you\u2019re playing teams that have double sixes who are always on the ball,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s tough to really jump in when guys are going off your back shoulder.<\/p>\n

\u201cMiddlesbrough<\/a> are very good at this with (fellow USMNT midfielder) Aiden Morris and Hayden Hackney<\/a>; they\u2019re good at knowing I\u2019m going to go and they can just bounce it out. So we have to be more careful. But it\u2019s a good trigger for us because when everyone goes, we know we have a good chance of winning the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n

As with that hard-running effort against Bristol City, does he have to strike the right balance between leading the way physically and preserving energy to get on the ball and then make things happen offensively for Leeds?<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes I need to control it a bit more. If I am more rested, I can do even more with the ball,\u201d Aaronson says. \u201cBut sometimes you want to help the team and get the crowd going.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s in games, though. If I have to run in pre-season, I\u2019ll always try to find a way to still get the ball out there rather than running.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aaronson\u2019s occasional frustration at his \u2018runner\u2019 reputation often leads to less attention to his creative prowess. Last season, he should have had more than those two assists, when looking at his expected assists figure (5.7). In open play, his 1.7 chances created per 90 minutes was the best in the Leeds squad (among those to play 900+ minutes).<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019m a perfectionist and after a game, if I haven\u2019t created much, I am hard on myself,\u201d Aaronson says.<\/p>\n

Does he study the numbers that highlight his creative potential? \u201cI\u2019ve looked, trust me,\u201d he says. \u201cPeople say stats ruin the game and in one way I kind of agree because you can partly judge a player on how many assists or goals, but you also have to look at the pre-assists or what they do throughout the game to influence it.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is flair to his game, too. We discuss the no-look backheel away to Watford in February, below, which teed up team-mate Daniel James<\/a> for a shot at goal. James, who played the ball to Aaronson in the first place and ran onto his cute backheel, narrowly missed with the attempt.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis game was super-open,\u201d Aaronson recalls. \u201cI had a lot of time between the lines. I\u2019m not going out to just assist and score, it\u2019s about the wider game. I knew that behind Joel on the right pocket, I had a ton of space. I\u2019ve always liked to combine and play one-twos with team-mates. I like the close-quarter play, and it\u2019s about expressing yourself and having fun with the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI trust DJ (James) will always be there, with his pace, and if I\u2019m just flicking it or backheeling it, then he gets to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aaronson is aware Leeds might not always be able to attack with such abandon next season when they are back in the Premier League. \u201cIt\u2019s a mentality shift,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen we go to Anfield (to face champions Liverpool), maybe we have to be smart and organised and wait for our chance to counter-attack.\u201d<\/p>\n

It will be a busy summer for the New Jersey native, who was included on the USMNT training-camp roster ahead of friendlies against Turkey<\/a> on Saturday and Switzerland three days later, and may also play in the Concacaf Gold Cup when that starts on June 14.<\/p>\n

A good job, then, that energy isn\u2019t a problem and neither, increasingly, is self-belief for a player who had his doubters after he was loaned out by Leeds to Germany<\/a>\u2019s Union Berlin following their 2023 relegation. He made 36 appearances, including 28 starts, for Leeds the last time they were in the English top flight, and insists he will return to the division as a rejuvenated performer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll be a different challenge because we won\u2019t be the best team in the league,\u201d he says. \u201cThe goal is to stay up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m mentally prepared for it and have grown so much since the last time. My game has gone a level higher and I\u2019m more confident.\u201d<\/p>\n

The My Game in My Words series is sponsored by the Active Cash Visa\u00ae Credit Card from Wells Fargo.<\/p>\n

The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.<\/p>\n

(Illustration: Eamonn Dalton \/ The Athletic; Tim Vizer \/ AFP, Tim Nwachukwu\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This article is part of our My Game In My Words 2025 series, an exclusive set of interviews…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":163372,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8814],"tags":[748,9030,393,4884,55985,1860,2922,55986,10031,25711,16,15,46400],"class_list":{"0":"post-163371","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leeds","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-championship","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-international-football","13":"tag-leeds","14":"tag-leeds-united","15":"tag-mens-world-cup","16":"tag-soccer","17":"tag-sports-business","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom","20":"tag-us-mens-national-team"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114637343892559313","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163371\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}